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II ABSTRACT Climate change is expected due to the increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbondioxide and other trace gasses, which lead to changes in the radioactive balance of the atmosphere. Such changes propagate further to those in temperature i and other climatic variables. Hydrologic systems and water resources are likely to be seriously impacted by global climate change. Such processes as surface runoff, precipitation, soil moisture, groundwater, water quality, and sea levels will be significantly exposed to effects of climate change. Eventually, these effects will have to be considered in water resources planning and management. The study presented stems from the above needs and addresses the problem of climate change-water resources interactions. It is intended here to investigate the possible effects of climate change on watershed scale hydrologic processes and water demand. Within this context, the current methods used in developed countries are applied to the case of the Gediz River Basin, and possible impacts of changes in climatic variables, i.e., precipitation and temperature, are investigated as they relate to runoff The results of the study should not considered as exact values to represent the effects of climate change. They are essentially `estimates` on `likely` effects of an expected climate change. However, the results also show that, if the prescribed climate change scenarios do occur in the future, they will have significant effects on the hydrology of the basin which, in turn, affects water demand for various water resources development plans. Accordingly, the study presented should be considered as an initial step towards assessment of climate change impacts and should be reaccomplished in future attempts towards any planning or management activity in the basin. ÖZET İklim değişikliği, atmosferdeki karbondioksit (CO2) ve diğer antropojen sera gazı konsantrasyonlarının giderek artması sonucu beklenmektedir. İklim değişikliğinin sonucunda beklenen en önemli olgu, sıcaklık, yağış, evapotranspirasyon, akış gibi temel iklimsel ve hidrolojik değişkenlerdeki muhtemel değişimlerdir. Bu etkilerin su kaynakları planlama ve yönetiminde değerlendirilmesi gerekmektedir. Sunulan çalışma, iklim değişikliğinin su kaynakları ile olan ilişkisini incelemektedir. Bu değişimlerden hidrolojik çevrimin ve su kaynaklarının gerek miktarı ve gerekse kalitesinin de etkilenmesi beklenmektedir. Dolayısıyla, küresel iklim değişikliğinin havza su dengesine ve su kaynaklarının planlama ve yönetimine de yansıması söz konusudur. Bu kapsamda sunulan çalışmada alt havza bazında sıcaklık ve yağış gibi iklim parametrelerinin, akıma olan etkileri incelenmiş ve duyarlılık analizi ile sonuçlar değerlendirilmiştir. 75

According to the Renewable Energy Roadmap and Biofuels Progress Report, the Commission proposes to set a binding minimum target for biofuels of 10% of transport fuel by 2020. Today, practically all biodiesel produced in Europe is obtained from only two crops, rapeseed and sunflower. The introduction of new or alternative crops could be therefore highly desirable to diversify the supply while increasing biodiversity. In Europe, a number of private initiatives or public projects are currently undertaking alternative biodiesel crops, that not necessary are novel species, adapted to European conditions. Generally, these programmes are still in their infancy that testifies a significant lag behind of Europe with respect to other industrialised countries (e.g. USA). Within the European Project “Crops2Industry” (Seventh Framework Programme), three potentially important alternative crops for biodiesel have been identified for the European conditions, namely: Cuphea viscosissima, Lunaria annua and Euphorbia lagascae. The present article aims at reporting mini­reviews on the potentialities of these species for biodiesel market in Europe. The three species show important seed oil yields and oil composition, which is rich in medium chain saturated fatty acids, and poor in long chain saturated fatty acids and in polyunsaturated fatty acids. This makes oil viscous, resistant to frost and oxidant agents. Overall, the oils of these crops for their main characteristics appear well adapted to be processed for biodiesel production, and also for alternative industrial applications (e.g. technical oils). There is evidence that these crops may have a future as biodiesel crops in the European marketplace. Therefore, there is the need to create social awareness on their potentialities as valuable alternative crops to rapeseed and sunflower in Europe. Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 744-748

In the study presented here, ‘biofuels’ were examined with regard to various issues. Above all the question of the impact of ‘biomass’ production on ecosystems, the ‘sustainability’ of the use of biofuels, the search for alternatives and therefore the question of the future development of the transport sector are directly linked to one another. Discussions conducted in public, such as the food­or­fuel debate, lead to an increased sensibility to the way biofuels are dealt with and lead to very controversial views on the use and application of biofuels. Certain factors provide a tool for the assessment of the sustainable utilisation of biofuels. In the field of ‘ecology’, the points climate protection, conservation of biodiversity and soil­and­water protection occupy centre stage. In the field of economy, opening up rural areas for development, including job creation, as well as reducing dependency on energy imports is what matters. ‘Social aspects’ are mainly security of supply for energy and foodstuffs at reasonable prices. This results in a distribution of competences to the policy remits of environment, energy and agriculture. Processes, which benefit the introduction of biofuels, are occurrences such as global warming, world­wide scarcity of crude oil, as well as the sharp increase in price of energy and food prices, which attained their highest point in the Summer of 2008 – for the time being. All these are compelling factors forcing a re­think of the utilisation of global ‘resources’. Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 2253-2258

