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Biogas production and use can represent a win-win strategy providing multiple opportunities to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, while offering a range of important social, environmental and economic benefits. Nevertheless, as for other bioenergy pathways, biogas sustainability needs to be carefully assessed and continuously monitored in light of the specific geographic and temporal context in which it performs. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review on the sustainability assessment of domestic production and use of biogas in Italy, with a focus on the environmental dimension of the sustainability. Furthermore, it elaborates on the results of the review to perform an ex-novo sustainability assessment of biogas pathway at national level, through the methodology developed by the Global Bioenergy Partnership. The biogas value chain in Italy can play a positive role to foster the transition towards an ecological and circular economy. This paper highlights both weaknesses and strengths of the biogas value chain in Italy and points out existing differences, in relation to the sustainability of the value chain, between various geographical areas of the country. The outcomes of this study could inform, both at national and international scale, the drawing of tailor-made policies and measures to reduce biogas-related potential risks of environmental impacts, as well as to support the replication and scaling up of successful management practices. Furthermore, they could serve as a baseline for the future monitoring of the sector. Ultimately, the paper reports the key difficulties encountered in the implementation of the GBEP methodology and the solutions adopted to overcome them.
Tiziana Pirelli; Alessandro Chiumenti; Maria Michela Morese; Guido Bonati; Stefano Fabiani; Giuseppe Pulighe. Environmental sustainability of the biogas pathway in Italy through the methodology of the Global Bioenergy Partnership. Journal of Cleaner Production 2021, 318, 128483 .
AMA StyleTiziana Pirelli, Alessandro Chiumenti, Maria Michela Morese, Guido Bonati, Stefano Fabiani, Giuseppe Pulighe. Environmental sustainability of the biogas pathway in Italy through the methodology of the Global Bioenergy Partnership. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2021; 318 ():128483.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTiziana Pirelli; Alessandro Chiumenti; Maria Michela Morese; Guido Bonati; Stefano Fabiani; Giuseppe Pulighe. 2021. "Environmental sustainability of the biogas pathway in Italy through the methodology of the Global Bioenergy Partnership." Journal of Cleaner Production 318, no. : 128483.
Bioenergy from renewable resources plays a central role in the transition toward net-zero emission of carbon dioxide and low-energy circular economy. The main objective of this work was to examine the main challenges and opportunities for producing renewable biomass feedstocks and developing realistic bioenergy value chain s in the European Union. The main support schemes and regulatory instruments were investigated, linking sustainability issues, certification schemes and smart farming examples for promoting market uptake in a framework of the sustainable energy cropping system.
Giuseppe Pulighe; Filiberto Altobelli; Guido Bonati; Flavio Lupia. Challenges and Opportunities for Growing Bioenergy Crops in the EU: Linking Support Schemes With Sustainability Issues Towards Carbon Neutrality. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Pulighe, Filiberto Altobelli, Guido Bonati, Flavio Lupia. Challenges and Opportunities for Growing Bioenergy Crops in the EU: Linking Support Schemes With Sustainability Issues Towards Carbon Neutrality. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Pulighe; Filiberto Altobelli; Guido Bonati; Flavio Lupia. 2021. "Challenges and Opportunities for Growing Bioenergy Crops in the EU: Linking Support Schemes With Sustainability Issues Towards Carbon Neutrality." Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences , no. : 1.
Extensive surfaces of land are currently under-utilized, marginal and/or contaminated (MUC) in many EU and neighbouring countries. In the past few years, scientific research has demonstrated that bioenergy crops can potentially render this land profitable, generating income for the local populations and, at the same time, reaching the goals of the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII) without interfering with food production. The main purpose of this paper is to measure net economic returns by computing benefits and costs of low indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) biofuel production on MUC land from the perspective of both the private investors and social welfare. A standard cost-benefit technique was applied to analyse and compare net returns of different advanced bioenergy value-chains in monetary terms. Productivity, economic feasibility and green-house gas (GHG) emissions impact were assessed and considered for the economic analysis. The considered pathways were cellulosic or second generation (2G) ethanol from Giant reed (Arundo donax) in Italy, electricity from miscanthus, biochemicals from spontaneous grass and cultivated Lucerne (Alpha-alfae) with sorghum for biomethane in Germany, and 2G ethanol from Willow (Salix viminalis) in Ukraine. For the risk assessment, Monte Carlo simulation was applied. The results indicated that in Italy and Ukraine, although the production of 2G ethanol would allow positive net yearly margins, the investments will not be profitable compared to the baseline scenarios. In Germany, the work showed good profitability for combined heat and power (CHP) and biochemicals. On the other hand, investments in biomethane showed negative results compared with the baseline scenarios. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation enabled us to identify the range of possible economic results that could be attained once volatility is factored in. While for Italy the likelihood of yielding positive results remains lower than 20 percent, case studies in Ukraine and Germany showed higher certainty levels, ranging from 49 to 91 percent.
