• Energy Research

Generally, the land allocation scenarios for biomass crops are based on crop requirements and environmental characteristics, mostly including climate and soil variables, whereas the backward crop effect on the same environment have been poorly considered or totally ignored. Nonetheless, despite the crop performance can be considerable under specific conditions, the environmental vulnerability to a crop-specific impact could lead to negative consequences. A crop could be in fact well adapted to a given environment in term of productivity, yet it could be highly risky for that environment, e.g. in the case of proximity of a river or a lake with crops having high leaching rates. It follows that the high potential productivity is not sufficient to establish the environmental suitability of a crop. LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) defines several indicators of the environmental impacts which could be used to classify the risk associated to a crop under specific conditions. Therefore, in the present article GIS maps on soil vulnerability to certain crop impacts (eutrophication) for a case study area were presented with the aim at identifying an LCA-GIS integrated method for decision support systems and illustrate the outlines of a bidirectional environment-to-crop oriented procedure. Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 240-243

Generally, the land allocation scenarios for biomass crops are based on crop requirements and environmental characteristics, mostly including climate and soil variables, whereas the backward crop effect on the same environment have been poorly considered or totally ignored. Nonetheless, despite the crop performance can be considerable under specific conditions, the environmental vulnerability to a crop-specific impact could lead to negative consequences. A crop could be in fact well adapted to a given environment in term of productivity, yet it could be highly risky for that environment, e.g. in the case of proximity of a river or a lake with crops having high leaching rates. It follows that the high potential productivity is not sufficient to establish the environmental suitability of a crop. LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) defines several indicators of the environmental impacts which could be used to classify the risk associated to a crop under specific conditions. Therefore, in the present article GIS maps on soil vulnerability to certain crop impacts (eutrophication) for a case study area were presented with the aim at identifying an LCA-GIS integrated method for decision support systems and illustrate the outlines of a bidirectional environment-to-crop oriented procedure. Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 240-243

This study is the first investigation carried out in EU in a switchgrass field large enough to enable the use of high frequency continuous monitoring. The objective of this study is to describe the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 and the water use efficiency of the agro-ecosystem during the establishment phase.

This study is the first investigation carried out in EU in a switchgrass field large enough to enable the use of high frequency continuous monitoring. The objective of this study is to describe the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 and the water use efficiency of the agro-ecosystem during the establishment phase.

AbstractThe biofuel‐related land use in the USA and the EU has significantly expanded during the last decade; models have been used to estimate land availability and demand in these regions. This paper provides an overview of different land‐use modeling practices applicable to first‐ and second‐generation biofuels. We review the importance of different land categories for biofuels, modeling approaches (top‐down/bottom‐up) and their integration, data availability for calibration and validation, model scale, and uncertainty. Possible future changes of biofuel land use and research gaps and limitations are synthesized. Key issues are the lack of data for independent validation and the need for better integration of dynamic bottom‐up models into the top‐down policy analysis. More research is needed to deal with the large‐scale introduction of second‐generation biofuel crops required. The paper culminates in describing how models can help to meet the challenge of supplying more fuel from lignocellulosic crops (LCC) in ways that reduce indirect land‐use change (iLUC) and how such transition could be implemented in policy and practice. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

AbstractThe biofuel‐related land use in the USA and the EU has significantly expanded during the last decade; models have been used to estimate land availability and demand in these regions. This paper provides an overview of different land‐use modeling practices applicable to first‐ and second‐generation biofuels. We review the importance of different land categories for biofuels, modeling approaches (top‐down/bottom‐up) and their integration, data availability for calibration and validation, model scale, and uncertainty. Possible future changes of biofuel land use and research gaps and limitations are synthesized. Key issues are the lack of data for independent validation and the need for better integration of dynamic bottom‐up models into the top‐down policy analysis. More research is needed to deal with the large‐scale introduction of second‐generation biofuel crops required. The paper culminates in describing how models can help to meet the challenge of supplying more fuel from lignocellulosic crops (LCC) in ways that reduce indirect land‐use change (iLUC) and how such transition could be implemented in policy and practice. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd