IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v9y2016i11p895-d81814.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of the Agronomic Feasibility of Bioenergy Crop Cultivation on Marginal and Polluted Land: A GIS-Based Suitability Study from the Sulcis Area, Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Pulighe

    (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Centro di Ricerca di Politiche e Bioeconomia, Via Po 14, Rome 00198, Italy)

  • Guido Bonati

    (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Centro di Ricerca di Politiche e Bioeconomia, Via Po 14, Rome 00198, Italy)

  • Stefano Fabiani

    (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Centro di Ricerca di Politiche e Bioeconomia, Via Po 14, Rome 00198, Italy)

  • Tommaso Barsali

    (Biochemtex SpA, Strada Ribrocca 11, Tortona 15057, Italy)

  • Flavio Lupia

    (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Centro di Ricerca di Politiche e Bioeconomia, Via Po 14, Rome 00198, Italy)

  • Silvia Vanino

    (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Centro di Ricerca di Politiche e Bioeconomia, Via Po 14, Rome 00198, Italy)

  • Pasquale Nino

    (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Centro di Ricerca di Politiche e Bioeconomia, Via Po 14, Rome 00198, Italy)

  • Pasquale Arca

    (Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, Sassari 07100, Italy)

  • Pier Paolo Roggero

    (Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, Sassari 07100, Italy
    Desertification Research Centre, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, Sassari 07100, Italy)

