The growing concern for environmental issues has underlined the need to promote sustainable consu... more The growing concern for environmental issues has underlined the need to promote sustainable consumption and production. Taking into consideration the three pillars of sustainability, honey should be seen as an important food from a sustainability perspective. Among honey varieties, the eucalyptus one is becoming increasingly popular with people for its aroma and the plant’s therapeutic properties. However, the beekeeping sector in Italy does not yet have sufficient knowledge and understanding of consumer needs with a view to increasing earnings. This paper aimed to analyze the drivers that make people pick eucalyptus honey and tries to investigate which extrinsic and intrinsic quality attributes affect consumer behavior. Data came from an online survey of 403 Italian honey consumers. An ordered Probit model was applied. The results show that consumers consider the taste, viscosity, therapeutic properties, brand reputation, variety, geographical indication, Italian origin, and organi...
Climate change is strongly affecting agriculture worldwide. In Mediterranean zone one of the most... more Climate change is strongly affecting agriculture worldwide. In Mediterranean zone one of the most challenging issue is related to water deficit as a consequence of climate change. In particular, in Mediterranean Countries, we are facing a higher number of extreme rain events during winter and, on the other hand, a much more lasting and stronger drought during summer. A possible solution to increase the ability of agriculture sector to face such problems relies in being able to collect excess water during winter in order to use it for irrigation during drought period. The present study aims to compare an innovative prototype of flexible water tank able to store rain water with the traditional artificial basin storage solutions, in order to use this for irrigation during summer period.
Olive pruning could represent an important biomass resource for energy production considering tha... more Olive pruning could represent an important biomass resource for energy production considering that over 2600 Gg of dry matter represent the annual amount of biomass that could be obtained from olive groves just in Italy. Different experiences of pruning harvesting are reported in literature, especially related to shredders towed by tractors while limited knowledge is available on performance, quality of work and costs of harvesting logistics based on stationary chippers. The aim of the present paper is to analyze machine performance of a forestry stationary chipper applied to pruning harvesting for what concerning work productivity, quality of the comminuted product and harvesting operating costs. Although widely used in the forestry sector, the use of a stationary chipper for harvesting and comminuting olive tree pruning is poorly documented and therefore the study is innovative and fills a gap in the literature where little information is currently available. The results showed hi...
Among the species cultivated for industrial vegetable oil production, castor could be a good crop... more Among the species cultivated for industrial vegetable oil production, castor could be a good crop for future investments due to the good resistance to pests, tolerance to drought, and suitability for marginal lands cultivation. The paper presents results of the environmental impact assessment and economic feasibility of the production of castor oil from two different castor hybrids comparing four by-products management scenarios and two harvesting systems. Castor hybrid C-856 harvested manually and that involved only the soil incorporation of press cake obtained by the oil extraction resulted as the most sustainable. The hybrid C-1030 resulted as more profitable than C-856 when harvested with the combine harvester. The ratio between gross margin and GWP emissions was applied to calculate the economic performance (gross margin) per unit of environmental burden. Findings showed that Sc1B scenario in case of C-856 cultivar hybrid had a better ratio between economic performance and gree...
Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz in an interesting oil crop for multipurpose uses and its cultivation ... more Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz in an interesting oil crop for multipurpose uses and its cultivation is gaining growing attention in Mediterranean context. This species is indeed suitable for cultivation in marginal lands and feasible to crop rotation with cereals. Camelina seeds are currently harvested by a combine harvester equipped with cereal header. Considering the tiny dimension of the seeds, which can lead to substantial seed loss, proper assessment of mechanical harvesting is a key issue for the correct development of effective camelina seeds supply chain. The present study is one of the first which aimed to analyze mechanical harvesting of camelina seeds through combine harvester. Work performance, in details work productivity, harvesting costs and seed loss, of harvesting operation were carried out in two experimental field tests. The first one located in Northern Italy and characterized by organic farming, whilst the second experimental field was located in Spain, with conven...
