Harvesting Bamboo for Biomass

For biomass purpose, when can the bamboo be harvested according to the biomass content and can an entire area be harvested and how long do I have to wait to harvest it again? Do you have the data age-biomass content and moisture content?

Growing Bamboo for Biomass in Greece

Hello, I am Panagiotis from Greece and I am interested in growing bamboo in my country. I want to use it for biomass so I need a type of bamboo that produces a lot of mass. I was thinking of something that I can plant at 1 x 1 m apart so I can plant a lot of them. Are there any suggestions to what bamboo species I could use?

Comparing Biomass of Beema with Guadua Bamboo

Do you know how Guadua compares to "Beema" (Bambusa balcooa) in India propagated by Growmore? Beema bamboo is very thick with a small hole so I'm trying to find reliable 3rd party info on the biomass of a culm when we start harvesting, presumably at the end of year 4.

---

⭐ Featured Answer:

Beema Bamboo is the solid bamboo compared to other types. “Beema” is a special breed variety by Dr. N. Barathi of Growmore Biotech Ltd., which has a potential to grow very fast and yields very high biomass due to the fact that the wall thickness of “Beema” Bamboo is 3 times more than other bamboo. The carbon content of “Beema” Bamboo is between 46 to 48%. The dry matter production of “Beema” Bamboo under optimum condition reaches 40 to 50 tons per acre or 100 to 125 tons per hectare. The total carbon accumulation every year, after 5 years of growth is from 18 tons to 23 tons per acre, which is equivalent to 69 tons to 80 tons per acre respectively.

Due to this fact, “Beema” Bamboo acts as a “Carbon Sink”. When “Beema” Bamboo is grown individually in the gardens and parks, it sequesters 400 to 500 kg of carbon dioxide every year, thereby reduces the Carbon dioxide in the surrounding places. “Beema” Bamboo generates 70 to 80 CER per acre / year, which is equivalent to 175 to 200 CER per hectare every year.

Carbon sequestration also can be obtained by generating electricity from the renewable biomass of bamboo. One acre of Bamboo produces sufficient biomass to produce 45 MW of electricity through gasification method. Apart from providing 45 CER as Carbon credit directly from the power generation, the process of Pyrolysis generates 7 ½ tons of carbon as bio-char. When the bio-char is supplied to the soil it is eligible for 28 CER as Carbon Credit. The application of bio-char to the soil enhances the crop productivity, improves soil tilt, fertility, water retention. The bio-char in the soil reduces the fertilizer quantity required as well as improves the soil quality of adverse soil resulting in growth of dense vegetation which additionally reduces the soil erosion.

Application of bio-char as soil amendment creates virtually a permanent carbon sink for over 1000 to 2000 years.

Biomass Production of Dendrocalamus asper vs Guadua angustifolia

I'm curious to know which bamboo produces more biomass in a per hectare basis: Dendrocalamus asper or Guadua angustifolia?

---

⭐ Best Answer:

To be honest, I can't compare because I only have scientific studies for Guadua angustifolia. A Guadua plantation with a planting density of 5m x 5m (400 plants) can produce 862 tons biomass per hectare in 7 years (from the time of planting until year 7). In other words, an average biomass production of 123 ton per hectare per year.

Theoretically Dendrocalamus asper (being a very dense clumping bamboo) could produce even more biomass per hectare when the planting density is very high. But in practical terms, it would be impossible to manage a Dendrocalamus plantation if all bamboos are planted so close together. Guadua is an "open clumper" so there is always space between the stems which makes it much easier to sustainably harvest the stems and manage the plantation.

A lot of different variables have to be considered when talking about biomass production, but since Guadua angustifolia is a giant tropical bamboo, I think it would be safe to say that it is one of the largest biomass producing species in the world (both among bamboo species or any other high yielding crop).

What is the Best Bamboo for Making Charcoal

I've been reading a lot on bamboo these last few days and am interested in growing bamboo to make charcoal. What is the best bamboo species for this? Would I also be able to make furniture with that same bamboo?

I would appreciate any answer that you could provide.

---

⭐ Best Answer:

Bamboo charcoal can be made from any woody bamboo species as it is often produced from waste materials (branches, roots, imperfect culms). Personally I think it is better to chose the bamboo species according to your furniture needs and make charcoal as a by-product because furniture will give a higher financial return than charcoal (especially for smaller plantation projects). Attached also a video where you can see the production process of bamboo charcoal and bamboo gasification.

Click the following link for: instructions about making bamboo charcoal and kilns.