ESTROM,Environmental Science and Technology in Romania—programme overview

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Assessment of the availability of agricultural crop residues in the European Union: Potential and limitations for bioenergy use

This paper provides a resource-based assessment of the available agricultural crop residues for bioenergy production in the European Union, at the level of the 27 Member States. The assessment provides the amount of the residues produced, collected, their present uses and the residues left available for bioenergy. This study considers the crop production and yields and multi-annual yield variation for each crop. The calculation was based on specific residues to product ratios, which were determined, depending on the crop type and crop yield. Sustainable removal rates were considered in order to protect soil fertility. The results show large spatial and temporal variations of available crop residues within EU27. The average amount of crop residues available for bioenergy in EU27 was estimated at 1530 PJ/year, with a variation between 1090 and 1900 PJ/year. The average value represents about 3.2% in final energy consumption in the EU27 while the variation 2.3–4%. This variation, which is even larger at the level of Member States, may result in shortages in biomass supply in some years, when crop residues are available in a lower amount than the average.     

Application of smart irrigation systems for water conservation in Italian farms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In many countries, water supplies are limited and must be managed for different uses. Providing additional resources for irrigation can be an...     

Extending the EU Renewable Energy Directive sustainability criteria to solid bioenergy from forests

Solid bioenergy from forests plays — and is expected to continue to play — a key role to fulfil the renewable energy targets at the European Union level. When the Renewable Energy Directive was enacted, sustainability criteria were incorporated solely for biofuels and bioliquids. Sustainability criteria for solid bioenergy are also needed in order to prevent wood and primary forest residues from posing additional environmental risks to ecosystems. Acknowledging this, the European Commission has been working on extending the biofuels and bioliquids provisions to solid biomass. An internal draft was circulated in August 2013 which addressed the ways to both balance and mitigate the risks in three main topics: biodiversity; sustainable forest management; and greenhouse gases. This paper presents a set of criteria and indicators, developed during workshops with experts from Governments, scientific institutions, businesses and NGOs, that may be considered by the EU to assure that solid biomass from forests is obtained in an environmentally sustainable way.     

ESTROM—a Romanian–Swiss research programme

Background, aim, and scope  Composting is an effective treatment process to realize sludge land application. However, nitrogen loss could result in the reduction of nutrient value of the compost products and the stabilization effect of composting on heavy metal concentration and mobility in sludge has been shown to be very limited. Materials and methods  Laboratory-scale experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of bamboo charcoal (BC) on nitrogen conservation and mobility of Cu and Zn during sludge composting. Results  The result indicated that the incorporation of BC into the sludge composting material could significantly reduce nitrogen loss. With 9% BC amendment, total nitrogen loss at the end of composting decreased 64.1% compared with no BC amendment (control treatment). Mobility of Cu and Zn in the sludge may also have been lessened, based on the decline in diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-extractable Cu and Zn contents of composted sludge by 44.4% and 19.3%, respectively, compared to metal extractability in the original material. Discussion  Ammonia adsorption capability of BC might be the main reason for the retention of nitrogen in sludge composting materials. Decrease of extractable Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ in the composting material mainly resulted from the adsorption of both metals by BC. Conclusions  Incorporation of BC into composting material could significantly lessen the total nitrogen loss during sludge composting. Mobility of heavy metals in the sludge composting material could also be reduced by the addition of BC. Recommendations and perspectives  Bamboo charcoal could be an effective amendment for nitrogen conservation and heavy metal stabilization in sludge composts. Further research into the effect of BC-amended sludge compost material on soil properties, bioavailability of heavy metals, and nutrient turnover in soil needs to be carried out prior to the application of BC-sludge compost in agriculture.