Traverso L.; Mazzoli E.; Miller C.; Pulighe G.; Perelli C.; Morese M. M.; Branca G.. Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis of Low iLUC Bioenergy Production in Europe Using Monte Carlo Simulation. Energies 2021, 14, 1650 .
AMA StyleTraverso L., Mazzoli E., Miller C., Pulighe G., Perelli C., Morese M. M., Branca G.. Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis of Low iLUC Bioenergy Production in Europe Using Monte Carlo Simulation. Energies. 2021; 14 (6):1650.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTraverso L.; Mazzoli E.; Miller C.; Pulighe G.; Perelli C.; Morese M. M.; Branca G.. 2021. "Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis of Low iLUC Bioenergy Production in Europe Using Monte Carlo Simulation." Energies 14, no. 6: 1650.
Bioenergy represents the highest share of renewable energies consumed in the European Union and is still expected to grow. This could be possible by exploring bioenergy production on Marginal, Underutilised, and Contaminated lands (MUC) that are not used for agricultural purposes and therefore, present no competition with food/feed production. In this paper, the viability and sustainability of bioenergy value chains on these lands is investigated and measures for market uptake were developed. Using three case study areas in Italy, Ukraine, and Germany, a screening of MUC lands was conducted, then an agronomic assessment was performed to determine the most promising crops. Then, techno-economic assessments followed by sustainability assessments were performed on selected value chains. This concept was then automated and expanded through the development of a webGIS tool. The tool is an online platform that allows users to locate MUC lands in Europe, to define a value chain through the selection of bioenergy crops and pathways, and to conduct sustainability assessments measuring a set of environmental, social, and economic sustainability indicators. The findings showed positive results in terms of profitability and greenhouse gas emissions for bioethanol production from willow in Ukraine, heat and power production from miscanthus, and biogas and chemicals production from grass in Germany. The webGIS tool is considered an important decision-making tool for stakeholders, which gives first insights on the viability and sustainability of bioenergy value chains.
Cosette Khawaja; Rainer Janssen; Rita Mergner; Dominik Rutz; Marco Colangeli; Lorenzo Traverso; Maria Morese; Manuela Hirschmugl; Carina Sobe; Alfonso Calera; David Cifuentes; Stefano Fabiani; Giuseppe Pulighe; Tiziana Pirelli; Guido Bonati; Oleksandra Tryboi; Olha Haidai; Raul Köhler; Dirk Knoche; Rainer Schlepphorst; Peter Gyuris. Viability and Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy Value Chains on Underutilised Lands in the EU and Ukraine. Energies 2021, 14, 1566 .
AMA StyleCosette Khawaja, Rainer Janssen, Rita Mergner, Dominik Rutz, Marco Colangeli, Lorenzo Traverso, Maria Morese, Manuela Hirschmugl, Carina Sobe, Alfonso Calera, David Cifuentes, Stefano Fabiani, Giuseppe Pulighe, Tiziana Pirelli, Guido Bonati, Oleksandra Tryboi, Olha Haidai, Raul Köhler, Dirk Knoche, Rainer Schlepphorst, Peter Gyuris. Viability and Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy Value Chains on Underutilised Lands in the EU and Ukraine. Energies. 2021; 14 (6):1566.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCosette Khawaja; Rainer Janssen; Rita Mergner; Dominik Rutz; Marco Colangeli; Lorenzo Traverso; Maria Morese; Manuela Hirschmugl; Carina Sobe; Alfonso Calera; David Cifuentes; Stefano Fabiani; Giuseppe Pulighe; Tiziana Pirelli; Guido Bonati; Oleksandra Tryboi; Olha Haidai; Raul Köhler; Dirk Knoche; Rainer Schlepphorst; Peter Gyuris. 2021. "Viability and Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy Value Chains on Underutilised Lands in the EU and Ukraine." Energies 14, no. 6: 1566.
Climate change poses a serious risk to the economic growth of sub-Saharan Africa. Sustainable enhancement of resilience and mitigation capacity of small farm households is a major political economy goal. This paper has the objective to assess the on-farm economic and mitigation benefits of climate-smart agriculture production and their cost-effectiveness to be used as a prioritization criterion for policy incentives. An interdisciplinary model which integrates elements of economics and ecological science at farm-scale is developed and applied using a unique dataset for Malawi and Zambia built through household surveys. Results show that switching from conventional to climate-smart farming enhances economic returns more significantly in semi-dry areas than in sub-humid ones. However, high up-front costs hinder technology adoption. Negative abatement costs for most smart farming options indicate synergies between livelihood enhancement and mitigation. Land management based on minimum tillage, crop residues incorporation, use of cover crops, and inclusion of legumes has relatively higher economic returns. Agroforestry provides lower economic returns but the highest emission abatement potential. Payments for mitigation benefits could be a management strategy to incentivize cleaner agriculture production if tailored appropriately. These results strengthen the case for public support to climate-smart agriculture scaling-up within policy and planning strategies.
