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In accordance with European objectives, the Basilicata region intends to promote the use of energy systems and heat generators powered by lignocellulosic biomass, so the present study aimed to investigate the availability of logging residues and most suitable areas for the construction of bioenergy production plants. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was employed to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the biomass distribution and its transport, and spatial LCA was used to evaluate the impact of regional transport. One cubic meter kilometer (m3 km−1) was used as the functional unit and a small lorry was considered for the transport. The results showed that the available harvesting residues amounted to 36,000 m3 and their loading environmental impact accounted for 349 mPt m−3. The impacts of transport (4.01 mPt m−3) ranged from 3.4 to 144,400 mPt km−1 forest parcel−1, mainly affecting human health (95%) and, second, the ecosystem quality (5%). Three possible sites for bioenergy plant location were identified considering the environmental impact distribution due to feedstock transport. Findings from this research show the importance of considering the LCA of biomass acquisition in site selection and can fill the knowledge gaps in the available literature about spatial LCA.
Maria Pergola; Angelo Rita; Alfonso Tortora; Maria Castellaneta; Marco Borghetti; Antonio Sergio De Franchi; Antonio Lapolla; Nicola Moretti; Giovanni Pecora; Domenico Pierangeli; Luigi Todaro; Francesco Ripullone. Identification of Suitable Areas for Biomass Power Plant Construction through Environmental Impact Assessment of Forest Harvesting Residues Transportation. Energies 2020, 13, 2699 .
AMA StyleMaria Pergola, Angelo Rita, Alfonso Tortora, Maria Castellaneta, Marco Borghetti, Antonio Sergio De Franchi, Antonio Lapolla, Nicola Moretti, Giovanni Pecora, Domenico Pierangeli, Luigi Todaro, Francesco Ripullone. Identification of Suitable Areas for Biomass Power Plant Construction through Environmental Impact Assessment of Forest Harvesting Residues Transportation. Energies. 2020; 13 (11):2699.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Pergola; Angelo Rita; Alfonso Tortora; Maria Castellaneta; Marco Borghetti; Antonio Sergio De Franchi; Antonio Lapolla; Nicola Moretti; Giovanni Pecora; Domenico Pierangeli; Luigi Todaro; Francesco Ripullone. 2020. "Identification of Suitable Areas for Biomass Power Plant Construction through Environmental Impact Assessment of Forest Harvesting Residues Transportation." Energies 13, no. 11: 2699.
The livestock sector plays a fundamental role in human beings’ livelihood all over the world. However, significant changes have occurred in the last decades, transforming the livestock sector into a highly intensive economic activity with negative impacts on human health and the environment. Such a reality requires the identification of easy methods to apply to sustainable manure management. Composting is a clever approach to transform manure into a resource. Very limited scientific literature is available on techniques for composting in small and medium livestock farms. This paper describes, in detail, some on-farm composting plants made in Southern Italy within different rural contexts. A depth analysis of farm starting situation and nearby territory (resources/services) was performed to identify the least expensive/impactful composting logistics (reduction of ex novo farm investments and transport costs, etc.), making the action economically sustainable for farmers. This approach appears to be successful in guiding farmers towards the best composting technological option, based on pre-existent on-farm resources. These small-scale composting plants, reproducible in other similar contexts, allow one to turn manure into a product with a profitable placement on the market. For this reason, these manure management options should be widespread, especially under organic farming systems.
Assunta Maria Palese; Alessandro Persiani; Carmine D’Adamo; Maria Pergola; Vittoria Pastore; Rocco Sileo; Giuseppe Ippolito; Maria Assunta Lombardi; Giuseppe Celano. Composting as Manure Disposal Strategy in Small/Medium-Size Livestock Farms: Some Demonstrations with Operative Indications. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3315 .
AMA StyleAssunta Maria Palese, Alessandro Persiani, Carmine D’Adamo, Maria Pergola, Vittoria Pastore, Rocco Sileo, Giuseppe Ippolito, Maria Assunta Lombardi, Giuseppe Celano. Composting as Manure Disposal Strategy in Small/Medium-Size Livestock Farms: Some Demonstrations with Operative Indications. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (8):3315.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAssunta Maria Palese; Alessandro Persiani; Carmine D’Adamo; Maria Pergola; Vittoria Pastore; Rocco Sileo; Giuseppe Ippolito; Maria Assunta Lombardi; Giuseppe Celano. 2020. "Composting as Manure Disposal Strategy in Small/Medium-Size Livestock Farms: Some Demonstrations with Operative Indications." Sustainability 12, no. 8: 3315.
Olive oil is a widely used consumer product, so producers and consumers are increasingly looking for sustainable productions. The olive-oil production chain requires continuous improvements to gradually replace the most environmentally impactful practices with others that are more sustainable. This research aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the production of olive oil in the Campania region by comparing six olive oil production systems (two organic certified, two integrated, and two organic—hobbyists). The environmental impacts for the production of one liter of oil—from field cultivation to oil distribution—were quantified by applying the life cycle assessment methodology. Impact categories were calculated according to the CML method, with particular attention paid to global warming potential. The production of one liter of oil caused CO2eq emissions ranging from 0.22 to 3.39 kg. The least impacting cultivation method was the hobby one, which did not use pesticides and carried out organic fertilization. On average, packaging accounted for 60% of total impacts; consequently, the materials and formats choice by farms had strong effects on the environmental sustainability of oil production. This research highlights the problem of expressing sustainability judgments in agriculture, since there are no reference standards/targets that set limits beyond which agricultural productions are no longer sustainable.
Angela Maffia; Maria Pergola; Assunta Maria Palese; Giuseppe Celano. Environmental Impact Assessment of Organic vs. Integrated Olive-Oil Systems in Mediterranean Context. Agronomy 2020, 10, 416 .
AMA StyleAngela Maffia, Maria Pergola, Assunta Maria Palese, Giuseppe Celano. Environmental Impact Assessment of Organic vs. Integrated Olive-Oil Systems in Mediterranean Context. Agronomy. 2020; 10 (3):416.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAngela Maffia; Maria Pergola; Assunta Maria Palese; Giuseppe Celano. 2020. "Environmental Impact Assessment of Organic vs. Integrated Olive-Oil Systems in Mediterranean Context." Agronomy 10, no. 3: 416.
Currently, in Italy the cultivation of tobacco has strongly decreased and there is the need to organize substitute production chains that take into account current market demands. Medicinal plants can represent a possible alternative and an opportunity for the Italian agricultural sector. The aim of the present study was to assess the quality and the environmental sustainability of medicinal plants cultivation and processing using different drying techniques in a hilly area of the Campania region. The research was designed to investigate two drying systems (the recovery of a wooden structure for drying tobacco in the open air and a specific electric prototype for drying medicinal plants) and five cultivated medicinal species (marsh-mallow, absinthe, Californian poppy, lemon balm, thyme). To assess and compare quality efficiency and environmental performance, the life cycle assessment methodology was applied according to the ISO 14040-44. The functional unit was the production of one kilo of dried medicinal plants and, to meet the objectives of the research, the system boundaries included the cultivation of the plants, their transport to the drying structure and the herbs drying. Priority was given to primary data in terms of input material typologies and amounts used to estimate direct and indirect emissions. Results showed a good adaptability of the species to the pedo-climatic environment with high biomass yields. Both drying structures allowed to reach a final product with high quality and low moisture. The cultivation and the drying of one kg of medicinal plants caused mainly marine and fresh water ecotoxicity, abiotic depletion, eutrophication, air acidification and global warming. The lowest impacts occurred when drying took place in the open air under the wooden structure. The combination of the two systems organized with a first phase of drying in the open air at the individual farms by recovering the tobacco structures, and the next artificial stabilization of the product at a cooperative center, would reduce the overall environmental impact and ensure the quality of the product regardless of the harvesting period. These results could be easily used to support the quality supply chain of medicinal plants with low environmental impacts. Moreover, they highlighted an encouraging approach to evaluate a resilient reorganization when different agricultural productions go into crisis.
Enrica De Falco; Maria Pergola; Annapia Vece; Costantina Angiuoni; Giuseppe Celano. Application of the environmental impact assessment to medicinal plants cultivation and drying in a hilly area of Campania Region (Southern Italy). Italian Journal of Agronomy 2020, 15, 48 -56.
AMA StyleEnrica De Falco, Maria Pergola, Annapia Vece, Costantina Angiuoni, Giuseppe Celano. Application of the environmental impact assessment to medicinal plants cultivation and drying in a hilly area of Campania Region (Southern Italy). Italian Journal of Agronomy. 2020; 15 (1):48-56.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEnrica De Falco; Maria Pergola; Annapia Vece; Costantina Angiuoni; Giuseppe Celano. 2020. "Application of the environmental impact assessment to medicinal plants cultivation and drying in a hilly area of Campania Region (Southern Italy)." Italian Journal of Agronomy 15, no. 1: 48-56.
Horticultural farms are faced with the problem of disposing of huge amounts of agricultural by-products whose management requires sustainable solutions. Composting means to recycle organic waste to make compost—a high agronomic value product—able to positively affect soil quality: A good occasion to switch definitively from a conventional agriculture to an organic one. Nevertheless, composting can have negative direct/indirect environmental impacts. The aim of this research was to assess the sustainability of a windrow composting system, able to treat agricultural green waste of different typology (“light” and “heavy” with dry matter below or above 10%, respectively). Environmental impacts, energy consumptions, and production costs of all composting stages were evaluated by Life Cycle Assessment. Results show that the production of 1 ton of compost caused CO2eq emissions ranging from 199 to 250 kg and required between 1500 and 2000 MJ of energy; costs ranged between 98 and 162 euro, nevertheless lesser than the commercial green compost. The raw material typology affected significantly the composting process making compost based on “heavy” materials the most sustainable. These findings underline the need to spread this low technology process, easy to apply, especially in organic farms, and to promote the agronomic use of compost.
Maria Pergola; Alessandro Persiani; Vittoria Pastore; Assunta Maria Palese; Carmine D’Adamo; Enrica De Falco; Giuseppe Celano. Sustainability Assessment of the Green Compost Production Chain from Agricultural Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy. Agronomy 2020, 10, 230 .
AMA StyleMaria Pergola, Alessandro Persiani, Vittoria Pastore, Assunta Maria Palese, Carmine D’Adamo, Enrica De Falco, Giuseppe Celano. Sustainability Assessment of the Green Compost Production Chain from Agricultural Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy. Agronomy. 2020; 10 (2):230.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Pergola; Alessandro Persiani; Vittoria Pastore; Assunta Maria Palese; Carmine D’Adamo; Enrica De Falco; Giuseppe Celano. 2020. "Sustainability Assessment of the Green Compost Production Chain from Agricultural Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy." Agronomy 10, no. 2: 230.