Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been recognized as a suitable tool for efficiency assessment of the economic and environmental performance of multiple similar units in the agri-food sector. In the present study, DEA methodologies were applied to 55 winter wheat farms in three farm sizes in Poland to benchmark the level of operational efficiency for each producer. Next, the potential reduction in the consumption levels of inputs were defined, and the environmental profits linked to these reduction targets were calculating. Our results indicate that 55% of the analysed farms operated efficiently. The technical efficiency scores of inefficient farms were 0.72 for small farms and 0.84 for medium and large ones. The production of 1 kg winter wheat results with average greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 0.448, 0.481, and 0.411 kg CO₂ eq. per kg of grain, for small, medium, and large farms, respectively. The performed analysis shows that GHG emissions per hectare depend on farm size and ranged from 2,378 kg CO₂ eq. for the small farms to 2,759 kg CO₂ eq. for large farms. The reduction of material input in inefficient farms, converted into environmental gains, resulted in GHG emissions reduction of 25.7, 29.0, and 28.6% for small, medium, and large farms, respectively. The estimated potential reduction of global warming potential (GWP) according to the DEA for the whole sample ranged from 7 to 18%, and was dependent on farm size. The major contributor to GWP was nitrous oxide field emissions (49-52%), followed by nitrogen fertilizer (31-33%), and diesel (11-13%). Raising operational efficiency is recommended for potential environmental improvement in the surveyed region.

Bioenergy production from animal waste can be a key driver to achieving bio-economy goals. Developing a bio-economy sector could help to create opportunities for a circular system where not only people and the planet will be benefited, but it will also provide economic profitability to farmers, especially in the post-Covid period. To this end, manure production, its nutrient content, and bioenergy potential were estimated, along with their spatial distribution in the Lubelskie province, Poland. Farm-level data were processed and aggregated at the municipality level. Material balance equations were used to calculate the theoretical potential of livestock manure and bioenergy for different use scenarios: (1) Baseline (BC): direct manure application to land, which was compared against (2) Anaerobic Digestion (AD): anaerobic digestion to biogas with digestate returned to the fields (3) AD + Separation (AD + Sep): mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion, and (4) Surplus + AD: surplus manure (after application to the fields) is sent to anaerobic digestion. Manure, biogas, electricity, and thermal energy production of the AD scenario were estimated to be 7.5 Mt y⁻¹, 378 Mm³ y⁻¹, 907 GW_e y⁻¹, and 997.8 GW_th y⁻¹, respectively. The scenario, including mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion (AD + Sep), contributed to avoiding emissions to the largest extent (1 Mt CO₂ eq), whereas AD outperformed the others in avoiding costs of fertilization. According to the estimated potential and the environmental cost-effectiveness of AD, new plants can be established that will recycle manure through bioenergy production, and, subsequently, the digestate can be applied as organic fertilizer, closing the nutrients cycle.

Given the environmental footprints of the conventional agriculture, it is imperative to test and validate alternative production systems, with lower environmental impacts to mitigate and adapt our production systems. In this study, we identified six production systems, four in Italy and two in Denmark, to assess the environmental footprint for comparison among the production systems and additionally with conventional production systems. SimaPro 8.4 software was used to carry out the life cycle impact assessment. Among other indicators, three significantly important indicators, namely global warming potential, acidification, and eutrophication, were used as the proxy for life cycle impact assessment. In Italy, the production systems compared were silvopastoral, organic, traditional, and conventional olive production systems, whereas in Denmark, combined food and energy production system was compared with the conventional wheat production system. Among the six production systems, conventional wheat production system in Denmark accounted for highest global warming potential, acidification, and eutrophication. In Italy, global warming potential was highest in traditional agroforestry and lowest in the silvopastoral system whereas acidification and eutrophication were lowest in the traditional production system with high acidification effects from the silvopastoral system. In Italy, machinery use contributed the highest greenhouse gas emissions in silvopastoral and organic production systems, while the large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer was recorded in the traditional and conventional production systems. In Denmark, the combined food and energy system had lower environmental impacts compared to the conventional wheat production system according to the three indicators. For both systems in Denmark, the main contribution to greenhouse gas emission was due to fertilizer and manure application. The study showed that integrated food and non-food systems are more environmentally friendly and less polluting compared to the conventional wheat production system in Denmark with use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation. The study can contribute to informed decision making by the land managers and policy makers for promotion of environmentally friendly food and non-food production practices, to meet the European Union targets of providing biomass-based materials and energy to contribute to the bio-based economy in Europe and beyond.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of bioethanol as regards to its carbon dioxide emissions. The production of the raw material accounts for more than 50 % of the total cost as well as having a significant part of greenhouse gases emitted during the entire process. For this reason, special emphasis is given to a change in agricultural land usage influenced by the demand of biofuel. Therefore, we have estimated the extent of policy influence according to its bioethanol cost-effectiveness. A case study on bioethanol production in an ex-sugar factory in the region of Thessaly, Greece, illustrates the above ideas. A partial equilibrium micro-economic model of regional supply in the arable farming system of Thessaly was coupled to industrial processing sub-models of bioethanol production from beets and grains. The maximisation of total welfare determines the most suitable crop mix for farmers as well as the lowest cost configurations for industry and, eventually, the minimal level of support by the government for biofuel activity to take off. The environmental performance is assessed under the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework following three interrelated phases: data inventory, data analysis and interpretation. The economic burden to society to support the activity divided by avoided CO₂ eq. emissions indicates the bioethanol cost-effectiveness, in other words, the cost of greenhouse gases emissions savings. The integrated agro-industry model has been parametrically run for a range of biofuel capacities. A change in direct land use results in lower emissions in the agricultural phase, since energy crops are a substitute for intensive cultivations, such as cotton and corn. A change in indirect land use moderates these estimations, as it takes in account imported food crops that are replaced by energy crops in the region. The savings in cost vary around 160 euros per ton of CO₂ eq. for the basic agricultural policy scenario. The current policy that supports cotton production by means of increased coupled area payment has increased up to 30 % the cost of greenhouse gas savings due to bioethanol production. An integrated model, articulating the agricultural supply of biomass with ethanol processing, maximises the total surplus that is under constraints in order to determine the cost-effectiveness for different production levels. Results demonstrate that economic performances, as well as the environmental cost-effectiveness of bioethanol, are clearly affected by the parameters of agricultural policies. Therefore, bioenergy, environmental and economic performances, when based on LCA and the conceptual change in land usage, are context dependent. Agricultural policies for decoupling subsidies from production are in favour of cultivation in biomass for energy purposes.