Giacomo Branca; Aslihan Arslan; Adriana Paolantonio; Uwe Grewer; Andrea Cattaneo; Romina Cavatassi; Leslie Lipper; Jonathan Hillier; Sylvia Vetter. Assessing the economic and mitigation benefits of climate-smart agriculture and its implications for political economy: A case study in Southern Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 285, 125161 .
AMA StyleGiacomo Branca, Aslihan Arslan, Adriana Paolantonio, Uwe Grewer, Andrea Cattaneo, Romina Cavatassi, Leslie Lipper, Jonathan Hillier, Sylvia Vetter. Assessing the economic and mitigation benefits of climate-smart agriculture and its implications for political economy: A case study in Southern Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 285 ():125161.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiacomo Branca; Aslihan Arslan; Adriana Paolantonio; Uwe Grewer; Andrea Cattaneo; Romina Cavatassi; Leslie Lipper; Jonathan Hillier; Sylvia Vetter. 2020. "Assessing the economic and mitigation benefits of climate-smart agriculture and its implications for political economy: A case study in Southern Africa." Journal of Cleaner Production 285, no. : 125161.
Several EU and neighboring countries have relevant surfaces of land that are currently largely marginal, under-utilized and/or contaminated (MUC). In the last decade, many scientific studies have demonstrated how bioenergy crops have the potential to be grown profitably on this land and can therefore offer a source of income to local populations while contributing to achieving the targets of the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII). In this context, the paper analyses the main agronomic and techno-economic aspects affecting the uptake of cellulosic ethanol or second generation (2G ethanol) production on MUC lands in the Ivankiv Region of Ukraine, a lower-middle income country, and in the Sulcis area of Sardinia in Italy, a high-income country. The use of MUC lands for the production of 2G ethanol mitigates negative impacts on food security by reducing the risk of indirect land use change (iLUC). The findings suggest that 2G ethanol would be produced at a cost of EUR 936/ton in Italy and EUR 758/ton in Ukraine, with a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, the study describes the main barriers and obstacles to the market uptake of 2G ethanol and analyses the effects of existing policies on the economic feasibility of the fuel production in those countries. Current policies do not allow the production of 2G ethanol to be competitive on the market; the study highlights the need to provide consistent and stable long-term bioenergy policies, including but not limited to financial support, to facilitate market penetration and competitiveness.
L. Traverso; M. Colangeli; M. Morese; Giuseppe Pulighe; G. Branca. Opportunities and constraints for implementation of cellulosic ethanol value chains in Europe. Biomass and Bioenergy 2020, 141, 105692 .
AMA StyleL. Traverso, M. Colangeli, M. Morese, Giuseppe Pulighe, G. Branca. Opportunities and constraints for implementation of cellulosic ethanol value chains in Europe. Biomass and Bioenergy. 2020; 141 ():105692.
Chicago/Turabian StyleL. Traverso; M. Colangeli; M. Morese; Giuseppe Pulighe; G. Branca. 2020. "Opportunities and constraints for implementation of cellulosic ethanol value chains in Europe." Biomass and Bioenergy 141, no. : 105692.
Transformation in the smallholder agricultural sector towards more sustainable and cleaner production systems is needed in Southern Africa. Climate-smart agriculture could be an opportunity in this respect. The paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of the public investment program to promote climate-smart agriculture in Lesotho. Economic profitability of investing in such program in nationwide crop, livestock and aquaculture smallholders’ production is assessed, considering costs and benefits at private level and those that accrue to society. Given uncertainty about the future, a development pathway commercially oriented is compared with a pathway aimed at increasing households’ capacity to adapt their farming systems to the changing climate. Investment returns are above the opportunity cost of capital, under both pathways, indicating the convenience for farmers and the whole society in investing in climate-smart agriculture. The program also leads to a decrease in the greenhouse gas emissions’ intensity, positively contributing to climate change mitigation. The economic evaluation of the carbon-balance increases societal profitability of the environmental program.
Giacomo Branca; Ademola Braimoh; Yuxuan Zhao; Motselisi Ratii; Puseletso Likoetla. Are there opportunities for climate-smart agriculture? Assessing costs and benefits of sustainability investments and planning policies in Southern Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 278, 123847 .
AMA StyleGiacomo Branca, Ademola Braimoh, Yuxuan Zhao, Motselisi Ratii, Puseletso Likoetla. Are there opportunities for climate-smart agriculture? Assessing costs and benefits of sustainability investments and planning policies in Southern Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 278 ():123847.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiacomo Branca; Ademola Braimoh; Yuxuan Zhao; Motselisi Ratii; Puseletso Likoetla. 2020. "Are there opportunities for climate-smart agriculture? Assessing costs and benefits of sustainability investments and planning policies in Southern Africa." Journal of Cleaner Production 278, no. : 123847.
