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Abstract The proposed innovative approach identifies a new application for biomass. Bioenergy is used to drive a desalination unit which produces water for irrigating energy crops. Biomass is cultivated on artificial soil made by a mixture of local soil and organic compost from MSW (Municipal Solid Wastes). This agro-energy farm scheme aims at rescuing arid lands near to the sea. The study defines a techno-economic compromise among energy crops, biomass generator, desalination unit and irrigation system, considering an arid area (10 ha) of Tenerife as reference case study. A small experimental activity (100 m 2 ) has also been performed on site. A Sweet Sorghum cultivation, a bioenergy generator, a reverse osmosis plant and drip irrigation system have been chosen. The main result of the study is that the possibility of retaining some 14–20% surplus (in terms of biomass or energy or water) exists. The system is energetically feasible: rescued land can be doubled in approximately 4 yr. This approach is applicable to many Mediterranean coastal areas, as well as other similar situations elsewhere.

AbstractBioenergy represents a unique opportunity for forestry companies to diversify the sources of income and create new stable business opportunities: a large number of initiatives has started in the last decades especially regarding decentralized power generation; nevertheless the conversion of the farmers to energy producers is not a trivial issue. The present work has focused on a possible alternative to biopower generation for forestry farms: the biomass carbonization (i.e. biomass slow pyrolysis). Charcoal making presents good prerequisite conditions for successful biomass based systems in the forestry sector: the system results incentive-independent, the power generation represents the co-product of a different primary production (resulting a real additional income), the plant capital cost is affordable for small scale farmers, operations requires technical skills normally available in the forestry sector and the reliability of the system is proven and credible, reducing the risks contained in business plans based on “number of hours of operation over several years”. Moreover charcoal is a well known product, familiar to forestry companies for a very long time, the market is well defined, the technology is known but still offers opportunities for further improvements (in terms of efficiency, costs and environmental impacts), the technology does not present major risk, the investment is well suited to small farmers and the process and technology gives a great opportunity for small scale and local supply chain development.Based on these considerations, the present work investigated the technological opportunities for small scale charcoal making systems. Various process configurations have been examined, focusing on advantages and disadvantages representative of each solution in view of small scale application suitable for the Italian case and a designed pilot plant has been proposed.

Substantial areas of agricultural land in south European countries are becoming increasingly marginal and being abandoned due to arid climate with prolonged summers and low rainfall. Perennial, lignocellulosic crops, such as Miscanthus, offer an outlet that couples agriculture with energy, creates employment, and increases profits from feedstock production in rural areas. This research paper follows an Input Output methodology and uses an econometric model to investigate the impact of crop yielding performance and marginal land to jobs and profit from the cultivation and supply of Miscanthus in low quality, marginal land in Italy and Greece. Two value chain cases are analysed: small scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Fast Pyrolysis Bio Oil (FPBO). The cultivation of Miscanthus in both reference value chains exhibits good employment prospects, with smaller scale value chains creating more labour-intensive logistics operations. The activities can also generate substantial financial profit especially with higher crop yields. Results show a pronounced relationship between profitability and crop yield for both reference value chains - cultivation and supply operations become more profitable with increasing yield. It is, therefore, important to achieve higher yields through good cropping practices, while maintaining high levels of environmental sustainability.

Vegetable oils became a very popular bioliquid for renewable power and transport applications. At local level, the short chain production of vegetable oils is currently important in terms of sustainability and use of rural area. This present work investigates the development of vegetable oils production chain in the Tuscany territory, focusing also to valorisation of the co-products (i.e., oil cake). The work is based on the study of the cultivation of rapeseed and sunflower, and the creation of an extraction plant based on cold-screw pressing technology, in order to obtain a raw vegetable oil suitable as biofuel. The German DIN 51623 standard was adopted to investigate the quality of vegetable oils obtained from different oil crops. Vegetable oils quality was evaluated by comparing the oil produced by a bench press at lab scale, comparing the results in terms of process yields and lipid fraction recovered. Due to the high phosphorous content of rapeseed oil, out of the DIN limits, an experimental procedure to remove P content and restore the oxidation stability of the oils was performed. The results showed a substantial P reduction by adding 2 wt% of P-removing additive. The oil cake properties were evaluated in view of its potential use for bioenergy production, in particular in terms of metals content. [Received: December 5, 2015; Accepted: September 20, 2016]

Abstract A continuous oxidative carbonization pilot unit, with a capacity of 50 kg/h,has been developed and builtby RE-CORD; reported performance data shows that the unit can produce high quality charcoal, suitable for BBQ, metallurgy of activated-carbon manufacturing, as well as biochar. Charcoal yield in excess of 24 wt% (dry) has been achieved, with a fixed carbon content higher than 85 wt% (dry). In this work,the up-scaled 250 kg/h demo plant has been designed, and the construction, operation and maintenancecosts estimated. It was assumed to feed the plant with a dedicated SRF of either poplar or robinia, which represents a very innovative and yet unexplored value chain. Performance data are reported along with economic evaluation of the whole chain. Results shows how aland management scheme based on SRF coupled to innovative small-scale biomass carbonization technology represents an appealing opportunity for business diversification in small and medium forestry enterprises.

