1.1. A brief history

Scientific interest in short-rotation bioenergy willows in Canada dates back to the mid — 1970s’ oil crisis, which stimulated the use of biomass for energy production. The Federal government’s 1978 ENFOR (ENergy from the FORest) program, coordinated by the Canadian Forest Service was part of a federal interdepartmental initiative on energy research and development to promote projects in the forest bioenergy sector. Scientists from the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto pioneered the investigation of willow’s potential for bioenergy in Canada, convinced that willows could produce high annual yields in temperate zones [18-19] Louis Zsuffa’s (1927-2003) work on selection and breeding of poplars and willows through genetic trials on small surfaces inspired the next generation of researchers, including one of his graduate students, Andrew Kenney, who implemented short-rotation intensive culture technology on the first prototype energy plantations in Canada [20]. As well, Gilles Vallee, of the Quebec ministry of Natural Resources, investigated the genetic improvement of hybrid poplar and willow with the aim of developing clones adapted to the shorter growing seasons of boreal forest locations. Our own Institut de recherche en biologie vegetale (Plant Biology Research Institute), located at the Montreal Botanical Garden, grew out of the ENFOR program in the early 1990′. Our research team initially set out to identify willow species and clones well-adapted to short — rotation coppice in southern Quebec (Eastern Canada). Our experiments showed that Quebec’s climate and soil are very favourable for growing various willow clones in short rotation, and that wastewater sludge can be an effective low-cost and environmentally — friendly fertilizer [21]. Researchers from Federal and provincial ministries also initiated diverse willow projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including the genetic improvement of hybrid poplar and willow clones adapted to the short growing seasons of boreal forests [22]. Simultaneously, Natural Resources Canada, a federal ministry, collaborated with several committees, including the International Energy Agency, to improve cooperation and information exchange between countries that have national programs in bioenergy research.

From the early 1990s to the present, dedicated, continuous research on willows in the Canadian context has been concentrated at the Montreal Botanical Garden. As a result of these extensive research efforts, approximately 300 ha of willows have been established on marginal agricultural lands in Quebec over the last 20 years.