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Prof. DANIELE Duca
Università Politecnica delle Marche

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0 Biomass Conversion
0 Sustainability
0 Food Sustainability
0 Biomass and bioenergy
0 Bioenergy and sustainable valorization of wastes

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Journal article
Published: 30 May 2021 in Sustainability
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Ghana is an important cocoa producer and exporter and this production is of high economic importance. Increasing interest in the sustainable productions of cocoa/chocolate necessitated the need to assess the environmental impacts associated with the production of different chocolate variants (extra dark (EDC), dark (DC), milk (MC) and flavoured milk (FMC) in Ghana, including the identification of environmental hotspots for improvement. The life cycle assessment tool was used following the CML_IA and CED impact assessment methods. EDC had the lowest scores for most of the impact categories while FMC was most impactful. For Global Warming Potential (GWP), EDC and FMC were estimated to be 1.61 kg CO2 eq. and 4.21 kg CO2 eq., respectively. CED ranged from 1.44 × 102 to 1.50 × 102 MJ-eq. Chocolate manufacturing phase was generally more impactful than cocoa cultivation due to high emissions from milk and sugar production. The impact scores for 100 g packaged chocolate bar were the lowest in comparison to 300 g chocolate pouches and 12.5 g packaged chocolate strips. GWP for 100 g and 12.5 g were 0.20 kg CO2 eq. and 0.39 kg CO2 eq., respectively. Comparing different destination points for the manufactured chocolate, impact scores for the international destination were similar to those recorded for local destinations. Improvement options are suggested for all phases to ensure more sustainable chocolate production and distribution.

ACS Style

Kofi Boakye-Yiadom; Daniele Duca; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Alessio Ilari. Environmental Performance of Chocolate Produced in Ghana Using Life Cycle Assessment. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6155 .

AMA Style

Kofi Boakye-Yiadom, Daniele Duca, Ester Foppa Pedretti, Alessio Ilari. Environmental Performance of Chocolate Produced in Ghana Using Life Cycle Assessment. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (11):6155.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kofi Boakye-Yiadom; Daniele Duca; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Alessio Ilari. 2021. "Environmental Performance of Chocolate Produced in Ghana Using Life Cycle Assessment." Sustainability 13, no. 11: 6155.

Journal article
Published: 27 April 2021 in Sustainability
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Agricultural activities in Europe cover half of the total area of the continent and are simultaneously a cause of environmental impact and victims of the same impact. Horticultural or fruit crops are considered highly intensive and often employ many crop inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and various materials. Strawberry falls into this group, and it has grown in acreage and production more than others globally. The aim of this study is to compare the environmental impact of two strawberry cultivation systems in central Italy, a mulched soil tunnel and a soilless tunnel system. The method used to assess the impact is LCA, widely applied in agriculture and supported by international standards. The data used are mainly primary, related to 2018, and representative of the cultivation systems of central Italy. For impact assessment, the method selected was the CML_IA baseline version. From the results obtained, the two systems show a similar impact per kg of strawberries produced (e.g., for global warming: 0.785 kg CO2 eq for soilless, 0.778 kg CO2 eq for mulched soil tunnel). Reduced differences can be observed for the use of crop inputs (greater for the tunnel) and the use of materials and technology (greater for soilless). The mitigation measures considered concern the replacement of the packaging (excluding plastic) and the growing medium of the soilless using perlite and compost from insect breeding.

ACS Style

Alessio Ilari; Giuseppe Toscano; Kofi Boakye-Yiadom; Daniele Duca; Ester Foppa Pedretti. Life Cycle Assessment of Protected Strawberry Productions in Central Italy. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4879 .

AMA Style

Alessio Ilari, Giuseppe Toscano, Kofi Boakye-Yiadom, Daniele Duca, Ester Foppa Pedretti. Life Cycle Assessment of Protected Strawberry Productions in Central Italy. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (9):4879.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessio Ilari; Giuseppe Toscano; Kofi Boakye-Yiadom; Daniele Duca; Ester Foppa Pedretti. 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Protected Strawberry Productions in Central Italy." Sustainability 13, no. 9: 4879.

Journal article
Published: 05 November 2020 in Processes
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Near infrared spectroscopy is a non-invasive and rapid technique to support the analysis of solid biofuels such as woodchip, which is considered as a suitable alternative for energy production, according to European goals for fossil fuel reduction. Chemical and physical properties of the woodchip influence combustion performance, so the most discriminant parameters such as moisture and ash content and gross calorific value were constantly monitored. The aim of this study was the development of prediction models for these three parameters with the use of a hand-held NIR spectrometer. Laboratory analyses were carried out to evaluate the quality of several Italian samples from a power plant, and PLS regression models were developed to test prediction accuracy. Moreover, the most relevant wavelengths were investigated to discriminate chemical compounds influence. Prediction models demonstrated the capacity of handheld MicroNIR instrument to be considered a practical tool for solid biofuel quality assessment. As a consequence, NIR spectroscopy improved real-time analysis and made it suitable for practical and industrial applications, as supported by the recent Italian standard UNI/TS 11765.