The study aimed to analyze the economic and environmental sustainability of a case study of an en... more The study aimed to analyze the economic and environmental sustainability of a case study of an energy power plant that produces electricity from pruning residues of olive groves from nine municipalities in southern Italy. To assess the economic sustainability of the agro-energetic chain, the gross value added (GVA) is calculated. Moreover, the GHG emissions of the agro-energetic pruning supply chain due to both the pruning collection at the field level, and their combustion for energy production at the power plant, are calculated. Moreover, the ecoefficiency ratio was calculated to measure the value added per 1Mg of GHG emitted into the atmosphere. The findings show the whole agro-energetic chain, namely the power plant and the collection company have a good eco-efficiency ratio. In fact, the power plant's ecoefficiency ratio (2.64€ per 1Mg of GHG) is slightly lower than harvest firm one (2.91€ per 1Mg of GHG). The findings could be useful to develop new business models based on...
Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in the world trade and its consumption causes... more Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in the world trade and its consumption causes the production of a lot of waste. The coffee grounds remain today a major focus to study, particularly for bioenergy purposes. Since it is possible to use coffee waste in many ways at level demand, it is also important to investigate the coffee waste at the supply level and provide important information for the development a proper supply chain Conceivably, coffee shops' owners are the producer of such waste, their mean profile is still unknown. Therefore, in the circular economy framework, the study aims to analyze the coffee shops' attitude towards coffee grounds use relying on a sample of Italian coffee shops and to profile an average Italian coffee shop. Data were collected by using a web-based survey administered during the period October – November 2019 in Rome and the sample was 95 coffee shops. The descriptive statistics was applied. The findings shows that 57% of the sa...
The increasing demand for sustainable food and non-food biomass production is challenging farmers... more The increasing demand for sustainable food and non-food biomass production is challenging farmers all over the world, particularly in those areas where are short in water supply. Besides, the constant spreading of desertification in the Mediterranean region makes cropping even more difficult. In fact, the main problem related to desertification is the reduction of rainy events in a given region, although the annual rainfall remains constant. Hence, surface water reservoirs are accessible only for a limited period of the year forcing farmers to rely on belowground water, which is expensive and, sometimes, impossible to carry out. In the framework of MediOpuntia Project, a possible strategy to harvest rain water in arid and semiarid regions of the world, is represented by the installation of subsurface water retention Technology (SWRT) made of impermeable U-shaped barriers laid 80-100 cm belowground with aim to prevent water loss due to percolation. In addition, also soil nutrients lo...
The growing demand for renewable substitute for oil-derived products is a valid opportunity for f... more The growing demand for renewable substitute for oil-derived products is a valid opportunity for farmers who cultivate oilseed species. Castor bean oil is gaining interest during the last decades not only for cosmetics purposes but also as source of biofuel or raw material for the production of lubricants and oleo-chemical products. In order to produce castor oil, the mechanical harvesting is a problem that has to be addressed. Conventional combine harvesters fail to process the considerable amount of biomass produced by castor plant, while geneticists are involved in the selection of dwarf hybrids, further investigation on the castor chain supply is fundamental for developing a reliable mechanical harvesting system. The goal of the study is to assess the possibility to extend the use of conventional machinery, currently applied for cereal crops, to the harvest of castor beans in new selected cultivars.
Pruning's residues could be an important source for renewable energy production. However thei... more Pruning's residues could be an important source for renewable energy production. However their use for this aim is actually hindered by various fences mainly linked to the lacking in harvesting phases and to the absence of a sustainable logistic chain for energy production. Considering this the AGROinLOG (Demonstration of innovative integrated biomass logistics centres (IBLC) for the Agro-industry sector in Europe) project aimed to develop Innovative Biomass Logistic Centres enhancing agricultural residues within existing production cycles. One of the study area of the project was Agios Kostantinos (Greece), a Greek locality in which the most important crop is olive tree. In this context pruning residues are actually seen mostly as a problem and not as a potential resource. According to what written above AGROinLOG activities in this study area aimed to develop a sustainable harvesting system for pruning residues, evaluating the performances of different machines currently avail...
