Suchergebnisse

Des chaînes d'approvisionnement en biomasse respectueuses de l'environnement et économiquement compétitives sont un facteur clé de succès pour le développement de la bio-économie. Or Celui-ci est susceptible d'être entravé par la pénurie potentielle de biomasse lignocellulosique, matière première la plus demandée pour fabriquer des produits bio-sources. Des technologies innovantes pour la gestion des cultures, la récolte de biomasse et leur prétraitement, le stockage et le transport offrent de nombreuses possibilités pour augmenter l'offre en biomasse tout en réduisant les coûts et en minimisant les impacts négatifs sur l'environnement. Trois récents projets européens visaient à développer de telles technologies, l'ensemble des chaînes logistiques, et à évaluer leur viabilité et durabilité. Les sources de biomasse étudiées incluaient les rémanents forestiers, les résidus d'arboriculture ainsi que des cultures lignocellulosiques annuelles, pérennes et ligneuses. Des filières existantes dans différentes régions d'Europe ont servi de cas d'étude en vraie grandeur et de support pour des démonstrations à l'échelle commerciale. Les principaux verrous identifiés concernent le stockage de biomasse et la phase de production pour les cultures dédiées, et des leviers d'amélioration portant sur la densification de la biomasse, le développement de systèmes de récolte plus efficaces et les systèmes de production de biomasse ont permis de réduire les coûts, la consommation d'énergie et les émissions de gaz à effet de serre. ; Cost-efficient, environmental-friendly and socially sustainable biomass supply chains are urgently needed to achieve the 2020 and 2030 targets of the European Union. Optimized logistics are a key factor of success for bio-based value-chains, and there is currently ample room for improvement. Innovative techniques for crop management, biomass harvesting and pre-treatment, storage and transport offer a prime avenue to increase biomass supply while keeping costes down and minimizing adverse environmental impacts. This communication will draw on results from recent projects funded by the European Commission on the development of new or improved technologies for logistics chains, encompassing energy crops, forest and agricultural residues. It includes an assessment of their sustainability at supply-area level for small to large-scale bio-based projects. The main bottlenecks of logistics reside in storage capacity and feedstock production, and some promising avenues to alleviate include legume-lignocellulosics mixtures, decentralized densification via briquetting, more efficient harversting systems and a widening of harvesting time windows. In a case-study in Burgundy, reduction in costs of more than 30% could be achieved with these options, along with an abatement of 10 to 20 % of greenhouse gas emissions.

The successful promotion of agroforestry in Italy depends on both a recognition of tradition and the opportunities for innovation. In Italy, agroforestry has traditionally been a key component of landscape management. Complex systems, based on the integration among crops–livestock–fruit/forest trees, provided a wide variety of products (e.g. food, feed, fibers, fuelwood and timber) and other ecosystem services (e.g. soil erosion control and biodiversity preservation). Silvopastoral systems have been used for centuries and are still managed in marginal areas. The integration of fruits trees (in primis olive trees) with crops and grazing was widely practiced and is still profitable. Coltura promiscua was historically developed integrating fruit and forest trees and particularly multifunctional trees (e.g. Juglans regia L. and Prunus avium L.) to support vines and intercrops. Building on recent research, projects have also focused on innovation in agroforestry. The adoption of shade tolerant forage species and crops has been studied in silvopastoral and olive systems. Silvopastoral systems can significantly offset the greenhouse gas emissions produced by livestock and shield grazing animals from "heat waves". Integration of fast growing timber trees (like Populus) in arable systems can help reverse the decline in plantation forestry in Italy. Finally, the constraints imposed by the EU agricultural policy, especially the prevalent provisions for monocrops severely limiting the introduction of innovative agroforestry approaches, are discussed. New political measures and certification actions are strongly required.