IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v182y2023ics030142152300304x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biogas-based systems: An opportunity towards a post-fossil and circular economy perspective in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Sica, Daniela
  • Esposito, Benedetta
  • Supino, Stefania
  • Malandrino, Ornella
  • Sessa, Maria Rosaria

Abstract

This study adopts a life cycle approach to analyse the principal critical elements, opportunities and limits of biogas production's socio-economic aspects and environmental implications. From this perspective, the biogas supply chain sustainability and the opportunity for a closed-loop approach have been assessed starting from existing studies. The analysis revealed that the biogas sector could play a strategic role in making energy systems more resilient in a context characterised by sudden changes, such as the current scenario. In particular, the research is focused on this sector's potential to support the energy transition in Italy, which presents a structural vulnerability related to fossil resource scarcity. The paper contributes to the literature on the sustainable assessment of the biogas supply chain and paves the way for future researchers to understand the complex issues involved in the biogas sector sustainable development process. Furthermore, it provides policy, managerial and social implications, showing that the complete diffusion of biogas – a renewable, scalable and flexible resource – can foster security and decarbonisation of the energy system. It can also create new business opportunities at the local level, promoting a circular and bio-based economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Sica, Daniela & Esposito, Benedetta & Supino, Stefania & Malandrino, Ornella & Sessa, Maria Rosaria, 2023. "Biogas-based systems: An opportunity towards a post-fossil and circular economy perspective in Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:182:y:2023:i:c:s030142152300304x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113719
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142152300304X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113719?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Appels, Lise & Lauwers, Joost & Degrève, Jan & Helsen, Lieve & Lievens, Bart & Willems, Kris & Van Impe, Jan & Dewil, Raf, 2011. "Anaerobic digestion in global bio-energy production: Potential and research challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4295-4301.
    2. Wünsch, Karin & Gruber, Sabine & Claupein, Wilhelm, 2012. "Profitability analysis of cropping systems for biogas production on marginal sites in southwestern Germany," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 213-220.
    3. Pantaleo, Antonio & Gennaro, Bernardo De & Shah, Nilay, 2013. "Assessment of optimal size of anaerobic co-digestion plants: An application to cattle farms in the province of Bari (Italy)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 57-70.
    4. Lopolito, Antonio & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Sica, Edgardo, 2022. "The role of proximity in sustainability transitions: A technological niche evolution analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(3).
    5. Chen, Ling & Zhao, Lixin & Ren, Changshan & Wang, Fei, 2012. "The progress and prospects of rural biogas production in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 58-63.
    6. Hijazi, O. & Munro, S. & Zerhusen, B. & Effenberger, M., 2016. "Review of life cycle assessment for biogas production in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1291-1300.
    7. M. Samer & O. Hijazi & E. M. Abdelsalam & A. El-Hussein & Y. A. Attia & I. H. Yacoub & H. Bernhardt, 2021. "Life cycle assessment of using laser treatment and nanomaterials to produce biogas through anaerobic digestion of slurry," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 14683-14696, October.
    8. Valve, Helena & Lazarevic, David & Humalisto, Niko, 2021. "When the circular economy diverges: The co-evolution of biogas business models and material circuits in Finland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    9. D'Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Gastaldi, Massimo & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2020. "RES-T trajectories and an integrated SWOT-AHP analysis for biomethane. Policy implications to support a green revolution in European transport," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    10. Andrea G. Capodaglio & Arianna Callegari & Maria Virginia Lopez, 2016. "European Framework for the Diffusion of Biogas Uses: Emerging Technologies, Acceptance, Incentive Strategies, and Institutional-Regulatory Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-18, March.
    11. Mezzullo, William G. & McManus, Marcelle C. & Hammond, Geoff P., 2013. "Life cycle assessment of a small-scale anaerobic digestion plant from cattle waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 657-664.
    12. Pöschl, Martina & Ward, Shane & Owende, Philip, 2010. "Evaluation of energy efficiency of various biogas production and utilization pathways," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(11), pages 3305-3321, November.
    13. Yingkai Li, 2021. "Selling Data to an Agent with Endogenous Information," Papers 2103.05788, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    14. Linas Jurgutis & Alvyra Šlepetienė & Jonas Šlepetys & Jurgita Cesevičienė, 2021. "Towards a Full Circular Economy in Biogas Plants: Sustainable Management of Digestate for Growing Biomass Feedstocks and Use as Biofertilizer," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-14, July.
    15. Rehl, T. & Lansche, J. & Müller, J., 2012. "Life cycle assessment of energy generation from biogas—Attributional vs. consequential approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3766-3775.
    16. Meyer-Aurich, Andreas & Schattauer, Alexander & Hellebrand, Hans Jürgen & Klauss, Hilde & Plöchl, Matthias & Berg, Werner, 2012. "Impact of uncertainties on greenhouse gas mitigation potential of biogas production from agricultural resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 277-284.
    17. Murillo-Alvarado, Pascual Eduardo & Ponce-Ortega, José María, 2022. "An optimization approach to increase the human development index through a biogas supply chain in a developing region," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 347-357.
    18. Amiri, Shahnaz & Henning, Dag & Karlsson, Björn G., 2013. "Simulation and introduction of a CHP plant in a Swedish biogas system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 242-249.
    19. D’Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Huisingh, Donald & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2021. "A circular economy model based on biomethane: What are the opportunities for the municipality of Rome and beyond?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1660-1672.
