Free and open-source GIS technologies for the management of woody biomass

Biomasses are materials of organic origin that can be used for the production of energy. Among the renewable energy sources, a prominent role is played by woody biomass, which can be retrieved from existing forests or plantations governed in short or middle rotation coppice, the so-called Short and Medium Rotation Forestry. The main environmental benefit resulting from the use of wood biomass consists in the fact that the amount of carbon dioxide released during their combustion process is the same as that absorbed during the development phase. Here, we propose a procedure to manage the traceability of short biomass chains and to schedule the activities for mobile forest construction sites using free and open-source GIS technologies. Firstly, we created a spatial DB to manage the areas where the cutting and logging activities are performed. Then, we overlapped the boundaries of areas with the cadastral sheets to ensure the biomass comes from short chain, i.e., within the range of 70 km from the position of the central. To plan the number of working days required and make an estimation of the production, the total area of the lots, the land clearing, and the net area were calculated. Finally, depending on the characteristics of wooded areas, the type of system to be used for the business of cutting and logging was evaluated. This work demonstrates how GIS allows a fast traceability of short biomass chains and an estimation of the production by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of biomass resource assessment.