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The adverse effects of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) on health and ecosystems, as well as on meteorology and climate change, are well known to the scientific community. It is therefore undeniable that a good understanding of the sources of PM is crucial for effective control of emissions and to protect public health. One of the major contributions to atmospheric PM is biomass burning, a practice used both in agriculture and home heating, which can be traced and identified by analyzing sugars emitted from the combustion of cellulose and hemicellulose that make up biomass. In this review comparing almost 200 selected articles, we highlight the most recent studies that broaden such category of tracers, covering research publications on residential wood combustions, open-fire or combustion chamber burnings and ambient PM in different regions of Asia, America and Europe. The purpose of the present work is to collect data in the literature that indicate a direct correspondence between biomass burning and saccharides emitted into the atmosphere with regard to distinguishing common sugars attributed to biomass burning from those that have co-causes of issue. In this paper, we provide a list of 24 compounds, including those most commonly recognized as biomass burning tracers (i.e., levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan), from which it emerges that monosaccharide anhydrides, sugar alcohols and primary sugars have been widely reported as organic tracers for biomass combustion, although it has also been shown that emissions of these compounds depend not only on combustion characteristics and equipment but also on fuel type, combustion quality and weather conditions. Although it appears that it is currently not possible to define a single compound as a universal indicator of biomass combustion, this review provides a valuable tool for the collection of information in the literature and identifies analytes that can lead to the determination of patterns for the distribution between PM generated by biomass combustion.

In Mediterranean countries, the use of copper-based fungicides in agriculture is causing a concerning accumulation of copper in the upper layer (0–20 cm) of soils and water bodies. Phytoremediation by energy crops offers the chance to associate the recovering of polluted environments with the production of biomass for bioenergy purposes. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the morpho-physiological response of giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a well-known energy crop, when treated with increasing concentrations of Cu (0, 150, and 300 ppm) in a semi-hydroponic growing system (mesocosm) for one month. The plant morphology (height and base diameter of the stem, number of stems) was not affected by the treatments. The presence of Cu led to the disequilibrium of Fe and Zn foliar concentration and caused an impairment of photosynthetic parameters: at 150 and 300 ppm the chlorophyll content and the ETR were significantly lower than the control. The study demonstrated that, although the presence of Cu may initially affect the plant physiology, the Arundo plants can tolerate up to 300 ppm of Cu without any adverse effect on biomass production, even when grown in semi-hydroponic conditions.

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Jatropha (Jatropha curcas, L.) is an energy crop mainly cultivated for the oil-seed, and the oil is usually used as bio-fuel. However, few studies have reported information about the utilization of the wood as a fuel for boiler heating systems. With 2500 jatropha trees per hectare, it is possible to produce about 3 t·ha −1 ·y −1 of woody biomass from pruning. In addition, jatropha trees are commonly cut down to a height of 45 cm once every 10 years, with a production of 80 t·ha −1 of dry matter of woody biomass. The use of this biomass has not yet been investigated. During the European project JatroMed, woody biomass from jatropha pruning was collected in Morocco. Chemical and physical characteristics of the wood were conducted according to UNI EN ISO standards. The following jatropha wood characteristics have been analyzed: Moisture and ash contents, the ash melting point, heating value, and concentrations of C, H, N, and S. This research focused on the evaluation of the potential use of jatropha pruning for energy production, and the results represent critical data that is useful for future studies and business potential.

The combustion of biomass is a process that is increasingly used for the generation of heat and energy through different types of wood and agricultural waste. The emissions generated by the combustion of biomass include different kinds of macro- and micropollutants whose formation and concentration varies according to the physical and chemical characteristics of the biomass, the combustion conditions, the plants, and the operational parameters of the process. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of biomass moisture content on the formation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the combustion process. Wet and dry poplar chips, with a moisture content of 43.30% and 15.00%, respectively, were used in a cogeneration plant based on a mobile grate furnace. Stack’s emissions were sampled through adsorbent tubes and subsequently analyzed by thermal desorption coupled with the GC/MS. The data obtained showed that, depending on the moisture content of the starting matrix, which inevitably influences the quality of combustion, there is significant variation in the production of VOCs.