ACS Style

Elena Leoni; Manuela Mancini; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano. Rapid Quality Control of Woodchip Parameters Using a Hand-Held Near Infrared Spectrophotometer. Processes 2020, 8, 1413 .

AMA Style

Elena Leoni, Manuela Mancini, Daniele Duca, Giuseppe Toscano. Rapid Quality Control of Woodchip Parameters Using a Hand-Held Near Infrared Spectrophotometer. Processes. 2020; 8 (11):1413.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elena Leoni; Manuela Mancini; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano. 2020. "Rapid Quality Control of Woodchip Parameters Using a Hand-Held Near Infrared Spectrophotometer." Processes 8, no. 11: 1413.

Journal article
Published: 17 September 2020 in Resources
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In the latex production chain, rubber tree seeds (Hevea brasiliensis) represent an underutilized fraction with high potentialities, which can increase the sustainability of the whole process if rightly valorized. In the present study, the quality of all the fractions obtained from the rubber fruit were evaluated, with the aim to identify possible applications for their valorization with a circular economy perspective. Seeds from five different varieties of rubber tree were analyzed. Furthermore, a whole mass and energy balance was defined, which has allowed us to define hypothetical production scenarios. The obtained results show negligible differences among varieties. Shells and capsules have shown a composition similar to woody biomass, with high heating values (more than 16.5 MJ kg−1), low nitrogen content (below 0.5% on weight basis (w/w)) and reduced ash content (0.51% w/w and 1.90% w/w, respectively). Kernels were chemically extracted comparing two different solvents: n-hexane and ethanol. Both solvents showed similar extraction yields, i.e., 49% w/w and 46% w/w for n-hexane and ethanol, respectively. The resulting extraction flour was characterized by a high protein content (around 40% w/w) making it suitable for animal feeding. The rubber seed oil could be used in blends of different vegetable oils for biodiesel production. All this information is useful for improving the sustainability of the latex production chain and to assess the sustainability of possible bioenergy value chains.

ACS Style

Andrea Pizzi; Daniele Duca; Giorgio Rossini; Sara Fabrizi; Giuseppe Toscano. Biofuel, Bioenergy and Feed Valorization of By-Products and Residues from Hevea brasiliensis Cultivation to Enhance Sustainability. Resources 2020, 9, 114 .

AMA Style

Andrea Pizzi, Daniele Duca, Giorgio Rossini, Sara Fabrizi, Giuseppe Toscano. Biofuel, Bioenergy and Feed Valorization of By-Products and Residues from Hevea brasiliensis Cultivation to Enhance Sustainability. Resources. 2020; 9 (9):114.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrea Pizzi; Daniele Duca; Giorgio Rossini; Sara Fabrizi; Giuseppe Toscano. 2020. "Biofuel, Bioenergy and Feed Valorization of By-Products and Residues from Hevea brasiliensis Cultivation to Enhance Sustainability." Resources 9, no. 9: 114.

Journal article
Published: 14 August 2020 in Resources
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The impact of heat production from vineyard pruning pellets has been evaluated in this paper. The study considers two different systems: the first one based on a mobile pelletizer (PS1) and the second one based on a stationary pellet plant (PS2). The analysis conducted is from “cradle to grave”; the systems under analysis includes pruning harvesting, transport to storage area, pelletization (mobile system or stationary production plant), transport to consumer and combustion. The functional unit selected is 1 MJ of thermal energy produced. The impact assessment calculation methods selected are Eco-Indicator 99 (H) LCA Food V2.103/Europe EI 99 H/A with a midpoint and endpoint approach, and ReCiPe Midpoint (H) V1.10. Considering Life Cycle Assessment results, Eco-indicator shows a total impact of 4.25 and 4.07 mPt for mobile pelletizer and stationary pellet plant, respectively. Considering the three damage categories, PS1 has values of 2.4% (Human Health), 3.8% (Ecosystem Quality) and 17.3% (Resources), more impactful than PS2. Contribution analysis shows that direct emissions are the major damage contributor, followed by wood ash management. From a comparison between the baseline scenario and a scenario with an avoided product (wood ash as a standard potassium fertilizer), PS1 and PS2 with an avoided product approach are 41% and 40% less impactful than in the baseline scenarios. When testing the impact of mobile pelletizer while considering transportation as a factor, a reduction of distance for pellet has been evaluated. Reducing the distance from 100 to 10 km, the total impact of PS1 almost reaches the impact of PS2 with a difference of around 4.6% (Eco-indicator 99 method). The most impactful processes are pellet production, direct emissions and ash management, while a less impactful factor is the electricity consumption. Transportation shows the lowest impact. Considering the ReCiPe impact calculation method with a midpoint approach, the results confirm what was found with Eco-indicator 99; the PS1 shows a slightly higher impact than PS2.

ACS Style

Alessio Ilari; Giuseppe Toscano; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Sara Fabrizi; Daniele Duca. Environmental Sustainability of Heating Systems Based on Pellets Produced in Mobile and Stationary Plants from Vineyard Pruning Residues. Resources 2020, 9, 94 .

AMA Style

Alessio Ilari, Giuseppe Toscano, Ester Foppa Pedretti, Sara Fabrizi, Daniele Duca. Environmental Sustainability of Heating Systems Based on Pellets Produced in Mobile and Stationary Plants from Vineyard Pruning Residues. Resources. 2020; 9 (8):94.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessio Ilari; Giuseppe Toscano; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Sara Fabrizi; Daniele Duca. 2020. "Environmental Sustainability of Heating Systems Based on Pellets Produced in Mobile and Stationary Plants from Vineyard Pruning Residues." Resources 9, no. 8: 94.

Journal article
Published: 09 July 2020 in Computers & Industrial Engineering
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In recent years, pellet has received increasing attention among other biofuels due to its low storage costs and high combustion efficiency. The traceability of pellet quality along the entire supply chain is a critical issue, since fraudulent behaviours, such as the replacement with lower quality pellet, may both cause an economic damage and harm consumers’ health. Traditionally, pellet quality is evaluated through laboratory analysis, which is costly and time-consuming. To overcome these limitations, in this work we define a methodology for quick and low-cost evaluation of pellet quality, which may be used along the entire supply chain. The proposed technique is based on the classification of pellet spectra through machine learning techniques. Spectra are obtained by means of a near-infrared (NIR) spectrophotometer, which is a relatively cheap instrument of small dimensions (even portable) that is suitable for on-site analysis at any phase of the supply chain. We propose two different approaches, namely an automatic classification of pellet, which does not require laboratory analysis, and a semi-automatic approach, that increases the overall accuracy but requires laboratory analysis for uncertainly classified samples. We validate the methodology by performing several experiments on real-world data, by training different machine learning algorithms and evaluating the impact of several transformations introduced to reduce the scattering effect, which is a well-known issue related to NIR data.

ACS Style

Manuela Mancini; Alex Mircoli; Domenico Potena; Claudia Diamantini; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano. Prediction of pellet quality through machine learning techniques and near-infrared spectroscopy. Computers & Industrial Engineering 2020, 147, 106566 .

AMA Style

Manuela Mancini, Alex Mircoli, Domenico Potena, Claudia Diamantini, Daniele Duca, Giuseppe Toscano. Prediction of pellet quality through machine learning techniques and near-infrared spectroscopy. Computers & Industrial Engineering. 2020; 147 ():106566.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manuela Mancini; Alex Mircoli; Domenico Potena; Claudia Diamantini; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano. 2020. "Prediction of pellet quality through machine learning techniques and near-infrared spectroscopy." Computers & Industrial Engineering 147, no. : 106566.

Journal article
Published: 07 July 2020 in Fuel
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Considering the ambitious European targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions the energy production from renewable energy sources is increasing as well as the number of biomass power plants. Biomass is a valid alternative to fossil fuels because it is present worldwide and in different forms. Of course, it is important to assess its quality not only for energy characteristics but also for environmental and operational aspects. In this study more than 1700 woodchip samples have been collected in several Italian power plants and the most important physical and chemical parameters have been analyzed to investigate their quality. These data have been compared with the specification expressed in the recently published ISO/TS 17225-9 technical standard. The results show that the ash content is a fundamental and representative parameter for assessing the biofuel quality and that a certain amount of samples has low quality mainly because of their high ash content. In addition, ANOVA results demonstrated that the quality classes expressed in the standard up to 7% ash content are essential in order to meet the needs of the Italian woodchip market. Beyond the value of 7% in ash content, chlorine, sulfur and nitrogen contents increase significantly with consequences for technical and environmental aspects.

ACS Style

M. Mancini; G. Toscano; G. Feliciangeli; E. Leoni; D. Duca. Investigation on woodchip quality with respect to ISO standards and relationship among quality parameters. Fuel 2020, 279, 118559 .

AMA Style

M. Mancini, G. Toscano, G. Feliciangeli, E. Leoni, D. Duca. Investigation on woodchip quality with respect to ISO standards and relationship among quality parameters. Fuel. 2020; 279 ():118559.

Chicago/Turabian Style

M. Mancini; G. Toscano; G. Feliciangeli; E. Leoni; D. Duca. 2020. "Investigation on woodchip quality with respect to ISO standards and relationship among quality parameters." Fuel 279, no. : 118559.

