The objectives of the European Union 2014-2020 programming period include increase of energy production from renewable sources through the creation of agro-energy districts. The utilization of residues of annual and perennial crops in agro-energy districts as a combustion product of the exploitation of biomass industry to produce heat and electricity, create a new sustainable environment. This paper focuses on optimizing the agricultural income and the biomass energy potential from crop residues in agricultural districts and especially in a case study in municipality of Almopia in Northern Greece. For this purpose, the optimal plan of agricultural production of the case study area arising from the development of a multi-criteria mathematical programming model that combines more than one conflicting criteria to a utility function that interprets the behavior of farmers and better approaches the rational decision making. The objective of the proposed model is to combine two criteria, namely the maximization of the total gross margin of the case study area and the maximization of electric or thermal power from biomass of crop residues, based on a set of constraints for land, labor, capital, Common Agricultural Policy rules, etc. The optimal production plan of the case study area achieves higher gross margin (3.6 %) and higher level of bioenergy (7.7 %) than the existent production plan. The optimal plan also presents better results than those achieved by the linear programming model when the only goal is to maximize either the gross margin or the production of bioenergy.
The changing role of the municipal water and wastewater authorities, together with the need for a sustainable maintenance treatment in the sewer systems, have been the catalysts for the integration of technical and financial information into asset management systems. This paper presents results from a cost-comparative analysis focusing on an annuities calculation for the evaluation of microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) or biocorrosion mitigation methodologies used in the maintenance of concrete sewers. The replacement cost of deteriorated sewer concrete pipes is high, and MIC mitigation methods can be used to increase the current service life of concrete pipes. From the MIC mitigation methods that are frequently used, the authors examined those of flushing with high-pressure water (i.e., a common method used in Greece), and spraying with magnesium hydroxide slurry (MHS). The authors chose four different cities for the assessment, which presented different sewer characteristics and socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, all methods for concrete sewer MIC mitigation were compared to the present value of replacement of sewer concrete pipes with new PVC ones. Results showed that flushing with high-pressure water is very cost demanding and should be avoided, while spraying with MHS could be a sustainable and economic solution in the long term.
During 2019, Greece conducted a nationwide telephone survey in order to estimate the number of marine recreational fishers (MRF), to identify the main fishing methods, to estimate their effort, economic aspects of their activity and to evaluate certain perceptions of marine recreational fishing. MRF are estimated to be 7.93% of the country’s resident population. Three main fishing methods were identified, fishing from the shore, fishing by boat and spearfishing. It is estimated that Greek MRF carry out approximately 11,461,765 fishing trips/year, their total catch is 9350 t/year and the total yearly expenditure is 132,186,000 Euros. Marine recreational catches constitute one-third of the reported small scale coastal fisheries’ catches, with their main catches belonging to the Sparidae family. The majority of MRFs are aware of the rules and limits associated with their activity, however a significant percentage seems to ignore or deny their existence. The results of the study indicate the social and economic importance of the activity in Greece and clearly demonstrates the need for regular monitoring and field work in order to properly evaluate marine recreational fisheries and sustainably manage both the activity and fisheries resources in the country.
Preservation and promotion of agroforestry systems entails the ideology for more ecosystem services, additional biodiversity benefits and climate change mitigation. Furthermore, farmland and forest landscapes and the consequent benefits to the environment from their combination, enhance the importance of agroforestry systems towards sustainable environmental policies. Nevertheless, traditional agroforestry systems face significant adaptation problems, especially in the EU, due to continuous economic reforms and strict agri-environmental measures. In this context our main goal is to assess the current managerial framework of two agroforestry systems and more specifically the olive agroforestry practices in Northern Greece. The economic and environmental implications of four different production plans are highlighted following the Life Cycle Costing and the Life Cycle Assessment protocols. The production plans include the simultaneous cultivation of annual crops, such as vetch and barley, along with olive groves. Potential environmental impacts are depicted in CO2 equivalents, while the economic allocation of costs is divided in targeted categories (e.g., raw materials, labor, land rent, etc.). The results indicate significant deviations among the four production plans, with the combination of olive trees and barley being heavily dependent on fertilization. Furthermore, the open-spaced olive trees intercropped with a mixture of barley and commonly depicted the lowest CO2 eq. emissions, though the economic cost was significantly higher than the other agroforestry system intercropped with barley only. The authors suggest that the formulation of a decision support system for agroforestry systems should be taken into account in order to preserve current agroforestry systems.
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