Following the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodolo gy, this study aims to assess and compare the... more Following the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodolo gy, this study aims to assess and compare the environmental impact of milk production of some conventional and organic farms located in the Molise region (Italy). The con sidered system was defined by the entire life cycle of cows (from birth and growth, to milk production) including the agricultural processes of feedstuffs. The functional unit was d efined as one kg of energy corrected milk (ECM) at the farm gate. Data on conventional farms concern two cases: case A, with two different sequential cow’s diets (Conv. A 1 and A2), and case B (Conv. B). For the organic farms, data supplied by Org. A 1 (study case) are compared with literature data on Org. A2. Results showed Conv. B as the most environment affe cting farm and this can be mainly ascribed to the management of feeds and diets of la ctating cows. The use of commercial mixed feeds had the largest impact on all conventio nal farms. Moreover, the Org. A 2 had the best perform...
Obiettivi. Obiettivo del lavoro e proporre una norma volontaria finalizzata a migliorare l’access... more Obiettivi. Obiettivo del lavoro e proporre una norma volontaria finalizzata a migliorare l’accessibilita relazionale delle organizzazioni e i rapporti con l’utenza esterna. L’aggettivazione posta al termine di accessibilita prende le distanze da concetti fisici o virtuali, richiamando l’attenzione sulla relazionalita. Metodologia. Inquadrato il concetto di accessibilita relazionale, si definiscono l’approccio e lo schema logico della norma attingendo ad approcci teorici manageriali e multidisciplinari. Da un punto di vista empirico, spunti utili sono stati tratti dall’ambito ambientale secondo una duplice prospettiva: dalle esperienze in tema, quindi da una prospettiva d’offerta; dal punto di vista degli utenti, per cogliere la prospettiva della domanda. Mettendo a sistema i contributi teorici e le risultanze empiriche, si definiscono lo schema logico ed alcune linee guida utili a migliorare l’accessibilita relazionale di differenti contesti organizzativi e settoriali. Risultati. La...
Cheese whey is the most contaminant waste generated from the production of cheese. The world prod... more Cheese whey is the most contaminant waste generated from the production of cheese. The world production of cheese whey is estimated to be over 108 tons/y. In Italy, the cheese production in 2013 was 1.166 ton; it is an important source of environmental pollution since approximately 1 kg cheese produces 10 L cheese whey. Cheese whey cannot be directly discharged to the environment without an appropriate treatment because of different environmental hazards. Thanks to its nutritional value, liquid whey can be successfully recycled in animal nutrition. Following the LCA methodology, this study aims to assess the environmental impact of milk production when liquid whey is used in dairy cow feeding. Three different cow’s diets, nutritionally similar, were assessed and compared: diet A, with no silages and liquid whey; diet B, including silages but no liquid whey; diet C including both silages and liquid whey. A sensitivity analysis was performed to test results above allocation methods (m...
The paper focuses on the potentiality of geosites valorisation in supporting a sustainable rural ... more The paper focuses on the potentiality of geosites valorisation in supporting a sustainable rural development strategy. An inner area in Southern Italy with a valuable naturalistic and geological, heritage is considered. The area is analysed under demographic, economic, environmental, agricultural and tourism profiles to bring out limits and strengths that a strategy of geological valorisation can meet. Results highlighted the fragility of the Mountain -in terms of depopulation, ageing, unemployment and low firm density, that has not been affected by a proper tourism development. The valorisation of geosites can achieve its potential if all components of local heritage are reinforced and built around common peculiarities.
Opuntia ficus-indica is a source of minerals and vitamins and has recently been used as ingredien... more Opuntia ficus-indica is a source of minerals and vitamins and has recently been used as ingredient to make a new functional variety of pasta. Italy was the first country in the world to produce pasta and is also the second largest producer of Opuntia in the world. According to an Italian sample, this study considers the main factors that could influence consumers when choosing functional pasta (featuring Opuntia) and characterizes distinct hypothetical consumer segments in terms of their food habits, pasta choices, and perceptions toward functional pasta featuring Opuntia. Data were collected using a web-based survey and with 328 respondents. Factor analysis (FA) with orthogonal rotation (varimax) was used to simplify the observed variables and hierarchical cluster analysis was performed with the FA results. Seven clusters were identified and the main results show that the level of education plays an important role in the perception of functional pasta. In fact, the perceptions of w...