The COVID-19 emergency has revealed the extreme fragility of large cities to unexpected complex global risks and crises. City lockdown has led to increasing awareness of the vital importance of food availability for citizens. The combined effect of border closure and movement restrictions increased food losses and export costs, especially for vegetables and perishable goods exposing non-self-sufficient countries. We claim the idea that urban agriculture in developed countries should be fostered with emerging growing practices and edible green infrastructures, such as vertical farming, hydroponics, aeroponic, aquaponic, and rooftop greenhouses. Notwithstanding the limitations of traditional urban farming activities, innovative and disruptive solutions and short food supply chains of fresh agricultural products might play a positive role in lessening uncertainties from global systemic risks.
Giuseppe Pulighe; Flavio Lupia. Food First: COVID-19 Outbreak and Cities Lockdown a Booster for a Wider Vision on Urban Agriculture. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5012 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Pulighe, Flavio Lupia. Food First: COVID-19 Outbreak and Cities Lockdown a Booster for a Wider Vision on Urban Agriculture. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (12):5012.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Pulighe; Flavio Lupia. 2020. "Food First: COVID-19 Outbreak and Cities Lockdown a Booster for a Wider Vision on Urban Agriculture." Sustainability 12, no. 12: 5012.
Water used for irrigation is essential for global food production. Increased water scarcity, due to climate change, is a constraint to agricultural development, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. This increases pressure on agriculture which often manages water inefficiently and competes with other sectors for water use. Enhancing farmers’ production efficiency may lead to substantial water savings and conservation. Public sector is called to play a role in water governance and to introduce appropriate multilevel regulatory and incentive measures for better water management. This work applies a spatial stochastic frontier model to the case of high water-demanding fruit and vegetable crops in the Apulia region of Southern Italy, where water is scarce due to semi-arid climate and erratic rainfall. Using cross-sectional data from the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network, this work incorporates firm specific heterogeneity into technical efficiency analysis and implements an autoregressive specification of the inefficiency component. Results support the hypothesis that spatial heterogeneity exists in on-farm efficiency of irrigated crop production and is adequately captured by the spatial stochastic frontier model approach. Technical efficiency of farms with similar structural and management characteristics greatly varies across crops and geographical areas, because of the different natural resource endowment and agro-climatic factors. Policies providing incentives to on-farm adoption of modern water-saving technologies and measures to promote small family farm activities could effectively contribute to water conservation goal, but they should be well-articulated to account for agriculture spatial diverseness.
Tiziana Laureti; Ilaria Benedetti; Giacomo Branca. Water use efficiency and public goods conservation: A spatial stochastic frontier model applied to irrigation in Southern Italy. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 2020, 73, 100856 .
AMA StyleTiziana Laureti, Ilaria Benedetti, Giacomo Branca. Water use efficiency and public goods conservation: A spatial stochastic frontier model applied to irrigation in Southern Italy. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. 2020; 73 ():100856.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTiziana Laureti; Ilaria Benedetti; Giacomo Branca. 2020. "Water use efficiency and public goods conservation: A spatial stochastic frontier model applied to irrigation in Southern Italy." Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 73, no. : 100856.
African smallholders should adopt climate-smart agriculture to make a sustainable transition towards cleaner, circular and more productive food systems. Farmers must play a key role in that process. However, the adoption and diffusion of climate-smart technologies have been slow. Here, a cross-sectional econometric analysis using primary data on sustainable farming practices in the cereal-legume farming systems of Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania is applied to analyse the drivers and intensity of innovation adoption. Socio-economic barriers reduce adoption intensity among marginalised farmers, and proper incentives are needed to overcome them. Business links between technology-ready smallholders and small-to-medium enterprises must be created to enable the uptake and scaling-up of innovations and the development of industrial application models. Such results can support the design of evidence-based strategies for the sustainable transformation of production systems. While national climate policies already include climate-smart agriculture as an adaptation blueprint, policy makers need empirical evidence to support large-scale adoption. This research is an innovative contribution to that effort. It uses a unique household dataset where data is scarce; it considers the impact of smallholders’ conditioning factors on technology climate-smartness level; and it estimates the correlations among a wide range of practices, agro-ecologies and geographical contexts.
Giacomo Branca; Chiara Perelli. ‘Clearing the air’: common drivers of climate-smart smallholder food production in Eastern and Southern Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 270, 121900 .
AMA StyleGiacomo Branca, Chiara Perelli. ‘Clearing the air’: common drivers of climate-smart smallholder food production in Eastern and Southern Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 270 ():121900.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiacomo Branca; Chiara Perelli. 2020. "‘Clearing the air’: common drivers of climate-smart smallholder food production in Eastern and Southern Africa." Journal of Cleaner Production 270, no. : 121900.
