Turning bad things into good things: invasive species as a source of energy in insular ecosystems

Resumen

Insular native ecosystems due to their weak resistance to biological invaders,are being damaged because of the introduction, colonization, conquest and naturalizationof exotic species. Some of these plants are used as food, feed and even building material.However, the rate of extraction performed by economic agents is less than its naturalgrowth, making the invasive biomass is increasing. In this context it proposed a newmethod for use of harmful invasive species: bioenergy. As a first step it must be updated aregister of harmful invaders and quantification of their biomass. Then, compute the energyequivalent for making a market research. Parallel to this activity, it must be designedappropriate technology for biomass collection and transport, processing and subsequentdistribution of energy for performing some mechanical work. The result is achieved bymapping the location of exploitable areas and the cost in monetary units that theirpresence creates. Trials to test the method in Chile showed that bioenergy exploitation ofinvasive plants replacing native forest is profitable in the adjacency of rural roads.