Journal article
Published: 06 April 2020 in Foods
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The determination of strawberry fruit quality through the traditional destructive lab techniques has some limitations related to the amplitude of the samples, the timing and the applicability along all phases of the supply chain. The aim of this study was to determine the main qualitative characteristics through traditional lab destructive techniques and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR) in fruits of five strawberry genotypes. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to search for spectral differences among all the collected samples. A Partial Least Squares regression (PLS) technique was computed in order to predict the quality parameters of interest. The PLS model for the soluble solids content prediction was the best performing—in fact, it is a robust and reliable model and the validation values suggested possibilities for its use in quality applications. A suitable PLS model is also obtained for the firmness prediction—the validation values tend to worsen slightly but can still be accepted in screening applications. NIR spectroscopy represents an important alternative to destructive techniques, using the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum to investigate in a non-destructive way the chemical–physical properties of the samples, finding remarkable applications in the agro-food market.

ACS Style

Manuela Mancini; Luca Mazzoni; Francesco Gagliardi; Francesca Balducci; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; Bruno Mezzetti; Franco Capocasa. Application of the Non-Destructive NIR Technique for the Evaluation of Strawberry Fruits Quality Parameters. Foods 2020, 9, 441 .

AMA Style

Manuela Mancini, Luca Mazzoni, Francesco Gagliardi, Francesca Balducci, Daniele Duca, Giuseppe Toscano, Bruno Mezzetti, Franco Capocasa. Application of the Non-Destructive NIR Technique for the Evaluation of Strawberry Fruits Quality Parameters. Foods. 2020; 9 (4):441.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manuela Mancini; Luca Mazzoni; Francesco Gagliardi; Francesca Balducci; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; Bruno Mezzetti; Franco Capocasa. 2020. "Application of the Non-Destructive NIR Technique for the Evaluation of Strawberry Fruits Quality Parameters." Foods 9, no. 4: 441.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2019 in Fuel
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ACS Style

Giuseppe Toscano; Gabriele Feliciangeli; Giorgio Rossini; Sara Fabrizi; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Daniele Duca. Engineered solid biofuel from herbaceous biomass mixed with inorganic additives. Fuel 2019, 256, 1 .

AMA Style

Giuseppe Toscano, Gabriele Feliciangeli, Giorgio Rossini, Sara Fabrizi, Ester Foppa Pedretti, Daniele Duca. Engineered solid biofuel from herbaceous biomass mixed with inorganic additives. Fuel. 2019; 256 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giuseppe Toscano; Gabriele Feliciangeli; Giorgio Rossini; Sara Fabrizi; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Daniele Duca. 2019. "Engineered solid biofuel from herbaceous biomass mixed with inorganic additives." Fuel 256, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 23 October 2019 in Agriculture
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Sunflower is one of the most important oilseed crops cultivated in the world for different purposes. In Italy, the production is mostly located in the central area, representing 70% of Italian production. The market demand for sunflower oil is higher than the national production. There is an increasing request for cold pressed sunflower oil for food application. The success of this activity is linked to a correct setting up and management of the production and supply chain with a valorization of products and by-products. To this aim, information is needed, and this paper is focused on the cultivation of sunflower in central Italy using suitable hybrids, as well as on the study of the cold extraction performance of the sunflower seed produced and the quality of by-products and residues. Results indicate that, on average, a range of about 1.0–1.5 t ha−1 of cold pressed oil and different amounts of by-products can be obtained. According to a proposed scenario, 30 ha cultivated with sunflower are needed to create a complete supply chain within the farm, avoiding many additional passages and maintaining all the value for the farmer. It is important to use suitable hybrids for obtaining good yield, but also the cold extraction performances are important because they also affect the quality of by-products and residues that can be valorized themselves to improve sustainability.

ACS Style

Ester Foppa Pedretti; Andrea Del Gatto; Sandro Pieri; Lorella Mangoni; Alessio Ilari; Manuela Mancini; Gabriele Feliciangeli; Elena Leoni; Giuseppe Toscano; Daniele Duca. Experimental Study to Support Local Sunflower Oil Chains: Production of Cold Pressed Oil in Central Italy. Agriculture 2019, 9, 231 .

AMA Style

Ester Foppa Pedretti, Andrea Del Gatto, Sandro Pieri, Lorella Mangoni, Alessio Ilari, Manuela Mancini, Gabriele Feliciangeli, Elena Leoni, Giuseppe Toscano, Daniele Duca. Experimental Study to Support Local Sunflower Oil Chains: Production of Cold Pressed Oil in Central Italy. Agriculture. 2019; 9 (11):231.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ester Foppa Pedretti; Andrea Del Gatto; Sandro Pieri; Lorella Mangoni; Alessio Ilari; Manuela Mancini; Gabriele Feliciangeli; Elena Leoni; Giuseppe Toscano; Daniele Duca. 2019. "Experimental Study to Support Local Sunflower Oil Chains: Production of Cold Pressed Oil in Central Italy." Agriculture 9, no. 11: 231.