Over the past decade, a growing body of literature recognizes the importance of urban agriculture (UA) as relevant phenomenon able to interconnect a range of environmental, economic, and social issues in urban areas. In parallel with food production, UA contributes to climate change mitigation, biodiversity promotion, rainwater regulation, and cultural and health and equity issues. The aim of this chapter is to explore the relationship between water use and UA in cities in the context of the water–food–energy–ecosystem nexus in both developed and low-income countries. Furthermore, crop water use in the framework of irrigation water requirements in urban environment was emphasized. By exploring the interlinkages among water use, rainwater harvesting, and ecosystem services provided by UA as key component of urban green infrastructures, this work attempts to provide new insights into urban water management, with recommendations and suggestions for urban farmers, city planners, and policymakers for more sustainable and multifunctional urban food systems.
Giuseppe Pulighe; Valentina Carta; Flavio Lupia. Urban Agriculture and Water Use in the Search for Sustainability Options. Handbook of Environmental Materials Management 2020, 1 -13.
AMA StyleGiuseppe Pulighe, Valentina Carta, Flavio Lupia. Urban Agriculture and Water Use in the Search for Sustainability Options. Handbook of Environmental Materials Management. 2020; ():1-13.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Pulighe; Valentina Carta; Flavio Lupia. 2020. "Urban Agriculture and Water Use in the Search for Sustainability Options." Handbook of Environmental Materials Management , no. : 1-13.
Predicting the availability and quality of freshwater resources is a pressing concern in the Mediterranean area, where a number of agricultural systems depend solely on precipitation. This study aims at predicting streamflow and nonpoint pollutant loads in a temporary river system in the Mediterranean basin (Sulcis area, Sardinia, Italy). Monthly discharge, suspended sediment, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, mineral phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen in-stream monitoring data from gauge stations were used to calibrate and validate the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model for the period 1979–2009. A Sequential Uncertainty Fitting procedure was used to auto-calibrate parameter uncertainties and model evaluation. Monthly simulation during the validation period showed a positive model performance for streamflow with Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency and percent bias values of 0.7% and 18.7%, respectively. The simulation results at a watershed level indicate that the sediment load was 1.13 t ha−1 year−1, while for total nitrogen and total phosphorus, the simulated values were 4.8 and 1.18 kg ha−1 year−1, respectively. These results were consistent with the values of soil and nutrient losses observed in the Mediterranean area, although hot-spot areas with high nutrient loadings were identified. The calibrated model could be used to assess long-term impacts on water quality associated with the simulated land use scenarios.
Giuseppe Pulighe; Guido Bonati; Marco Colangeli; Lorenzo Traverso; Flavio Lupia; Filiberto Altobelli; Anna Dalla Marta; Marco Napoli. Predicting Streamflow and Nutrient Loadings in a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Watershed with Ephemeral Streams Using the SWAT Model. Agronomy 2019, 10, 2 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Pulighe, Guido Bonati, Marco Colangeli, Lorenzo Traverso, Flavio Lupia, Filiberto Altobelli, Anna Dalla Marta, Marco Napoli. Predicting Streamflow and Nutrient Loadings in a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Watershed with Ephemeral Streams Using the SWAT Model. Agronomy. 2019; 10 (1):2.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Pulighe; Guido Bonati; Marco Colangeli; Lorenzo Traverso; Flavio Lupia; Filiberto Altobelli; Anna Dalla Marta; Marco Napoli. 2019. "Predicting Streamflow and Nutrient Loadings in a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Watershed with Ephemeral Streams Using the SWAT Model." Agronomy 10, no. 1: 2.
Urban agriculture in Global North cities is strongly promoted as a sustainable solution to achieve different goals, such as food production, quality of life, and well-being. Although several attempts have been made to evaluate urban agriculture production, few studies have investigated food production in a multitemporal geospatial way and considered per capita population needs, gender, and age strata consumption. This study presents a spatiotemporal quantification of urban agriculture in the city of Milan (Italy) for assessing food self-provisioning potential. We utilized high-resolution Google Earth images and ancillary data to create a detailed cadaster of urban agriculture for the years 2007 and 2014. Based on four scenarios of food production and statistical data on vegetables and cereals consumption, we estimated current total production and requirements for the city dwellers. Our results showed that the actual extension of vegetable gardens (98 ha) and arable land (2539 ha) in the best scenario could satisfy approximately 63,700 and 321,000 consumers of vegetables and cereal products, respectively. Overall, current urban agriculture production is not able to meet vegetables and cereal consumption for more than 1.3 million city residents. Scenario estimates suggest rethinking land use promoting horticultural production to achieve more sustainable food systems.
Giuseppe Pulighe; Flavio Lupia. Multitemporal Geospatial Evaluation of Urban Agriculture and (Non)-Sustainable Food Self-Provisioning in Milan, Italy. Sustainability 2019, 11, 1846 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Pulighe, Flavio Lupia. Multitemporal Geospatial Evaluation of Urban Agriculture and (Non)-Sustainable Food Self-Provisioning in Milan, Italy. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (7):1846.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Pulighe; Flavio Lupia. 2019. "Multitemporal Geospatial Evaluation of Urban Agriculture and (Non)-Sustainable Food Self-Provisioning in Milan, Italy." Sustainability 11, no. 7: 1846.
