Sustainable biomass production: A comparison between Gross Energy Requirement and Emergy Synthesis methods

Franzese, Pier Paolo; Rydberg, Törbjorn; Russo, Gìovanni Fulvio; Ulgiati, Sérgio

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.11.004

Cited by 109 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…At present, most H 2 (i.e., 96 %) is produced from fossil fuels, resulting in an equivalent amount of CO 2 being released to the atmosphere to that if the fuel was burnt directly (ignoring efficiency losses)-undermining the potential benefits of a H 2 energy economy. Given the enormous increase in production that would be necessary to support a transition to a H 2 energy economy, there is clear scope for improved methods of production coupled with CCS (Franzese et al, 2009).…”

Section: Advanced Applications Of Ca-looping Technology -H 2 Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The calcium looping cycle for CO2 capture from power generation, cement manufacture and hydrogen production

Dean

Blamey

Florin

et al. 2011

Chemical Engineering Research and Design

332

226

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Section: Advanced Applications Of Ca-looping Technology -H 2 Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The calcium looping cycle for CO2 capture from power generation, cement manufacture and hydrogen production

Dean

Blamey

Florin

et al. 2011

Chemical Engineering Research and Design

332

226

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“…A more comprehensive explanation of the emergy theory and accounting procedures can be found in Odum (1988Odum ( , 1994Odum ( , 1996, Brown and Ulgiati (2004a, b), and Franzese et al (2009).…”

Section: The Emergy Synthesis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource use and biophysical constraints of Scottish agriculture

Viglia

Franzese

Zucaro

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Agriculture is a fundamental sector of economy and society that ensures food supply, classified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment among the so-called "provisioning ecosystem services". Due to the increase of food demand worldwide, farmers are shifting more and more towards intensive agriculture. This trend is connected to the unsustainable consumption of natural resources, most often exceeding the carrying capacity of natural ecosystems. In this paper, the resource use and biophysical constraints of Scottish agriculture were investigated at regional and national levels by means of the Emergy Synthesis method. The study focused on two main agroecosystems: 1) the Cairngorms National Park (CNP) and 2) the national agricultural sector of Scotland as a whole. The evolution of the agricultural sector was explored over time (years 1991, 2001, 2007), accounting for local renewable and non-renewable resources as well as imported resources. Performance and sustainability indicators were then calculated with and without including human labor and economic services (money flows). In the year 2007, the Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR) of the Scottish agricultural sector was about 46% of the same indicator calculated for the CNP (2.65 versus 5.72, respectively). A higher Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR) was calculated for the national sector than for CNP (1.25 versus 1.02, respectively). The Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI) was 2.12 for the national sector and 5.60 for CNP. Such figures were calculated without including the emergy flows supporting labor and services. If the latter are also accounted for, the ESI of the national level and CNP drop by a factor 5.6 and 3.9, respectively. Such variations suggest that larger flows of non-renewable resources strongly affect the environmental performance, increasing the dependence on non-renewable resources supporting the larger economic system in which the agricultural sectors are embedded in.

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“…The SE 3 A (Software for Economic, Energetic, and Environmental Analysis) software is based on well-known methodologies: i) fixed and variable costs for economic analysis; ii) gross energy requirement (GER) for energy analysis (Slesser, 1982;Franzese, 2009); iii) IPCC and EU guidelines for environmental assessment (ISO, 2006;IPCC, 2006). The AEC energy and environmental costs are defined with an LCAoriented approach; the software follows the ISO standards related to the Life Cycle Assessment, ISO 14040 (ISO, 2006) according to which fossil fuel consumptions, as well as the GHG emissions related to the production cycle, are considered.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model for the economic, energy and environmental evaluation in biomass productions

Fiala

Bacenetti

2012

J Agricult Engineer

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In the near future, renewable energies will have a decisive role to play in attempts to achieve the ambitious objectives fixed by the European Union. Consequently, not only the economic aspect but also energy and environmental issues of agroenergy chains (AEC) must be carefully evaluated. Software (SE 3 A) able to assess economic, energy and environmental performance of AEC has been developed. The aim of this paper is to present SE 3 A and show its usefulness in evaluating different AEC and/or different technical solutions. For the moment, the analysis is restricted to: i) field and ii) post-harvest (transport/storage) phases of the AEC. As an example of SE 3 A flexibility, economic, energy and environmental costs (EEE costs) related to the cultivation technique used in northern Italy for the poplar short rotation coppice were evaluated.

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Sustainable biomass production: A comparison between Gross Energy Requirement and Emergy Synthesis methods

Cited by 109 publications

References 19 publications

The calcium looping cycle for CO2 capture from power generation, cement manufacture and hydrogen production

The calcium looping cycle for CO2 capture from power generation, cement manufacture and hydrogen production

Resource use and biophysical constraints of Scottish agriculture

Model for the economic, energy and environmental evaluation in biomass productions

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