Search

Urban agriculture (UA) has been acknowledged for several positive effects such as access to fresh food, human activities moderation, agro-biodiversity and social and cultural relationships. In the city of Rome due to social and economic trends this kind of activity is spreading, but so far very few attempts have been addressed to inventorying the UA areas (e.g., community gardens, residential gardens, school gardens, illegal vegetable gardens, urban farms, etc.). Some mapping experiences have been carried out but all lack of a well-established methodology to be applied for a complete inventory. In this paper we propose a conceptual framework and methodology for mapping the UA in Rome through Earth Observation techniques by using the concepts of photointerpretation and the features of the most used web-mapping services. Google Earth has been used as a basic tool for visual interpretation and polygon digitalization, while other services have been used for the availability of additional features (e.g., the oblique view of Microsoft Bing Maps). The integration of the web-mapping services combined with ancillary data improved the UA site detection, allowing to define both the land use and the UA typologies. We argue that the integration of the web-mapping services for building urban agricultural land use datasets is cost-effective compared to processing commercial remote sensing images. The inventory can enable administrators to perform analysis about the interactions between agricultural activities and the urban environment, and to enact informed policies for green and vacant urban spaces management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas production and use can represent a win-win strategy providing multiple opportunities to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, while offering a range of important social, environmental and economic benefits. Nevertheless, as for other bioenergy pathways, biogas sustainability needs to be carefully assessed and continuously monitored in light of the specific geographic and temporal context in which it performs. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review on the sustainability assessment of domestic production and use of biogas in Italy, with a focus on the environmental dimension of the sustainability. Furthermore, it elaborates the results of the review to perform an ex-novo sustainability assessment of biogas pathway at national level, through the methodology developed by the Global Bioenergy Partnership. The biogas value chain in Italy can play a positive role to foster the transition towards an ecological and circular economy. This paper highlights both weaknesses and strengths of the biogas value chain in Italy and points out existing differences, in relation to the sustainability of the value chain, between various geographical areas of the country. The outcomes of this study could inform, both at national and international scale, the drawing of tailor-made policies and measures to reduce biogas-related potential risks of environmental impacts, as well as to support the replication and scaling up of successful management practices. Furthermore, they could serve as a baseline for the future monitoring of the sector. Ultimately, the paper reports the key difficulties encountered in the implementation of the GBEP methodology and the solutions adopted to overcome them. [Display omitted] • Three-quarters (75.4%) of the Italian biogas production takes place in the Po river valley, one-third comes from Lombardy. • Maize silage and livestock manure are the most common feedstocks in Italian biogas plants. • Roughly 80 k tons of nitrogen contained in livestock manure were treated by biogas plant in Italy in 2016. • The main source of GHG emissions along the biogas pathway in Italy lies in the cultivation of dedicated bioenergy crops. • Water shortage hampers the development of the biogas sector in southern Italy, restricting the cultivation of energy crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]