The cultivation of marginal lands for bioenergy production has recently become a topic of research interest for the agronomic and agricultural economy scientific communities. The growing availability of arable land in the Mediterranean regions, as a consequence of the decline of cereal cropping systems and grain legume, provides ample opportunities for performing successful feedstock production on unmanaged areas. This paper seeks to capture and analyze ongoing and emerging questions concerning bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean area in a framework of sustainability indicators. A qualitative methodology was adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of eight critical issues that bio-energy developers, scholars and policymakers should consider in terms of agronomic, techno-economic and methodological practices for growing bioenergy feedstock. The issues investigated on selected case studies are: Greenhouse gas emissions; soil quality; land restoration and phytoremediation capacity; water use and efficiency; biodiversity; land use/cover changes; farmers’ willingness and acceptance of new agro-system, and profitability of value chain. Starting from an in-depth analysis of the definition of marginal land from the perspective of ecosystem service cascade, we synthesize how these challenges are nowadays addressed and which are the key bottlenecks, trends and potential directions for guiding future research into bioenergy production in the Mediterranean regions. The findings of this study suggest that dedicated energy crops can be grown on marginal lands with substantial positive effects in terms of sustainability aspects, although more efforts should be carried out through agronomic research especially on water use efficiency and biodiversity conservation, as well as by national and EU institutions and policies for promoting economic opportunities and integration with surrounding agro-ecosystems and farmers’ involvement. Developing a site-specific landscape design with the use of Life Cycle Assessment and certification schemes with sustainability indicators is of primary importance for the effective bioenergy production on marginal lands.
Giuseppe Pulighe; Guido Bonati; Marco Colangeli; Maria Michela Morese; Lorenzo Traverso; Flavio Lupia; Cosette Khawaja; Rainer Janssen; Francesco Pietro Fava. Ongoing and emerging issues for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean regions. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2018, 103, 58 -70.
AMA StyleGiuseppe Pulighe, Guido Bonati, Marco Colangeli, Maria Michela Morese, Lorenzo Traverso, Flavio Lupia, Cosette Khawaja, Rainer Janssen, Francesco Pietro Fava. Ongoing and emerging issues for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean regions. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2018; 103 ():58-70.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Pulighe; Guido Bonati; Marco Colangeli; Maria Michela Morese; Lorenzo Traverso; Flavio Lupia; Cosette Khawaja; Rainer Janssen; Francesco Pietro Fava. 2018. "Ongoing and emerging issues for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean regions." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 103, no. : 58-70.
The occurrence of water shortages ascribed to projected climate change, especially in the Mediterranean region, fosters the interest in remote sensing (RS) applications to optimize water use in agriculture. Remote sensing evapotranspiration and water demand estimation over large cultivated areas were used to manage irrigation to minimize losses during the crop growing cycle. The research aimed to explore the potential of the MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) sensor on board Sentinel-2A to estimate crop parameters, mainly surface albedo (α) and Leaf Area Index (LAI) that influence the dynamics of potential evapotranspiration (ETp) and Irrigation Water Requirements (IWR) of processing tomato crop (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Maximum tomato ETp was calculated according to the FAO Penman-Monteith equation (FAO-56 PM) using appropriate values of canopy parameters derived by processing Sentinel-2A data in combination with daily weather information. For comparison, we used the actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) derived from the soil water balance (SWB) module in the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model and calibrated with in-situ Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM). The experiment was set up in a privately-owned farm located in the Tarquinia irrigation district (Central Italy) during two growing seasons, within the framework of the EU Project FATIMA (FArming Tools for external nutrient Inputs and water Management). The results showed that canopy growth, maximum evapotranspiration (ETp) and IWR were accurately inferred from satellite observations following seasonal rainfall and air temperature patterns. The net estimated IWR from satellite observations for the two-growing seasons was about 272 and 338 mm in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Such estimated requirement was lower compared with the actual amount supplied by the farmer with sprinkler and drip micro-irrigation system in both growing seasons resulting in 364 (276 mm drip micro-irrigation, and 88 mm sprinkler) and 662 (574 mm drip micro-irrigation, and 88 mm sprinkler) mm, respectively. Our findings indicated the suitability of Sentinel-2A to predict tomato water demand at field level, providing useful information for optimizing the irrigation over extended farmland.
Silvia Vanino; Pasquale Nino; Carlo De Michele; Salvatore Falanga Bolognesi; Guido D'Urso; Claudia Di Bene; Bruno Pennelli; Francesco Vuolo; Roberta Farina; Giuseppe Pulighe; Rosario Napoli. Capability of Sentinel-2 data for estimating maximum evapotranspiration and irrigation requirements for tomato crop in Central Italy. Remote Sensing of Environment 2018, 215, 452 -470.
