Natural production of the calorific value from poplar clones and socioeconomic aspects of its wider use in Slovakia

The calorific value produced from the poplar clone stands’ above-ground biomass was derived from its volume production, and calculated by mathematical model growth tables of I214 and Robusta poplar clones’ biomass density and dry biomass calorific value. Calorific values at 35 year stand age and site indices of 20, 30 and 40 were approximately 2,700, 6,000 and 9,300 GJ ha-1 respectively and the I-214 clone had minimally higher production than Robusta in the first half of growth. Lowland forest locations with 25,600 ha area and high groundwater level are most suitable for Slovak poplar production, and this enabled us to calculate mean annual production of 3,566 TJ of gross calorific value obtained from above-ground biomass. This is divided into 64% wood, 14% bark and 22% small-wood. Up to 85% of this production potential is situated in the Danube Lowland with the remainder in the Slovak southern middle and eastern regions. Natural production of poplar clones increases the possibilities of economic activity diversification and supports governmental policy of eliminating socio-economic disparities in regional population high long-term unemployment due to low qualifications. Finally, the least developed Slovak regions have a high proportion of agricultural and forest land, so governmental support is now also encouraging the green economy