Journal article
Published: 05 December 2017 in Agriculture
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Background: The production of seeds for horticultural crops has seen a steady growth since 2006. Onion is one of the most widespread crops that followed this trend until 2013, undergoing a slight decline in 2016. Even though these crops are characterized by high economic value, they present some important issues such as high costs and labor required by some operations such as threshing. The purpose of this study is the evaluation of a patented and dedicated system for mechanical threshing throughout the evaluation of seed quality parameters. Methods: The study was conducted comparing seed samples mechanically threshed obtained from 12 companies and samples of the same batches manually threshed to determine the maximum qualitative potential. The chosen terms for comparison are the most important qualitative parameters included within ISTA standards for seed evaluation. Results: The mechanically threshed seeds show lower values for all the considered quality parameters compared to those found in the control samples. In the same way, there is also greater variability. Conclusions: The introduction of the dedicated mechanical systems allows the reduction of seed processing time while maintaining the quality standards within the limits of merchantability, but for obtaining higher standards, further analysis is necessary.

ACS Style

Ester Foppa Pedretti; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; Chiara Mengarelli; Giorgio Rossini; Andrea Pizzi; Manuela Mancini; Debora Tesei; Alessio Ilari. Validity of the Mechanical Threshing of Onion Seeds from the Point of View of Seed Quality. Agriculture 2017, 7, 102 .

AMA Style

Ester Foppa Pedretti, Daniele Duca, Giuseppe Toscano, Chiara Mengarelli, Giorgio Rossini, Andrea Pizzi, Manuela Mancini, Debora Tesei, Alessio Ilari. Validity of the Mechanical Threshing of Onion Seeds from the Point of View of Seed Quality. Agriculture. 2017; 7 (12):102.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ester Foppa Pedretti; Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; Chiara Mengarelli; Giorgio Rossini; Andrea Pizzi; Manuela Mancini; Debora Tesei; Alessio Ilari. 2017. "Validity of the Mechanical Threshing of Onion Seeds from the Point of View of Seed Quality." Agriculture 7, no. 12: 102.

Lca for agriculture
Published: 30 May 2017 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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In the agro-food industry, related to the horticultural sector, promising products are the ones called “ready to eat”, “ready to use”. Fresh processed vegetables, belonging to the “fresh cut” products, are considered barely treated and potentially more sustainable than frozen ones. The principal aim of this study is assessing the environmental impact of nursery step for seedlings production, commonly included in the vegetable chain production in Italy and other countries. Four different kinds of salad have been assessed: Cichorium endivia var. crispum (curly endive), Cicorium endivia var. latifolium (escarole), Cichorium intybus var. foliosum (red chicory) and Cichorium intybus var. foliosum (sugarloaf chicory). The study was conducted following ISO standards on life cycle assessment (14,040, 14,044) with a “cradle to nursery gate” approach. The functional unit (FU) selected was one small plant in polystyrene tray (170 holes); this choice is due to a requirement of repeatability and comparability of the analysis outcomes. Data for inventory analysis have been detected throughout surveys, questionnaires and direct measurements. In more details, materials used for structures, energy and mass flows have been considered. Calculation method selected is the CML 2 baseline 2000 v. 2.05 with the related impact categories. Results show that the four species have a comparable environmental load. Differences among the different impact categories are lower than the 30% excluding eutrophication for escarole (−56%) with respect to sugarloaf chicory. Specie that presents the lowest impact is Escarole. This is due to the shorter cultivation cycle. Thermoplastic and plastic materials and their production, substrates extraction and direct emissions from fertilizers and pesticides are the main contributors affecting the environmental sustainability of seedlings production. Consistently with other studies on similar research topic, energy consumption, such as electricity, gives a load of little relevance. Taking into account only the category of global warming, the absolute average load of one seedling produced is 2.53e-3 kg CO2 eq. Further studies regarding the evaluation of alternative production system with a lower use of plastics and thermoplastics will be useful.

ACS Style

Alessio Ilari; Daniele Duca. Energy and environmental sustainability of nursery step finalized to “fresh cut” salad production by means of LCA. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2017, 23, 800 -810.