    20. Diamantis, Vasileios & Eftaxias, Alexandros & Stamatelatou, Katerina & Noutsopoulos, Constantinos & Vlachokostas, Christos & Aivasidis, Alexandros, 2021. "Bioenergy in the era of circular economy: Anaerobic digestion technological solutions to produce biogas from lipid-rich wastes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 438-447.
    21. Bipasyana Dhungana & Sunil Prasad Lohani & Michael Marsolek, 2022. "Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste with Livestock Manure at Ambient Temperature: A Biogas Based Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Zhi & Su, Bosheng & Wang, Yilin & Yuan, Shuo & Huang, Yupeng & Li, Liang & Cai, Jiahao & Chen, Zhiqiang, 2024. "A novel biogas-driven CCHP system based on chemical reinjection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bacenetti, Jacopo & Sala, Cesare & Fusi, Alessandra & Fiala, Marco, 2016. "Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants: What LCA studies pointed out and what can be done to make them more environmentally sustainable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 669-686.
    2. Hijazi, O. & Munro, S. & Zerhusen, B. & Effenberger, M., 2016. "Review of life cycle assessment for biogas production in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1291-1300.
    3. Yazan, Devrim Murat & Fraccascia, Luca & Mes, Martijn & Zijm, Henk, 2018. "Cooperation in manure-based biogas production networks: An agent-based modeling approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 820-833.
    4. Mohammadrezaei, Rashed & Zareei, Samira & Behroozi- Khazaei, Nasser, 2018. "Optimum mixing rate in biogas reactors: Energy balance calculations and computational fluid dynamics simulation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 54-60.
    5. Robert Czubaszek & Agnieszka Wysocka-Czubaszek & Piotr Banaszuk, 2020. "GHG Emissions and Efficiency of Energy Generation through Anaerobic Fermentation of Wetland Biomass," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Auburger, Sebastian & Jacobs, Anna & Märländer, Bernward & Bahrs, Enno, 2016. "Economic optimization of feedstock mix for energy production with biogas technology in Germany with a special focus on sugar beets – Effects on greenhouse gas emissions and energy balances," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1-11.
    7. Djatkov, Djordje & Effenberger, Mathias & Martinov, Milan, 2014. "Method for assessing and improving the efficiency of agricultural biogas plants based on fuzzy logic and expert systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 163-175.
    8. Pierie, F. & van Someren, C.E.J. & Benders, R.M.J. & Bekkering, J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2015. "Environmental and energy system analysis of bio-methane production pathways: A comparison between feedstocks and process optimizations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 456-466.
    9. Pierie, F. & Benders, R.M.J. & Bekkering, J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2016. "Lessons from spatial and environmental assessment of energy potentials for Anaerobic Digestion production systems applied to the Netherlands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 233-244.
    10. Susanne Theuerl & Christiane Herrmann & Monika Heiermann & Philipp Grundmann & Niels Landwehr & Ulrich Kreidenweis & Annette Prochnow, 2019. "The Future Agricultural Biogas Plant in Germany: A Vision," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, January.
    11. Hamelin, Lorie & Møller, Henrik Bjarne & Jørgensen, Uffe, 2021. "Harnessing the full potential of biomethane towards tomorrow's bioeconomy: A national case study coupling sustainable agricultural intensification, emerging biogas technologies and energy system analy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Adams, P.W.R. & Mezzullo, W.G. & McManus, M.C., 2015. "Biomass sustainability criteria: Greenhouse gas accounting issues for biogas and biomethane facilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 95-109.
    13. Pierie, F. & Bekkering, J. & Benders, R.M.J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2016. "A new approach for measuring the environmental sustainability of renewable energy production systems: Focused on the modelling of green gas production pathways," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 131-138.
    14. Chen, Bin & Chen, Shaoqing, 2013. "Life cycle assessment of coupling household biogas production to agricultural industry: A case study of biogas-linked persimmon cultivation and processing system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 707-716.
    15. Lim, Cheolsoo & Kim, Daigon & Song, Changkeun & Kim, Jeongsoo & Han, Jinseok & Cha, Jun-Seok, 2015. "Performance and emission characteristics of a vehicle fueled with enriched biogas and natural gases," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 17-29.
    16. Bekkering, J. & Hengeveld, E.J. & van Gemert, W.J.T. & Broekhuis, A.A., 2015. "Will implementation of green gas into the gas supply be feasible in the future?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 409-417.
    17. Elena Tamburini & Mattias Gaglio & Giuseppe Castaldelli & Elisa Anna Fano, 2020. "Is Bioenergy Truly Sustainable When Land-Use-Change (LUC) Emissions Are Accounted for? The Case-Study of Biogas from Agricultural Biomass in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, April.
    18. Huang, Zhi & Su, Bosheng & Wang, Yilin & Yuan, Shuo & Huang, Yupeng & Li, Liang & Cai, Jiahao & Chen, Zhiqiang, 2024. "A novel biogas-driven CCHP system based on chemical reinjection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    19. Saha, Chayan Kumer & Nandi, Rajesh & Akter, Shammi & Hossain, Samira & Kabir, Kazi Bayzid & Kirtania, Kawnish & Islam, Md Tahmid & Guidugli, Laura & Reza, M. Toufiq & Alam, Md Monjurul, 2024. "Technical prospects and challenges of anaerobic co-digestion in Bangladesh: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    20. Jun Hou & Weifeng Zhang & Pei Wang & Zhengxia Dou & Liwei Gao & David Styles, 2017. "Greenhouse Gas Mitigation of Rural Household Biogas Systems in China: A Life Cycle Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:182:y:2023:i:c:s030142152300304x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.