A seguito dell'applicazione della riforma OCM zucchero, si sono avviati piani di riconversion... more A seguito dell'applicazione della riforma OCM zucchero, si sono avviati piani di riconversione della filiera bieticolo-saccarifera verso diverse filiere agroenergetiche. La colza è considerata tra le colture strategiche da utilizzare per la produzione di biodiesel. Tra gli studi di riconversione sta acquistando sempre maggiore importanza l'analisi della sostenibilità ambientale ed economica del processo di cambio d'uso del suolo. Obiettivo dello studio è condurre un'analisi dell'impatto ambientale della coltivazione di colza al fine di individuare il modello colturale meno impattante. L'analisi ambientale è condotta su cinque realtà rappresentative individuate mediante l'impiego della cluster analysis a partire da un campione di 251 appezzamenti coltivati a colza (2751 ettari totali) nel biennio 2009-2010 in diverse regioni italiane. Per valutare le performance ambientali delle cinque realtà indagate si è applicata la metodologia del Life Cycle Assessment...
The growing concern for environmental issues has underlined the need to promote sustainable consu... more The growing concern for environmental issues has underlined the need to promote sustainable consumption and production. Taking into consideration the three pillars of sustainability, honey should be seen as an important food from a sustainability perspective. Among honey varieties, the eucalyptus one is becoming increasingly popular with people for its aroma and the plant’s therapeutic properties. However, the beekeeping sector in Italy does not yet have sufficient knowledge and understanding of consumer needs with a view to increasing earnings. This paper aimed to analyze the drivers that make people pick eucalyptus honey and tries to investigate which extrinsic and intrinsic quality attributes affect consumer behavior. Data came from an online survey of 403 Italian honey consumers. An ordered Probit model was applied. The results show that consumers consider the taste, viscosity, therapeutic properties, brand reputation, variety, geographical indication, Italian origin, and organi...
Climate change is strongly affecting agriculture worldwide. In Mediterranean zone one of the most... more Climate change is strongly affecting agriculture worldwide. In Mediterranean zone one of the most challenging issue is related to water deficit as a consequence of climate change. In particular, in Mediterranean Countries, we are facing a higher number of extreme rain events during winter and, on the other hand, a much more lasting and stronger drought during summer. A possible solution to increase the ability of agriculture sector to face such problems relies in being able to collect excess water during winter in order to use it for irrigation during drought period. The present study aims to compare an innovative prototype of flexible water tank able to store rain water with the traditional artificial basin storage solutions, in order to use this for irrigation during summer period.
Olive pruning could represent an important biomass resource for energy production considering tha... more Olive pruning could represent an important biomass resource for energy production considering that over 2600 Gg of dry matter represent the annual amount of biomass that could be obtained from olive groves just in Italy. Different experiences of pruning harvesting are reported in literature, especially related to shredders towed by tractors while limited knowledge is available on performance, quality of work and costs of harvesting logistics based on stationary chippers. The aim of the present paper is to analyze machine performance of a forestry stationary chipper applied to pruning harvesting for what concerning work productivity, quality of the comminuted product and harvesting operating costs. Although widely used in the forestry sector, the use of a stationary chipper for harvesting and comminuting olive tree pruning is poorly documented and therefore the study is innovative and fills a gap in the literature where little information is currently available. The results showed hi...
Among the species cultivated for industrial vegetable oil production, castor could be a good crop... more Among the species cultivated for industrial vegetable oil production, castor could be a good crop for future investments due to the good resistance to pests, tolerance to drought, and suitability for marginal lands cultivation. The paper presents results of the environmental impact assessment and economic feasibility of the production of castor oil from two different castor hybrids comparing four by-products management scenarios and two harvesting systems. Castor hybrid C-856 harvested manually and that involved only the soil incorporation of press cake obtained by the oil extraction resulted as the most sustainable. The hybrid C-1030 resulted as more profitable than C-856 when harvested with the combine harvester. The ratio between gross margin and GWP emissions was applied to calculate the economic performance (gross margin) per unit of environmental burden. Findings showed that Sc1B scenario in case of C-856 cultivar hybrid had a better ratio between economic performance and gree...
Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz in an interesting oil crop for multipurpose uses and its cultivation ... more Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz in an interesting oil crop for multipurpose uses and its cultivation is gaining growing attention in Mediterranean context. This species is indeed suitable for cultivation in marginal lands and feasible to crop rotation with cereals. Camelina seeds are currently harvested by a combine harvester equipped with cereal header. Considering the tiny dimension of the seeds, which can lead to substantial seed loss, proper assessment of mechanical harvesting is a key issue for the correct development of effective camelina seeds supply chain. The present study is one of the first which aimed to analyze mechanical harvesting of camelina seeds through combine harvester. Work performance, in details work productivity, harvesting costs and seed loss, of harvesting operation were carried out in two experimental field tests. The first one located in Northern Italy and characterized by organic farming, whilst the second experimental field was located in Spain, with conven...
The study aimed to analyze the economic and environmental sustainability of a case study of an en... more The study aimed to analyze the economic and environmental sustainability of a case study of an energy power plant that produces electricity from pruning residues of olive groves from nine municipalities in southern Italy. To assess the economic sustainability of the agro-energetic chain, the gross value added (GVA) is calculated. Moreover, the GHG emissions of the agro-energetic pruning supply chain due to both the pruning collection at the field level, and their combustion for energy production at the power plant, are calculated. Moreover, the ecoefficiency ratio was calculated to measure the value added per 1Mg of GHG emitted into the atmosphere. The findings show the whole agro-energetic chain, namely the power plant and the collection company have a good eco-efficiency ratio. In fact, the power plant's ecoefficiency ratio (2.64€ per 1Mg of GHG) is slightly lower than harvest firm one (2.91€ per 1Mg of GHG). The findings could be useful to develop new business models based on...
Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in the world trade and its consumption causes... more Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in the world trade and its consumption causes the production of a lot of waste. The coffee grounds remain today a major focus to study, particularly for bioenergy purposes. Since it is possible to use coffee waste in many ways at level demand, it is also important to investigate the coffee waste at the supply level and provide important information for the development a proper supply chain Conceivably, coffee shops' owners are the producer of such waste, their mean profile is still unknown. Therefore, in the circular economy framework, the study aims to analyze the coffee shops' attitude towards coffee grounds use relying on a sample of Italian coffee shops and to profile an average Italian coffee shop. Data were collected by using a web-based survey administered during the period October – November 2019 in Rome and the sample was 95 coffee shops. The descriptive statistics was applied. The findings shows that 57% of the sa...
The increasing demand for sustainable food and non-food biomass production is challenging farmers... more The increasing demand for sustainable food and non-food biomass production is challenging farmers all over the world, particularly in those areas where are short in water supply. Besides, the constant spreading of desertification in the Mediterranean region makes cropping even more difficult. In fact, the main problem related to desertification is the reduction of rainy events in a given region, although the annual rainfall remains constant. Hence, surface water reservoirs are accessible only for a limited period of the year forcing farmers to rely on belowground water, which is expensive and, sometimes, impossible to carry out. In the framework of MediOpuntia Project, a possible strategy to harvest rain water in arid and semiarid regions of the world, is represented by the installation of subsurface water retention Technology (SWRT) made of impermeable U-shaped barriers laid 80-100 cm belowground with aim to prevent water loss due to percolation. In addition, also soil nutrients lo...
The growing demand for renewable substitute for oil-derived products is a valid opportunity for f... more The growing demand for renewable substitute for oil-derived products is a valid opportunity for farmers who cultivate oilseed species. Castor bean oil is gaining interest during the last decades not only for cosmetics purposes but also as source of biofuel or raw material for the production of lubricants and oleo-chemical products. In order to produce castor oil, the mechanical harvesting is a problem that has to be addressed. Conventional combine harvesters fail to process the considerable amount of biomass produced by castor plant, while geneticists are involved in the selection of dwarf hybrids, further investigation on the castor chain supply is fundamental for developing a reliable mechanical harvesting system. The goal of the study is to assess the possibility to extend the use of conventional machinery, currently applied for cereal crops, to the harvest of castor beans in new selected cultivars.
