Economic comparison of growing different willow cultivars

A sensitivity analysis showed that the change in the biomass price and change in energy content of willow biomass had a much greater effect on the final revenue than a change in the yield level. When the price increased by 10%, the revenue from growing different cultivars increased by 33-92%, whereas when the yield increased by 10%, the revenue from growing different cultivars increased by 13-20%. Shortening the transport distance from 50 to 25 km increased the final revenue by 14-36%. An increase in the transport distance to 100 km decreased the final revenue by 28-73%, and when the transport distance increased to 200 km, only the production of UWM 006 and UWM 043 cultivars brought any positive revenue. It is important to find willow varieties with a high energy content because a higher yield of Mg d.m. per hectare will cause the costs per hectare increase but the costs per Mg d.m. and GJ will decrease.