NEW ZEALAND — Short rotation forestry could provide a pathway for New Zealand to replace 6% of its fossil fuel use, while also providing farmers in difficult country a valued biofuel crop option. The latest work by Scion silviculture scientist Dr Alan Jones and his team estimates the reduction in fossil fuel use could be achieved with plantings over about 150,000 hectares of land, or less than 1% of New Zealand’s land area. Jones presented his team’s research findings to a Bioenergy NZ seminar series aimed at exploring NZ’s options on alternative energy pathways to help meet its Paris Accord obligations. …Typically, the trees would be harvested at year 16, with Pinus radiata and three types of eucalyptus being most suitable. …Jones said transport costs are an acknowledged challenge with biofuel sourcing, but decentralised processing of the raw material could also impact an otherwise unsuitable area’s viability.