Pruning's residues could be an important source for renewable energy production. However thei... more Pruning's residues could be an important source for renewable energy production. However their use for this aim is actually hindered by various fences mainly linked to the lacking in harvesting phases and to the absence of a sustainable logistic chain for energy production. Considering this the AGROinLOG (Demonstration of innovative integrated biomass logistics centres (IBLC) for the Agro-industry sector in Europe) project aimed to develop Innovative Biomass Logistic Centres enhancing agricultural residues within existing production cycles. One of the study area of the project was Agios Kostantinos (Greece), a Greek locality in which the most important crop is olive tree. In this context pruning residues are actually seen mostly as a problem and not as a potential resource. According to what written above AGROinLOG activities in this study area aimed to develop a sustainable harvesting system for pruning residues, evaluating the performances of different machines currently avail...
Following the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodolo gy, this study aims to assess and compare the... more Following the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodolo gy, this study aims to assess and compare the environmental impact of milk production of some conventional and organic farms located in the Molise region (Italy). The con sidered system was defined by the entire life cycle of cows (from birth and growth, to milk production) including the agricultural processes of feedstuffs. The functional unit was d efined as one kg of energy corrected milk (ECM) at the farm gate. Data on conventional farms concern two cases: case A, with two different sequential cow’s diets (Conv. A 1 and A2), and case B (Conv. B). For the organic farms, data supplied by Org. A 1 (study case) are compared with literature data on Org. A2. Results showed Conv. B as the most environment affe cting farm and this can be mainly ascribed to the management of feeds and diets of la ctating cows. The use of commercial mixed feeds had the largest impact on all conventio nal farms. Moreover, the Org. A 2 had the best perform...
Obiettivi. Obiettivo del lavoro e proporre una norma volontaria finalizzata a migliorare l’access... more Obiettivi. Obiettivo del lavoro e proporre una norma volontaria finalizzata a migliorare l’accessibilita relazionale delle organizzazioni e i rapporti con l’utenza esterna. L’aggettivazione posta al termine di accessibilita prende le distanze da concetti fisici o virtuali, richiamando l’attenzione sulla relazionalita. Metodologia. Inquadrato il concetto di accessibilita relazionale, si definiscono l’approccio e lo schema logico della norma attingendo ad approcci teorici manageriali e multidisciplinari. Da un punto di vista empirico, spunti utili sono stati tratti dall’ambito ambientale secondo una duplice prospettiva: dalle esperienze in tema, quindi da una prospettiva d’offerta; dal punto di vista degli utenti, per cogliere la prospettiva della domanda. Mettendo a sistema i contributi teorici e le risultanze empiriche, si definiscono lo schema logico ed alcune linee guida utili a migliorare l’accessibilita relazionale di differenti contesti organizzativi e settoriali. Risultati. La...
Cheese whey is the most contaminant waste generated from the production of cheese. The world prod... more Cheese whey is the most contaminant waste generated from the production of cheese. The world production of cheese whey is estimated to be over 108 tons/y. In Italy, the cheese production in 2013 was 1.166 ton; it is an important source of environmental pollution since approximately 1 kg cheese produces 10 L cheese whey. Cheese whey cannot be directly discharged to the environment without an appropriate treatment because of different environmental hazards. Thanks to its nutritional value, liquid whey can be successfully recycled in animal nutrition. Following the LCA methodology, this study aims to assess the environmental impact of milk production when liquid whey is used in dairy cow feeding. Three different cow’s diets, nutritionally similar, were assessed and compared: diet A, with no silages and liquid whey; diet B, including silages but no liquid whey; diet C including both silages and liquid whey. A sensitivity analysis was performed to test results above allocation methods (m...
The paper focuses on the potentiality of geosites valorisation in supporting a sustainable rural ... more The paper focuses on the potentiality of geosites valorisation in supporting a sustainable rural development strategy. An inner area in Southern Italy with a valuable naturalistic and geological, heritage is considered. The area is analysed under demographic, economic, environmental, agricultural and tourism profiles to bring out limits and strengths that a strategy of geological valorisation can meet. Results highlighted the fragility of the Mountain -in terms of depopulation, ageing, unemployment and low firm density, that has not been affected by a proper tourism development. The valorisation of geosites can achieve its potential if all components of local heritage are reinforced and built around common peculiarities.
