There are a number of estimates of the land area that could potentially be dedicated to perennial energy crops such as short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and miscanthus in the UK, but little is known about how farmers will respond to the opportunities presented by these relatively novel crops....

The UK Biomass Strategy suggests that to reach the technical potential of perennial energy crops such as short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and miscanthus by 2020 requires 350,000 hectares of land. This represents a more than 20-fold increase on the current 15,546 hectares. Previous research...