Abstract

In the context of environmental sustainability there has been an increasing interest in bioenergy production from renewable resources, and is expected that European biofuel production from energy crops will increase as a consequence of the achievement of policy targets. The aim of this paper is to assess the agronomic feasibility of biomass crop cultivation to provide profitable renewable feedstocks in a marginal and heavy-metal polluted area located in the Sulcis district, Sardinia (Italy). Results from literature review and unpublished data from field trials carried out in Sardinia were analysed to establish the main agronomic traits of crops (e.g., yield potential and input requirements). A Geographical Information System (GIS)-based procedure with remotely sensed data is also used to evaluate the land suitability and the actual land use/cover, considering a future scenario of expansion of energy crops on these marginal areas avoiding potential conflicts with food production. The results of the review suggests that giant reed, native perennial grasses and milk thistle are the most suitable energy crops for this area. The land suitability analysis shows that about 5700 ha and 1000 ha could be available for feedstock cultivation in the study area and in the most polluted area, respectively. The results obtained from land suitability process and agronomic evaluation will serve as a base to support technical and economical feasibility studies, as well as for the evaluation of environmental sustainability of the cultivation in the study area.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Pulighe & Guido Bonati & Stefano Fabiani & Tommaso Barsali & Flavio Lupia & Silvia Vanino & Pasquale Nino & Pasquale Arca & Pier Paolo Roggero, 2016. "Assessment of the Agronomic Feasibility of Bioenergy Crop Cultivation on Marginal and Polluted Land: A GIS-Based Suitability Study from the Sulcis Area, Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:11:p:895-:d:81814
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/11/895/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/11/895/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Garofalo, Pasquale & D'Andrea, Laura & Vonella, A. Vittorio & Rinaldi, Michele & Palumbo, A. Domenico, 2015. "Energy performance and efficiency of two sugar crops for the biofuel supply chain. Perspectives for sustainable field management in southern Italy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P2), pages 1548-1557.
    2. Laurent, A. & Pelzer, E. & Loyce, C. & Makowski, D., 2015. "Ranking yields of energy crops: A meta-analysis using direct and indirect comparisons," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 41-50.
    3. Dale, Virginia H. & Kline, Keith L. & Buford, Marilyn A. & Volk, Timothy A. & Tattersall Smith, C. & Stupak, Inge, 2016. "Incorporating bioenergy into sustainable landscape designs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1158-1171.
    4. Fabio De Menna & Remo Alessio Malagnino & Matteo Vittuari & Giovanni Molari & Giovanna Seddaiu & Paola A. Deligios & Stefania Solinas & Luigi Ledda, 2016. "Potential Biogas Production from Artichoke Byproducts in Sardinia, Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-11, February.
    5. Boehmel, Constanze & Lewandowski, Iris & Claupein, Wilhelm, 2008. "Comparing annual and perennial energy cropping systems with different management intensities," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 96(1-3), pages 224-236, March.
    6. Shortall, O.K., 2013. "“Marginal land” for energy crops: Exploring definitions and embedded assumptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 19-27.
    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. Cosette Khawaja & Rainer Janssen & Rita Mergner & Dominik Rutz & Marco Colangeli & Lorenzo Traverso & Maria Michela Morese & Manuela Hirschmugl & Carina Sobe & Alfonso Calera & David Cifuentes & Stefa, 2021. "Viability and Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy Value Chains on Underutilised Lands in the EU and Ukraine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Carlos S. Ciria & Marina Sanz & Juan Carrasco & Pilar Ciria, 2019. "Identification of Arable Marginal Lands under Rainfed Conditions for Bioenergy Purposes in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Patel, Beena & Patel, Akash & Gami, Bharat & Patel, Pankaj, 2020. "Energy balance, GHG emission and economy for cultivation of high biomass verities of bamboo, sorghum and pearl millet as energy crops at marginal ecologies of Gujarat state in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 816-823.
    4. Moritz Von Cossel & Iris Lewandowski & Berien Elbersen & Igor Staritsky & Michiel Van Eupen & Yasir Iqbal & Stefan Mantel & Danilo Scordia & Giorgio Testa & Salvatore Luciano Cosentino & Oksana Maliar, 2019. "Marginal Agricultural Land Low-Input Systems for Biomass Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-25, August.
    5. Christina Moulogianni & Thomas Bournaris, 2017. "Biomass Production from Crops Residues: Ranking of Agro-Energy Regions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-12, July.
    6. Di Lucia, Lorenzo & Usai, Domenico & Woods, Jeremy, 2018. "Designing landscapes for sustainable outcomes – The case of advanced biofuels," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 434-446.
    7. Attila Jámbor & Áron Török, 2019. "The Economics of Arundo donax —A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-22, August.
    8. Pulighe, Giuseppe & Bonati, Guido & Colangeli, Marco & Morese, Maria Michela & Traverso, Lorenzo & Lupia, Flavio & Khawaja, Cosette & Janssen, Rainer & Fava, Francesco, 2019. "Ongoing and emerging issues for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 58-70.
