This study represents an estimate of the potential agricultural
land availability for SRWC in Latvia, accounting for several
important factors in a complex system of agricultural land use
and management. Land availability based solely on biophysical
criteria, however, does not guarantee the actual amount
of agricultural land that will be transformed into SRWC production.
SRWC production will depend on multiple other
factors besides the biophysical characteristics of the land,
such as: (1) technical and infrastructure capacity; (2) market
availability for SRWC production and utilization; (3) land
owner and SRWC producer knowledge, skills, values and attitudes
towards SRWC production; and (4) land owner and
SRWC producer ability to adopt innovative practices and
technology related to SRWC production and utilization. Social
and economic conditions affecting each of the regions are also
important factors to consider for more accurate estimates of
SRWC site establishment. This study, nevertheless, was the
first attempt to estimate the energy potential of geographically
available abandoned agricultural lands for SRWC production
in Latvia to meet EU 2020 renewable energy targets.
Acknowledgments
The research has been carried out with the support of State
University of New York, College of Environmental Science and
Forestry (SUNY-ESF) and European RegionalDevelopment Fund
(ERDF) project “Developing models for establishing and managing
multifunctional plantations of broadleaves and energy
crops” project No Nr. 2010/0268/2DP/2.1.1.1.0/10/APIA/VIAA/
118.Wewould also like to express our gratitude to the Fulbright
fellowship programme, the Institute of International Education
(IIE), Latvia State Forestry Research Institute “Silava”, Rural
Support Service of Latvia, Latvia Nature Conservation Agency,
Latvia Fund for Nature and Latvia University of Agriculture.