This term refers to an area that is used to grow biomass for energy purposes. The idea behind energy plantation programme is to grow selected strains of tree and plant species on a short rotation system on waste or arable land. The sources of energy plantation depend on the availability of land and water and careful management of the plants. Energy crops, also called ‘‘bioenergy crops’’, are fast­growing crops that are grown for the specific purpose of producing energy (electricity or liquid fuels) from all or part of the resulting plant. They are selected for their advantageous environmental qualities such as erosion control, soil organic matter build-up and reduced fertilizer and pesticide requirements. As far as suitability of land for energy plantation is concerned the following criterion is used:

(1) It should have a minimum of 60-cm annual precipitation and (2) arable land having slope equal to or less than 30% is suitable for energy plantation.

The economics of energy plantation depends on the cost of planting and availability of market for fuel. Whereas these two factors are location specific, they vary from place to place. Further productivity of this programme depends on the microclimate of the locality, the choice of the species, the planting spacing, the inputs available and the age of harvest. There are many suitable species for energy plantation, for example, Acacia nilotica. There are many other perennial plant species which could be used for energy crops. In addition, some parts of traditional agricultural crops such as the stems or stalks of alfalfa, corn or sorghum may be used for energy production.