    9. Yakubu Abdul-Salam & Melf-Hinrich Ehlers & Jelte Harnmeijer, 2017. "Anaerobic Digestion of Feedstock Grown on Marginal Land: Break-Even Electricity Prices," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    10. Francesca Valenti & Simona M. C. Porto, 2019. "Net Electricity and Heat Generated by Reusing Mediterranean Agro-Industrial By-Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Shehu, Basiru Gwandu & Clarke, Michèle L., 2020. "Successful and sustainable crop based biodiesel programme in Nigeria through ecological optimisation and intersectoral policy realignment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(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. Ferrarini, Andrea & Serra, Paolo & Almagro, María & Trevisan, Marco & Amaducci, Stefano, 2017. "Multiple ecosystem services provision and biomass logistics management in bioenergy buffers: A state-of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 277-290.
    2. Monteleone, Massimo & Cammerino, Anna Rita Bernadette & Libutti, Angela, 2018. "Agricultural “greening” and cropland diversification trends: Potential contribution of agroenergy crops in Capitanata (South Italy)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 591-600.
    3. Sgroi, Filippo & Foderà, Mario & Trapani, Anna Maria Di & Tudisca, Salvatore & Testa, Riccardo, 2015. "Economic evaluation of biogas plant size utilizing giant reed," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 403-409.
    4. Garofalo, Pasquale & Mastrorilli, Marcello & Ventrella, Domenico & Vonella, Alessandro Vittorio & Campi, Pasquale, 2020. "Modelling the suitability of energy crops through a fuzzy-based system approach: The case of sugar beet in the bioethanol supply chain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    5. Garofalo, Pasquale & Campi, Pasquale & Vonella, Alessandro Vittorio & Mastrorilli, Marcello, 2018. "Application of multi-metric analysis for the evaluation of energy performance and energy use efficiency of sweet sorghum in the bioethanol supply-chain: A fuzzy-based expert system approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 313-324.
    6. Marek Helis & Maria Strzelczyk & Wojciech Golimowski & Aleksandra Steinhoff-Wrześniewska & Anna Paszkiewicz-Jasińska & Małgorzata Hawrot-Paw & Adam Koniuszy & Marek Hryniewicz, 2021. "Biomass Potential of the Marginal Land of the Polish Sudetes Mountain Range," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Efthymios Rodias & Remigio Berruto & Dionysis Bochtis & Alessandro Sopegno & Patrizia Busato, 2019. "Green, Yellow, and Woody Biomass Supply-Chain Management: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-22, August.
    8. Oskar Englund & Ioannis Dimitriou & Virginia H. Dale & Keith L. Kline & Blas Mola‐Yudego & Fionnuala Murphy & Burton English & John McGrath & Gerald Busch & Maria Cristina Negri & Mark Brown & Kevin G, 2020. "Multifunctional perennial production systems for bioenergy: performance and progress," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(5), September.
    9. 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.
    10. Erika Carnevale & Giovanni Molari & Matteo Vittuari, 2017. "Used Cooking Oils in the Biogas Chain: A Technical and Economic Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    11. Laurent, A. & Pelzer, E. & Loyce, C. & Makowski, D., 2015. "Ranking yields of energy crops: A meta-analysis using direct and indirect comparisons," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 41-50.
    12. Natalia Stefania Piotrowska & Stanisław Zbigniew Czachorowski & Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski, 2020. "Ground Beetles ( Carabidae ) in the Short-Rotation Coppice Willow and Poplar Plants—Synergistic Benefits System," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Monia El Akkari & Nosra Ben Fradj & Benoit Gabrielle & Sylvestre Njakou Djomo, 2023. "Spatially-explicit environmental assessment of bioethanol from miscanthus and switchgrass in France [Évaluation environnementale spatialement explicite du bioéthanol produit à partir de miscanthus ," Post-Print hal-04369771, HAL.
    14. Federico Battista & Nicola Frison & David Bolzonella, 2019. "Energy and Nutrients’ Recovery in Anaerobic Digestion of Agricultural Biomass: An Italian Perspective for Future Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-13, August.
    15. Ribeiro, Barbara E. & Quintanilla, Miguel A., 2015. "Transitions in biofuel technologies: An appraisal of the social impacts of cellulosic ethanol using the Delphi method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 53-68.
    16. Stolarski, Mariusz J. & Krzyżaniak, Michał & Warmiński, Kazimierz & Tworkowski, Józef & Szczukowski, Stefan & Olba–Zięty, Ewelina & Gołaszewski, Janusz, 2017. "Energy efficiency of perennial herbaceous crops production depending on the type of digestate and mineral fertilizers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 50-60.
    17. Manzone, Marco & Calvo, Angela, 2016. "Energy and CO2 analysis of poplar and maize crops for biomass production in north Italy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 675-681.
    18. Lorenzo Di Lucia & Barbara Ribeiro, 2018. "Enacting Responsibilities in Landscape Design: The Case of Advanced Biofuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, November.
    19. Ahmed, Abubakari, 2021. "Biofuel feedstock plantations closure and land abandonment in Ghana: New directions for land studies in Sub-Saharan Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    20. Kwiatkowski, Jacek & Graban, Łukasz & Stolarski, Mariusz J., 2023. "The energy efficiency of Virginia fanpetals biomass production for solid biofuel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).

    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:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:11:p:895-:d:81814. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.