AMA Style

Alessio Ilari, Daniele Duca. Energy and environmental sustainability of nursery step finalized to “fresh cut” salad production by means of LCA. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2017; 23 (4):800-810.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessio Ilari; Daniele Duca. 2017. "Energy and environmental sustainability of nursery step finalized to “fresh cut” salad production by means of LCA." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 23, no. 4: 800-810.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2016 in Energy
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Considering the global warming and the climate change of the past few decades, European public policies have been established in order to increase the share of renewable energy sources. In the European context, one of the most interesting alternatives is woodchip. The present investigation provides an evaluation of woodchip quality underlining the relationships between the most important chemical and physical parameters, in particular between ash and some elements. Results highlight that the quality of woodchip is good even if some samples have very high ash content. Statistical analysis demonstrated that ash and moisture contents are highly linked to the net calorific value and a specific regression equation (R2 = 0.983) has been identified. Considering the chemical characteristics, statistical analyses pointed out the correlation between elements and ash content demonstrating that the quality classes of woodchip can be reasonably divided based on ash content.

ACS Style

Giuseppe Toscano; D. Duca; E. Foppa Pedretti; Andrea Pizzi; Giorgio Rossini; C. Mengarelli; M. Mancini. Investigation of woodchip quality: Relationship between the most important chemical and physical parameters. Energy 2016, 106, 38 -44.

AMA Style

Giuseppe Toscano, D. Duca, E. Foppa Pedretti, Andrea Pizzi, Giorgio Rossini, C. Mengarelli, M. Mancini. Investigation of woodchip quality: Relationship between the most important chemical and physical parameters. Energy. 2016; 106 ():38-44.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giuseppe Toscano; D. Duca; E. Foppa Pedretti; Andrea Pizzi; Giorgio Rossini; C. Mengarelli; M. Mancini. 2016. "Investigation of woodchip quality: Relationship between the most important chemical and physical parameters." Energy 106, no. : 38-44.

Research article
Published: 24 March 2016 in Energy & Fuels
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Biofuel quality control plays an important role considering the recent European policy about renewable energy source promotion. Origin and source of the raw material are often required to be stated by biofuel chain operators for traceability and sustainability issues. Being fast, non-destructive, and low-cost, infrared spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics is already applied to several sectors and could also be employed in the solid biomass sector. The result of this work is a tool for the prediction of hardwood and softwood contents in blend samples by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled with partial least squares regression. A total of 61 samples of fir, pine, sessile oak, and beech and four series of binary blends (28 samples) from wood powders of one hardwood species and one softwood species were analyzed. The infrared prediction model was full cross-validated. The results of this work showed the good performance of the model with a standard error of a few percentage points (3.8%). As a consequence, the development of an analytical instrument based on such techniques could be useful to support the bioenergy chain stakeholders, such as solid biofuel producers, traders, and customers, for traceability, process tuning, and quality control issues.

ACS Style

Daniele Duca; Andrea Pizzi; Giorgio Rossini; Chiara Mengarelli; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Manuela Mancini. Prediction of Hardwood and Softwood Contents in Blends of Wood Powders Using Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy. Energy & Fuels 2016, 30, 3038 -3044.

AMA Style

Daniele Duca, Andrea Pizzi, Giorgio Rossini, Chiara Mengarelli, Ester Foppa Pedretti, Manuela Mancini. Prediction of Hardwood and Softwood Contents in Blends of Wood Powders Using Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy. Energy & Fuels. 2016; 30 (4):3038-3044.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniele Duca; Andrea Pizzi; Giorgio Rossini; Chiara Mengarelli; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Manuela Mancini. 2016. "Prediction of Hardwood and Softwood Contents in Blends of Wood Powders Using Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy." Energy & Fuels 30, no. 4: 3038-3044.

Journal article
Published: 08 March 2016 in Journal of Agricultural Engineering
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The role of biomass for increasing renewable energy sources mix is considered fundamental, despite some negative environmental impact of first-generation biofuels. The use of biomass obtained in a more sustainable way, as represented by agricultural wastes, should be favoured. The Mediterranean area and Italy in particular offer a large amount of vineyard pruning residues that can be converted into bioenergy. Since vineyards are exposed to treatments based on copper (Cu) and zinc, these metals last in wood residues during pruning and accumulate in the soil. In this study an evaluation of the concentrations of copper and other heavy metals in grapevine pruning wastes, when treated with common plant protection products, was carried out. The study was also extended to the soil, being potentially mixed to the biomass in the case of mechanical collection of pruning residues. The grapevine residues free of impurities that were collected during this study have typical values of copper in pruning wood, varying from 8.5 mg kg–1 when treated with low Cu product, to 19.2 mg kg–1 when treated with high Cu product. It was observed that contaminations during pruning with soil could increase the amount of copper in the residues. More in detail, every percentage point of soil that winds up on pruning residues involves an increase of 1 mg of Cu every kg of biomass. For this reason, we recommend the use of appropriate systems for the harvest of grapevine residues, particularly mechanical systems that avoid soil lifting. Moreover, we suggest the use of pruning residues preferably in large-scale power plants with appropriate emission filters instead of small-scale domestic boilers.