Opuntia ficus-indica is a source of minerals and vitamins and has recently been used as ingredien... more Opuntia ficus-indica is a source of minerals and vitamins and has recently been used as ingredient to make a new functional variety of pasta. Italy was the first country in the world to produce pasta and is also the second largest producer of Opuntia in the world. According to an Italian sample, this study considers the main factors that could influence consumers when choosing functional pasta (featuring Opuntia) and characterizes distinct hypothetical consumer segments in terms of their food habits, pasta choices, and perceptions toward functional pasta featuring Opuntia. Data were collected using a web-based survey and with 328 respondents. Factor analysis (FA) with orthogonal rotation (varimax) was used to simplify the observed variables and hierarchical cluster analysis was performed with the FA results. Seven clusters were identified and the main results show that the level of education plays an important role in the perception of functional pasta. In fact, the perceptions of w...
A seguito dell'applicazione della riforma OCM zucchero, si sono avviati piani di riconversion... more A seguito dell'applicazione della riforma OCM zucchero, si sono avviati piani di riconversione della filiera bieticolo-saccarifera verso diverse filiere agroenergetiche. La colza è considerata tra le colture strategiche da utilizzare per la produzione di biodiesel. Tra gli studi di riconversione sta acquistando sempre maggiore importanza l'analisi della sostenibilità ambientale ed economica del processo di cambio d'uso del suolo. Obiettivo dello studio è condurre un'analisi dell'impatto ambientale della coltivazione di colza al fine di individuare il modello colturale meno impattante. L'analisi ambientale è condotta su cinque realtà rappresentative individuate mediante l'impiego della cluster analysis a partire da un campione di 251 appezzamenti coltivati a colza (2751 ettari totali) nel biennio 2009-2010 in diverse regioni italiane. Per valutare le performance ambientali delle cinque realtà indagate si è applicata la metodologia del Life Cycle Assessment...
The Institute of Coastal Marine Environment (IAMC) of the CNR shares the coordination of a four-y... more The Institute of Coastal Marine Environment (IAMC) of the CNR shares the coordination of a four-year EU Integrated Project SPICOSA (Science and Policy Integration for COastal Zone Assessment). SPICOSA is developing and testing an operational research approach framework for the assessment of policy options in the context of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). The integration of the economic, social and environmental components of the coastal zone is essential to supporting sustainable environmental policies. The SPICOSA methodology, System Approach Framework (SAF), is being implemented and tested simultaneously in eighteen European Study Sites. We are three-quarters through the exercise with the Mar Piccolo, and we are now analyzing the results of our simulation analyses. In 2010, the results will be translated into various formats for deliberation and distribution to Policy makers, Stakeholders, and Public to provide them with means to understand the effects of their policies and to promote a sustainable use of the Mar Piccolo resources. The results of the SPICOSA Study Site will be available on a user-based website for SAF support and archive of scientific reports and models.
The livestock production sector represents more than 40 % of the economic value of EU primary pro... more The livestock production sector represents more than 40 % of the economic value of EU primary productions. This sector consists of a huge diversity of processes and techniques depending on the animal species and the final products. Because of these differences, livestock productions are associated with several adverse effects on the environment, especially in the breeding phases and feeding composition and management; moreover, in terms of raising awareness of the environmental implications of livestock productions, LCA applications are of increasing importance for systematic assessment of the environmental burdens connected with this sector. After an overview of the structural and economic characteristics of the most significant livestock supply chain and its main environmental problems, we provide a description of the international state of the art of LCA implementations for livestock. Methodological problems connected with the application of LCA are investigated, starting with the critical analysis of international papers and the few Italian papers in the scientific literature. Finally, the best practices regarding LCA methodology implementation are proposed, in order to improve results and manage the methodological problems identified.
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supporting sustainable environmental policies. The SPICOSA methodology, System Approach Framework (SAF), is being implemented and tested simultaneously in eighteen European Study Sites. We are three-quarters through the exercise with the Mar Piccolo, and we are now analyzing the results of our simulation analyses.
In 2010, the results will be translated into various formats for deliberation and distribution to Policy makers, Stakeholders, and Public to provide them with means to understand the effects of their policies and to promote a sustainable use of the Mar Piccolo resources. The results of the SPICOSA Study Site will be available on a user-based website for SAF support and archive of scientific reports and models.
methodology implementation are proposed, in order to improve results and manage the methodological problems identified.