Experimental trials across Europe have confirmed the high yield potential of perennial lignocellulosic crops like miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and giant reed (Arundo donax), and therefore their great potential as bioenergy feedstock. However, the vast majority of information on productivity of these crops derives from plot experiments, while very little is know on the actual yields and biomass losses in a mechanized harvesting system. In the present article we reviewed some field­scale studies on biomass loss in switchgrass, miscanthus and giant reed carried out at the University of Bologna over the last few years. The assessments were conducted in Bologna (Italy) in two contiguous 6­year switchgrass and giant reed plants, and in a 3­year miscanthus plant. Along with commercial machineries, a prototype that cut the stems in 30­50 cm portions was tested. Crop potential yield was determined through hand harvested samples collected across the fields concurrently with mechanical harvest. Miscanthus, giant reed, and switchgrass exhibited potential yields of 29.3, 24.6, and 16.9 Mg ha­1, respectively. Biomass losses during cutting and baling using common farm machines were considerable, averaging 30% and 21% in giant reed and switchgrass over a 5­year period. Nonetheless, in the last two years we found that simple adjustments to the harvesting machines along with appropriate agronomic strategies allowed to reduce losses massively. Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 52-54

Within the project "BIOSEA" funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MIPAF), a preliminary laboratory test was carried out with the aim of quantifying the variability for cold tolerance during germination in several cultivars of sweet and fiber sorghum, and defining the limit to the early sowings in the semi­arid Mediterranean environments of Southern Italy through the identification of minimum thermal threshold for seed germination. A genetic diversity in germination response of sorghum, greater at the lowest temperatures (8 and 10°C), was ascertained. Sweet types appeared more sensitive than fiber types to low temperature during germination. Base temperature varied with cultivar from 6.08°C to 10.68°C. The genetic variation in germination response to low temperature during germination is useful for the identification of genotypes of sorghum suitable to early sowings in semi­arid areas. In particular, criteria for selection are low base temperature and low thermal time requirements that if associated, ensure adequate seedling establishment standards when early sowings (March­April) are adopted in Mediterranean environment. Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 552-555

The main objective of this study is to quantify and evaluate CO2 emissions related to fuel consumption for groundnut cultivation in Turkey between 2011 and 2016. The methods were used for calculating CO2 emissions are recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Between 2011 and 2016, in Turkey, peanut was produced on an area of 35325.45 ha. The average groundnut production and the average yield were 129464 ton and 3655 kg per hectare (ha) over the last five-year period. It was found that the average fuel (diesel) consumption for groundnut cultivation were 13.06 g per kg of seed yield. The total CO2 emissions based on lower heating value of diesel fuel and lubricant oil were 5551.3 t CO2 per year. It was calculated that the average CO2 emission was 43.16 g per kg of groundnut seed. WOS: 000446219500001

The pine plantation area of the southeastern United States has increased over the past decades and is expected to grow further, partly as a result of increasing demand for industrial wood pellets. This potentially impacts biodiversity due to, for instance, habitat loss. No regional scale assessments were found on the species richness of pine plantations in this region, while regional scale assessments are important to show spatial variation in species richness across pine plantations and other land-cover classes. The preliminary results of this study provide a spatially explicit assessment of differences in vertebrate richness between pine plantations and other land-cover classes in the Southeastern United States. Potential species richness is calculated per grid cell per land-cover class per ecoregion, using habitat association data of the GAP Analysis Program of the US Geological Survey. The mean potential species richness of pine plantations per grid cell is relatively low, particularly compared to forested land. The largest differences between pine plantations and other land-cover classes are found in the coastal regions of the Southeastern United States, as well as scattered areas in the Appalachian mountains for amphibians and mammals. Because of the relatively low potential species richness and diversity in pine plantations, a future expansion could result in habitat loss. This study was carried out with a subset of 236 amphibian, reptile and mammal species. In addition, an offset problem was discovered. However, these data limitations are currently being addressed, allowing for improvement of the quality of the analysis. This will enable a more comprehensive evaluation of future implications of pine plantation expansion in the southeastern United States for vertebrate biodiversity. Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 1511-1524

Fast growing trees planted as Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) are an important source of lignocellulosic biomass, due to their high yields, good combustion quality, ecological and social benefits and relatively low production costs. The quality and the price of the biomass are determined by its particle size distribution, heating value, moisture and ash content. These parameters can vary significantly as a function of the wood species and the time between the cutting phase and the chipping phase.In 2015, the Department of Agriculture of the University of Naples Federico II and the Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (Crea), carried out some tests to identify the characteristics of the chips in eight different species grown as SRC, chipped after two months of storage: Fraxinus angustifolia, Robinia pseudoacacia, Salix alba, Populus nigra (Limatola) and four genotypes of Populus x euroamericana (Grimminge, Vesten, Hoogvorst, Muur). The average moisture content of the species was 29.30%, with an average heating value and ash content of 21.77 MJ kg-1 and 2.02%, respectively. These values differ among the various species and genotypes considered. The particle size distribution analysis revealed, instead, that independently from the species, the most represented class size was 45 to 3 mm. The variability observed in terms of dried biomass quality suggest the possibility to identify the species more suitable for the biomass combustion analyzing the mainly quality parameters, choosing the best species or different species mix wood chips to offer a better product in the commercial biomass marketing. Proceedings of the 26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 14-17 May 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 342-345