ACS Style

Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; Andrea Pizzi; Giorgio Rossini; Sara Fabrizi; Giulia Lucesoli; Andrea Servili; Valeria Mancini; Gianfranco Romanazzi; Chiara Mengarelli. Evaluation of the characteristics of vineyard pruning residues for energy applications: effect of different copper-based treatments. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2016, 47, 22 -27.

AMA Style

Daniele Duca, Giuseppe Toscano, Andrea Pizzi, Giorgio Rossini, Sara Fabrizi, Giulia Lucesoli, Andrea Servili, Valeria Mancini, Gianfranco Romanazzi, Chiara Mengarelli. Evaluation of the characteristics of vineyard pruning residues for energy applications: effect of different copper-based treatments. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2016; 47 (1):22-27.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; Andrea Pizzi; Giorgio Rossini; Sara Fabrizi; Giulia Lucesoli; Andrea Servili; Valeria Mancini; Gianfranco Romanazzi; Chiara Mengarelli. 2016. "Evaluation of the characteristics of vineyard pruning residues for energy applications: effect of different copper-based treatments." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 47, no. 1: 22-27.

Journal article
Published: 08 March 2016 in Journal of Agricultural Engineering
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The increase in the demand for energy supply during the past few decades has brought and will bring to a growth in the utilisation of renewable resources, in particular of solid biomasses. Considering the variability in the properties of biomass and the globalisation of the timber market, a chemical and physical characterisation is essential to determine the biomass quality. The specific international standards on solid biofuels (ISO 17225 series) describe proper specification and classification of wood chip and pellet, to ensure appropriate quality. Moreover, standard requires information about origin and source of the biomass, normally only to be declared by the producers. In order to fulfill the requirements for the biomass quality, the origin and the source should be assessed, even if currently is hard to determine, in particular on milled or densified biomass. Infrared spectroscopy can provide information on the biomass at the chemical level, directly linked also to its origin and source. This technique is fast and not destructive thus suitable also for online monitoring along the biofuel production chain. In this study, 60 samples belonging to 8 different species were collected and related spectra were acquired using a Fourier transform infrared (IR) spectrometer equipped with a module for solid analysis and analysed by principal component analysis. The results obtained show that the method is very efficient in the identification between coniferous and deciduous wood (99% confidence level) and good results were obtained in the recognition of coniferous/deciduous mixtures, too. Nevertheless, some clear differences have been also noted among intra-class grouping, but additional tests should be carried out. This technique can provide useful information to solid biofuel stakeholders about wood quality and origin, important especially for sustainability issues. Further work will be oriented to the development of IR methodologies for the fast measurement of other important biomass parameters (e.g., ash content, high calorific value, nitrogen content, etc.).

ACS Style

Daniele Duca; Andrea Pizzi; Manuela Mancini; Giorgio Rossini; Chiara Mengarelli; Alessio Ilari; Giulia Lucesoli; Giuseppe Toscano; Ester Foppa Pedretti. Fast measurement by infrared spectroscopy as support to woody biofuels quality determination. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2016, 47, 17 -21.

AMA Style

Daniele Duca, Andrea Pizzi, Manuela Mancini, Giorgio Rossini, Chiara Mengarelli, Alessio Ilari, Giulia Lucesoli, Giuseppe Toscano, Ester Foppa Pedretti. Fast measurement by infrared spectroscopy as support to woody biofuels quality determination. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2016; 47 (1):17-21.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniele Duca; Andrea Pizzi; Manuela Mancini; Giorgio Rossini; Chiara Mengarelli; Alessio Ilari; Giulia Lucesoli; Giuseppe Toscano; Ester Foppa Pedretti. 2016. "Fast measurement by infrared spectroscopy as support to woody biofuels quality determination." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 47, no. 1: 17-21.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2015 in Industrial Crops and Products
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Andrea Del Gatto; Maria Grazia Melilli; Salvatore Antonino Raccuia; Sandro Pieri; Lorella Mangoni; Daniela Pacifico; Marco Signor; Daniele Duca; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Chiara Mengarelli. A comparative study of oilseed crops (Brassica napus L. subsp. oleifera and Brassica carinata A. Braun) in the biodiesel production chain and their adaptability to different Italian areas. Industrial Crops and Products 2015, 75, 98 -107.