AbstractAdvanced biofuels produced from lignocellulosic biomass offer an exciting opportunity to produce renewable liquid transportation fuels, biochemicals, and electricity from locally available agriculture and forest residues. The growing interest in biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstock in the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) can provide a path forward toward replacing petroleum‐based fuels with sustainable biofuels which have the potential to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The selection of biomass conversion technologies along with feedstock development plays a crucial role in the commercialization of next‐generation biofuels. There has been synergy and, even with similar basic process routes, diversity in the conversion technologies chosen for commercialization in the EU and the US. The conversion technologies for lignocellulosic biomass to advanced biofuels can be broadly classified in three major categories: biochemical, thermochemical, and hybrid conversions. The objective of this review is to discuss the US and EU biofuel initiatives, feedstock availability, and the state‐of‐art conversion technologies that are potentially ready or are already being deployed for large‐scale applications. The review covers and compares the developments in these areas in the EU and the USA and provides a comprehensive list of the most relevant ongoing development, demonstration, and commercialization activities in various companies, along with the different processing strategies adopted by these projects. © 2013 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts, Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract The aim of this study is to evaluate economic support measures based on current EU policies affecting the profitability of large-scale deployment of biochar for sunflower cultivation in dry marginal lands in Italy, paving the way to large scale carbon sequestration in the EU Mediterranean region. Two cases were considered: i) straight biochar use and ii) biochar in combination with compost (COMBI: 20% biochar and 80% compost mass fraction), at application rates of 5 and 10 Mg ha−1 respectively. Based on realistic estimations of achievable crop-yield performances by biochar and COMBI addition to dry soils, the effect of current policies on the economic viability of biochar deployment and farmers’ income has been investigated. Using a cost-model we identified the required levels of support, in the form of (i) area subsidies for crop cultivation, (ii) tradable carbon certificates (credits), and (iii) REDII-compliant biofuel support for Aviation and Maritime, so to make biochar and sunflower cultivation in EU MED dry marginal lands competitive for sustainable crop-based biofuels. Results show that, by employing existing policy instruments, sufficient income can be generated for famers to recover marginal land, sequester large amount of carbon by BECCS at costs (∼82 € Mg−1 of CO2) falling at or below the typical range of CCS measures, as well as offer additional environmental and socio-economic positive benefits. The combination of currently operational economic mechanisms from the Common Agricultural Policy, the Climate Policy, and the Renewable Energy Directive II can: i) maintain domestic farming activities, ii) support the implementation of biochar projects at local level, iii) contribute to achieve EU and national biofuel targets without generating ILUC impacts and iv) achieve unprecedent potential for carbon sequestration. However, prior to large-scale deployment, targeted on-site R&D actions aimed at validating biochar effects under local conditions (soil, climate, crops) are recommended, together with training and capacity building activities for local farmers.

Nannochloropsis sp. F&M-M24 and Tetraselmis suecica F&M-M33 were cultivated outdoors in Green Wall Panels under nutrient deficiency to stimulate oil synthesis. Under nitrogen deprivation, Nannochloropsis attained average biomass and lipid productivities of 9.9 and 6.5 g m(-2) day(-1), respectively. Starved Tetraselmis cultures achieved a biomass productivity of about 7.6 g m(-2) day(-1) and a lipid productivity of 1.7 g m(-2) day(-1). Lipids represented 39.1% and 68.5% of non-starved and starved Nannochloropsis biomass, respectively. Starvation did not increase lipid content in Tetraselmis biomass. Important differences in lipid classes and in fatty acid composition were observed under the different cultivation conditions for both microalgae.

Sustainable biofuels are an important tool for the decarbonisation of transport. This is especially true in aviation, maritime, and heavy-duty sectors with limited short-term alternatives. Their use by conventional transport fleets requires few changes to the existing infrastructure and engines, and thus their integration can be smooth and relatively rapid. Provision of feedstock should comply with sustainability principles for (i) producing additional biomass without distorting food and feed markets and (ii) addressing challenges for ecosystem services, including biodiversity, and soil quality. This paper performs a meta-analysis of current research for low indirect land use change (ILUC) risk biomass crops for sustainable biofuels that benefited either from improved agricultural practices or from cultivation in unused, abandoned, or severely degraded land. Two categories of biomass crops are considered here: oil and lignocellulosic. The findings confirm that there are significant opportunities to cultivate these crops in European agro-ecological zones with sustainable agronomic practices both in farming land and in land with natural constraints (unused, abandoned, and degraded land). These could produce additional low environmental impact feedstocks for biofuels and deliver economic benefits to farmers.

Abstract The environmental and social sustainability of biofuel production and use is today the most critical issue for the development of support policies in this sector.The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is commonly agreed as the main tool for the estimation of the impact of biofuel chains, even in quantitative terms. This is also reflected in the recently issued EU Directive (Renewable Energy Directive, RED) on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. However, the results of Life Cycle Assessment works largely depend on the quality of the information given as input to the study, as also very recent research works started to investigate: in addition, the comparison of a large number of very different (technically, geographically, agronomically) biofuel chains, as some Life Cycle Assessments and reviews tried to do, is a very difficult task due to the extremely large number of variable conditions and parameters. This paper, by considering a very specific biofuel chain (production and use of Pure/Straight Sunflower Oil in North-Central Italy), discuss some limits and constraints of the application of the LCA method. The work investigated within which boundaries Life Cycle Assessment could be implemented to perform quantitative assessments, as requested by the current supporting policies in the biofuel area. Results showed very large variations in the calculation of the CO2 equivalent emissions, thus illustrating how achievable results depends on the local agricultural practices and performances, even for such a small and well defined biofuel chain. The adoption of the present standardized Life Cycle Assessment approach for generalized evaluations in the bioenergy sector and, in particular, for quantitative assessments should therefore be reconsidered. Concluding, LCA studies, even while addressing very specific and well defined chains, should always provide the bias of the calculations, as this range of variation of Life Cycle Assessment results could be significantly greater than the initially set quantitative targets and therefore the whole investigation would be at risks of inconsistency. Proposals are finally given for small scale projects, with the aim of developing sound but realistic processes to assess biofuel sustainability.