AMA StyleSilvia Vanino, Pasquale Nino, Carlo De Michele, Salvatore Falanga Bolognesi, Guido D'Urso, Claudia Di Bene, Bruno Pennelli, Francesco Vuolo, Roberta Farina, Giuseppe Pulighe, Rosario Napoli. Capability of Sentinel-2 data for estimating maximum evapotranspiration and irrigation requirements for tomato crop in Central Italy. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2018; 215 ():452-470.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSilvia Vanino; Pasquale Nino; Carlo De Michele; Salvatore Falanga Bolognesi; Guido D'Urso; Claudia Di Bene; Bruno Pennelli; Francesco Vuolo; Roberta Farina; Giuseppe Pulighe; Rosario Napoli. 2018. "Capability of Sentinel-2 data for estimating maximum evapotranspiration and irrigation requirements for tomato crop in Central Italy." Remote Sensing of Environment 215, no. : 452-470.
The paper proposes a methodology to assess water consumption in urban agriculture. Green and blue water footprints were calculated for five selected community gardens (CGs) in Rome (Italy) based on weather, crops, and yields. Then, the water requirement for all the CGs of the city, identified by means of a geodatabase, was estimated. For a cultivated area of 4.06 ha, an overall water requirement of 22,036 m3 (13,596 m3 green and 8,440 m3 blue) resulted from the assessment. Considering also the efficiency of the irrigation system, blue water consumption would reach 20,000 m3 in the worst scenario (furrow irrigation).
Anna Dalla Marta; Ada Baldi; Anna Lenzi; Flavio Lupia; Giuseppe Pulighe; Emanuele Santini; Simone Orlandini; Filiberto Altobelli. A methodological approach for assessing the impact of urban agriculture on water resources: a case study for community gardens in Rome (Italy). Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 2018, 43, 228 -240.
AMA StyleAnna Dalla Marta, Ada Baldi, Anna Lenzi, Flavio Lupia, Giuseppe Pulighe, Emanuele Santini, Simone Orlandini, Filiberto Altobelli. A methodological approach for assessing the impact of urban agriculture on water resources: a case study for community gardens in Rome (Italy). Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. 2018; 43 (2):228-240.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnna Dalla Marta; Ada Baldi; Anna Lenzi; Flavio Lupia; Giuseppe Pulighe; Emanuele Santini; Simone Orlandini; Filiberto Altobelli. 2018. "A methodological approach for assessing the impact of urban agriculture on water resources: a case study for community gardens in Rome (Italy)." Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 43, no. 2: 228-240.
The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept is gaining considerable traction at international and national levels to meet the challenges of addressing agricultural planning under climate change. CSA is a concept that calls for integration of the need for adaptation and the possibility of mitigation in agricultural growth strategies to support food security. Several countries around the world have expressed intent to adopt CSA approach to managing their agricultural sectors. However there is considerable confusion about what the CSA concept and approach actually involve, and wide variation in how the term is used. It is critical to build a more formal basis for the CSA concept and methodology and at the same time providing illustrations of how the concept can be applied across a range of conditions. This book expand and formalize the conceptual foundations of CSA drawing upon theory and concepts from agricultural development, institutional and resource economics. The book is also devoted to a set of country level case studies illustrating the economic basis of CSA in terms of reducing vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity and ex-post risk coping. It also addresses policy issues related to climate change focusing on the implications of the empirical findings for devising effective strategies and policies to support resilience and the implications for agriculture and climate change policy at national, regional and international levels. The book provide development agencies and practitioners, policymakers, civil society, research and academia as well as private sector with tested good practices and innovative approaches of promoting CSA system at country level.
Solomon Asfaw; Giacomo Branca. Introduction and Overview. The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region 2017, 3 -12.
AMA StyleSolomon Asfaw, Giacomo Branca. Introduction and Overview. The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region. 2017; ():3-12.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSolomon Asfaw; Giacomo Branca. 2017. "Introduction and Overview." The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region , no. : 3-12.
To support countries implementing CSA solutions, the Economics and Policy Innovations for Climate Smart Agriculture (EPIC) group at FAO uses a methodology based on building a solid evidence base. The knowledge gained from datasets that combine household, geographical and climate data helps design policies that enhance food security and climate resilience while also taking advantage of mitigation opportunities to obtain financing. Appropriate application of CSA principles depends on specific conditions that vary between and within countries. Demographic, environmental, economic and institutional factors are all important determinants of the effectiveness of any particular policy. This chapter builds upon econometric results obtained from previous analyses by developing a conceptual model that introduces the temporal aspects of household vulnerability. The method is based on a factorial design with two vulnerability levels (high and low) and two production methods (conventional or business as usual, and improved agricultural management with high CSA potential). Farms are classified into groups based on cluster analysis of survey data from Zambia. Results provide a baseline consisting of probability distributions of yields, labor use, cash inputs and profit for each of the four combinations of vulnerability level and production system. This is useful for stochastic dominance analysis, but additional work is required to incorporate the temporal aspect of the problem. The chapter identifies data gaps and additional analyses required to capture the spatio-temporal aspects of household vulnerability and adaptive capacity.