AMA Style

Andrea Del Gatto, Maria Grazia Melilli, Salvatore Antonino Raccuia, Sandro Pieri, Lorella Mangoni, Daniela Pacifico, Marco Signor, Daniele Duca, Ester Foppa Pedretti, Chiara Mengarelli. A comparative study of oilseed crops (Brassica napus L. subsp. oleifera and Brassica carinata A. Braun) in the biodiesel production chain and their adaptability to different Italian areas. Industrial Crops and Products. 2015; 75 ():98-107.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrea Del Gatto; Maria Grazia Melilli; Salvatore Antonino Raccuia; Sandro Pieri; Lorella Mangoni; Daniela Pacifico; Marco Signor; Daniele Duca; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Chiara Mengarelli. 2015. "A comparative study of oilseed crops (Brassica napus L. subsp. oleifera and Brassica carinata A. Braun) in the biodiesel production chain and their adaptability to different Italian areas." Industrial Crops and Products 75, no. : 98-107.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2015 in Industrial Crops and Products
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ACS Style

Andrea Del Gatto; Chiara Mengarelli; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Daniele Duca; Sandro Pieri; Lorella Mangoni; Marco Signor; Salvatore Antonino Raccuia; Maria Grazia Melilli. Adaptability of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) high oleic hybrids to different Italian areas for biodiesel production. Industrial Crops and Products 2015, 75, 108 -117.

AMA Style

Andrea Del Gatto, Chiara Mengarelli, Ester Foppa Pedretti, Daniele Duca, Sandro Pieri, Lorella Mangoni, Marco Signor, Salvatore Antonino Raccuia, Maria Grazia Melilli. Adaptability of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) high oleic hybrids to different Italian areas for biodiesel production. Industrial Crops and Products. 2015; 75 ():108-117.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrea Del Gatto; Chiara Mengarelli; Ester Foppa Pedretti; Daniele Duca; Sandro Pieri; Lorella Mangoni; Marco Signor; Salvatore Antonino Raccuia; Maria Grazia Melilli. 2015. "Adaptability of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) high oleic hybrids to different Italian areas for biodiesel production." Industrial Crops and Products 75, no. : 108-117.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2015 in Industrial Crops and Products
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ACS Style

Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; G. Riva; Chiara Mengarelli; G. Rossini; Andrea Pizzi; A. Del Gatto; Ester Foppa Pedretti. Quality of residues of the biodiesel chain in the energy field. Industrial Crops and Products 2015, 75, 91 -97.

AMA Style

Daniele Duca, Giuseppe Toscano, G. Riva, Chiara Mengarelli, G. Rossini, Andrea Pizzi, A. Del Gatto, Ester Foppa Pedretti. Quality of residues of the biodiesel chain in the energy field. Industrial Crops and Products. 2015; 75 ():91-97.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniele Duca; Giuseppe Toscano; G. Riva; Chiara Mengarelli; G. Rossini; Andrea Pizzi; A. Del Gatto; Ester Foppa Pedretti. 2015. "Quality of residues of the biodiesel chain in the energy field." Industrial Crops and Products 75, no. : 91-97.

Journal article
Published: 01 September 2015 in Science of The Total Environment
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Tomato processing involves a significant production of residues, mainly constituted by discarded tomatoes, skins, seeds and pulp. Often, these residues are not valorized and represent an added cost for manufacturing companies because of disposal processes, with environmental issues due to the difficult management. The exploitation of these residual materials results complex as their availability is mainly concentrated in few months. A possible solution is the production of biogas employed in a Combine Heat and Power engine for energy production, in line with the 2020 targets of European Union in terms of promotion of energy from renewable resources and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The tomato by-product utilization for energy production as a strategy to reduce the environmental load of tomato purée was evaluated by means of Life Cycle Assessment. Two scenarios were considered: Baseline Scenario - tomato by-products are sent back to the tomato fields as organic fertilizers; Alternative Scenario - tomato by-products are employed in a nearby biogas plant for energy production. Methane production of tomato by-products was assessed by means of specific laboratory tests. The comparison between the two scenarios highlighted reductions for all the impact categories with the Alternative Scenario. The most important reductions are related to particulate matter (-5.3%), climate change (-6.4%) and ozone depletion (-13.4%). Although small, the reduction of the environmental impact cannot be neglected; for example for climate change, the anaerobic digestion of by-products allows a saving of GHG emissions that, over the whole year, is equal to 1.567tons of CO2 eq. The results of this study could be up-scaled to the food industries with high heat demand producing considerable amounts of fermentable by-products employable as feedstock for biogas production.

ACS Style

Jacopo Bacenetti; Daniele Duca; Marco Negri; Alessandra Fusi; Marco Fiala. Mitigation strategies in the agro-food sector: The anaerobic digestion of tomato purée by-products. An Italian case study. Science of The Total Environment 2015, 526, 88 -97.

AMA Style

Jacopo Bacenetti, Daniele Duca, Marco Negri, Alessandra Fusi, Marco Fiala. Mitigation strategies in the agro-food sector: The anaerobic digestion of tomato purée by-products. An Italian case study. Science of The Total Environment. 2015; 526 ():88-97.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jacopo Bacenetti; Daniele Duca; Marco Negri; Alessandra Fusi; Marco Fiala. 2015. "Mitigation strategies in the agro-food sector: The anaerobic digestion of tomato purée by-products. An Italian case study." Science of The Total Environment 526, no. : 88-97.