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The Role of Abandoned and Degraded Land in Markets and...
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The Role of Abandoned and Degraded Land in Markets and Policy for Bioeconomy

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "C: Energy Economics and Policy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 9057

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Calliope Panoutsou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW72AZ, UK
Interests: bioeconomy; biomass; bioenergy; energy crops; sustainability; energy policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioeconomy is growing rapidly, and the requirement for sustainable, resource efficient biomass sourcing is currently becoming more prominent than ever. While mobilisation of residual and waste streams is high on the research, policy and industrial agendas, there is increased interest towards the exploitation of abandoned and degraded land for biomass crop cultivation. Such types of lands, however, face serious constraints of biophysical and/ or socioeconomic nature. Their restoration and return to productive systems require data-based assessments to understand the likely economic, environmental and social implications and evaluate the costs and benefits from their exploitation.

This Special Issue aims to contribute evidence from recently completed and ongoing research on the potential role these types of land can play in delivering sustainable raw materials for bioeconomy, as well as on how policy can enable the development of abandoned and degraded land productive systems.

Dr. Calliope Panoutsou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • abandoned, degraded land
  • bioeconomy
  • policy
  • markets

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 4967 KiB  
Article
Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis of Low iLUC Bioenergy Production in Europe Using Monte Carlo Simulation
by Traverso L., Mazzoli E., Miller C., Pulighe G., Perelli C., Morese M. M. and Branca G.
Energies 2021, 14(6), 1650; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061650 - 16 Mar 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2342
Abstract
Extensive surfaces of land are currently under-utilized, marginal and/or contaminated (MUC) in many EU and neighbouring countries. In the past few years, scientific research has demonstrated that bioenergy crops can potentially render this land profitable, generating income for the local populations and, at [...] Read more.
Extensive surfaces of land are currently under-utilized, marginal and/or contaminated (MUC) in many EU and neighbouring countries. In the past few years, scientific research has demonstrated that bioenergy crops can potentially render this land profitable, generating income for the local populations and, at the same time, reaching the goals of the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII) without interfering with food production. The main purpose of this paper is to measure net economic returns by computing benefits and costs of low indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) biofuel production on MUC land from the perspective of both the private investors and social welfare. A standard cost-benefit technique was applied to analyse and compare net returns of different advanced bioenergy value-chains in monetary terms. Productivity, economic feasibility and green-house gas (GHG) emissions impact were assessed and considered for the economic analysis. The considered pathways were cellulosic or second generation (2G) ethanol from Giant reed (Arundo donax) in Italy, electricity from miscanthus, biochemicals from spontaneous grass and cultivated Lucerne (Alpha-alfae) with sorghum for biomethane in Germany, and 2G ethanol from Willow (Salix viminalis) in Ukraine. For the risk assessment, Monte Carlo simulation was applied. The results indicated that in Italy and Ukraine, although the production of 2G ethanol would allow positive net yearly margins, the investments will not be profitable compared to the baseline scenarios. In Germany, the work showed good profitability for combined heat and power (CHP) and biochemicals. On the other hand, investments in biomethane showed negative results compared with the baseline scenarios. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation enabled us to identify the range of possible economic results that could be attained once volatility is factored in. While for Italy the likelihood of yielding positive results remains lower than 20 percent, case studies in Ukraine and Germany showed higher certainty levels, ranging from 49 to 91 percent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Abandoned and Degraded Land in Markets and Policy for Bioeconomy)
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21 pages, 1654 KiB  
Article
Viability and Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy Value Chains on Underutilised Lands in the EU and Ukraine
by Cosette Khawaja, Rainer Janssen, Rita Mergner, Dominik Rutz, Marco Colangeli, Lorenzo Traverso, Maria Michela Morese, Manuela Hirschmugl, Carina Sobe, Alfonso Calera, David Cifuentes, Stefano Fabiani, Giuseppe Pulighe, Tiziana Pirelli, Guido Bonati, Oleksandra Tryboi, Olha Haidai, Raul Köhler, Dirk Knoche, Rainer Schlepphorst and Peter Gyurisadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Energies 2021, 14(6), 1566; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061566 - 12 Mar 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3210
Abstract
Bioenergy represents the highest share of renewable energies consumed in the European Union and is still expected to grow. This could be possible by exploring bioenergy production on Marginal, Underutilised, and Contaminated lands (MUC) that are not used for agricultural purposes and therefore, [...] Read more.
Bioenergy represents the highest share of renewable energies consumed in the European Union and is still expected to grow. This could be possible by exploring bioenergy production on Marginal, Underutilised, and Contaminated lands (MUC) that are not used for agricultural purposes and therefore, present no competition with food/feed production. In this paper, the viability and sustainability of bioenergy value chains on these lands is investigated and measures for market uptake were developed. Using three case study areas in Italy, Ukraine, and Germany, a screening of MUC lands was conducted, then an agronomic assessment was performed to determine the most promising crops. Then, techno-economic assessments followed by sustainability assessments were performed on selected value chains. This concept was then automated and expanded through the development of a webGIS tool. The tool is an online platform that allows users to locate MUC lands in Europe, to define a value chain through the selection of bioenergy crops and pathways, and to conduct sustainability assessments measuring a set of environmental, social, and economic sustainability indicators. The findings showed positive results in terms of profitability and greenhouse gas emissions for bioethanol production from willow in Ukraine, heat and power production from miscanthus, and biogas and chemicals production from grass in Germany. The webGIS tool is considered an important decision-making tool for stakeholders, which gives first insights on the viability and sustainability of bioenergy value chains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Abandoned and Degraded Land in Markets and Policy for Bioeconomy)
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22 pages, 2308 KiB  
Article
Socio-Economic Opportunities from Miscanthus Cultivation in Marginal Land for Bioenergy
by Calliope Panoutsou and David Chiaramonti
Energies 2020, 13(11), 2741; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13112741 - 29 May 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 2940
Abstract
Substantial areas of agricultural land in south European countries are becoming increasingly marginal and being abandoned due to arid climate with prolonged summers and low rainfall. Perennial, lignocellulosic crops, such as Miscanthus, offer an outlet that couples agriculture with energy, creates employment, and [...] Read more.
Substantial areas of agricultural land in south European countries are becoming increasingly marginal and being abandoned due to arid climate with prolonged summers and low rainfall. Perennial, lignocellulosic crops, such as Miscanthus, offer an outlet that couples agriculture with energy, creates employment, and increases profits from feedstock production in rural areas. This research paper follows an Input Output methodology and uses an econometric model to investigate the impact of crop yielding performance and marginal land to jobs and profit from the cultivation and supply of Miscanthus in low quality, marginal land in Italy and Greece. Two value chain cases are analysed: small scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Fast Pyrolysis Bio Oil (FPBO). The cultivation of Miscanthus in both reference value chains exhibits good employment prospects, with smaller scale value chains creating more labour-intensive logistics operations. The activities can also generate substantial financial profit especially with higher crop yields. Results show a pronounced relationship between profitability and crop yield for both reference value chains - cultivation and supply operations become more profitable with increasing yield. It is, therefore, important to achieve higher yields through good cropping practices, while maintaining high levels of environmental sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Abandoned and Degraded Land in Markets and Policy for Bioeconomy)
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