Oscar Cacho; Adriana Paolantonio; Giacomo Branca; Romina Cavatassi; Aslihan Arslan; Leslie Lipper. Identifying Strategies to Enhance the Resilience of Smallholder Farming Systems: Evidence from Zambia. The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region 2017, 425 -441.
AMA StyleOscar Cacho, Adriana Paolantonio, Giacomo Branca, Romina Cavatassi, Aslihan Arslan, Leslie Lipper. Identifying Strategies to Enhance the Resilience of Smallholder Farming Systems: Evidence from Zambia. The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region. 2017; ():425-441.
Chicago/Turabian StyleOscar Cacho; Adriana Paolantonio; Giacomo Branca; Romina Cavatassi; Aslihan Arslan; Leslie Lipper. 2017. "Identifying Strategies to Enhance the Resilience of Smallholder Farming Systems: Evidence from Zambia." The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region , no. : 425-441.
Water managers need map of irrigated areas (defined as the identification of their location and their areal extent) to plan a rational use of water under limited availability and to prevent the unauthorized withdrawals. Many authors have shown that the Earth Observation techniques are an effective tool for mapping irrigated areas worldwide at different spatial scales (global/regional/and local). This study presents a methodology for mapping irrigated areas in semi-arid environment based on Earth Observation techniques and by fully exploiting datasets freely available processed by open source software and tools. Data acquired with the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the new Sentinel 2A MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) sensors were integrated to obtain cloud free dense time series allowing to monitor the vegetation development throughout the growing seasons. Irrigated areas were identified by analysing the growing patterns under water deficit conditions from NDVI values under the assumption that, in arid and semi-arid environment (like the Mediterranean Region), high trend of vegetation growth are compatible only with irrigation. The method was applied inside the Cixerri Consortium Irrigation District located in South of Sardinia (Italy).
Pasquale Nino; Silvia Vanino; Flavio Lupia; Guido D'urso; Carlo De Michele; Giuseppe Pulighe; Guido Bonati. Mapping irrigated areas using multi-sensor remote sensing data in a Mediterranean environment. 2017, 1 .
AMA StylePasquale Nino, Silvia Vanino, Flavio Lupia, Guido D'urso, Carlo De Michele, Giuseppe Pulighe, Guido Bonati. Mapping irrigated areas using multi-sensor remote sensing data in a Mediterranean environment. . 2017; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StylePasquale Nino; Silvia Vanino; Flavio Lupia; Guido D'urso; Carlo De Michele; Giuseppe Pulighe; Guido Bonati. 2017. "Mapping irrigated areas using multi-sensor remote sensing data in a Mediterranean environment." , no. : 1.
Adoption of improved agricultural practices is shown to vary based on rainfall variability and long-term average maximum temperature, and although such practices increase productivity and profitability on average, their impacts also vary based on climatic conditions. This paper presents a case study on impacts and implications for adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) solutions in the Northern Mountainous Region (NMR) of Viet Nam. We use primary data collected through ad hoc household and community surveys to conduct profitability estimates of comparative technologies using crop financial models based on partial budget analysis and a study of the determinants of adoption and of yields. In particular, we find that the majority of farmers in NMR rely on ‘conventional’ farming despite indications that sustainable land management practices such as Minimum Tillage (MT) applied to upland maize production, and Fertilizer Deep Placement (FDP) and Sustainable Intensification for Paddy (SIP) production are more profitable. Adoption of MT is greater where long-term variation in rainfall during critical growing periods for maize is higher; FDP and SIP adoption is greater in places where the long-term average of maximum temperatures is higher during critical periods for rice growth. Finally, these improved practices have higher labour and input costs compared to conventional practices, which may prevent or slow adoption.
Giacomo Branca; Aslihan Arslan; Adriana Paolantonio; Romina Cavatassi; Nancy McCarthy; N. VanLinh; Leslie Lipper. Economic Analysis of Improved Smallholder Paddy and Maize Production in Northern Viet Nam and Implications for Climate-Smart Agriculture. The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region 2017, 563 -595.
AMA StyleGiacomo Branca, Aslihan Arslan, Adriana Paolantonio, Romina Cavatassi, Nancy McCarthy, N. VanLinh, Leslie Lipper. Economic Analysis of Improved Smallholder Paddy and Maize Production in Northern Viet Nam and Implications for Climate-Smart Agriculture. The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region. 2017; ():563-595.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiacomo Branca; Aslihan Arslan; Adriana Paolantonio; Romina Cavatassi; Nancy McCarthy; N. VanLinh; Leslie Lipper. 2017. "Economic Analysis of Improved Smallholder Paddy and Maize Production in Northern Viet Nam and Implications for Climate-Smart Agriculture." The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa Region , no. : 563-595.