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8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion; 1228-1231, The results reported in the document are related to one of the agrivoltaic (APV) tests in progress in Kourtesi photovoltaic (PV) plant in Greece, as part of the wide experimental program launched by Enel Green Power (EGP) in January 2021. Aromatic species have been implemented in three different areas: in the corridors between two modules rows, underneath the modules and in a control area, free from panels. In addition, in unused marginal areas specific crops have been implemented, enabling new business models, with a circular bioeconomy approach, delivering new win-win solutions for the management of the PV plant and nearby farmers. Proximity and remote sensing networks allow to collect data about all the crops, as a valid support tool to schedule irrigation and fertilization activities. Sustainable agricultural practices have been also implemented, as the use of Riterra, a biodegradable in soil mulching film made of Mater-Bi, a family of completely biodegradable and compostable bioplastics produced by Novamont. Preliminary results for the aromatic species have shown no differences in crops growth between the corridor and the control area. Crops growth monitoring will continue up to 2023, to assess the results and the best sustainable agronomic practices for improving the crops growth.

Soil erosion is one of the biggest environmental problems throughout European Union causing considerable soil losses. Vegetation cover provides an important soil protection against runoff and soil erosion. To this aim, unlike annual crops, perennial plants have the advantage of covering soil for a longer time and reducing soil erodibility thanks to SOM increase due to litter effect and to reduction of soil disturbance (no-tillage). Two experiments were carried out in marginal hilly areas (10% slope) of Southern Italy: i) long-term experiment in which it was evaluated the effect of two fertilization doses (N: 100 and 50 kg N ha−1 from urea) on Arundo donax L. biomass production as well as its effect on soil erosion; ii) three-year experiment to evaluate the soil cover capacity of the giant reed by analysing the plant leaf area index (LAI). Results of the two experiments showed a good soil protection of Arundo donax L. that reduced soil losses by 78% as compared to fallow and showed soil erosion reduction not different from permanent meadow thanks to the soil covering during the period with the highest rain erosivity and to the reduction in soil erodibility. The protective effect of Arundo donax L. from rain erosivity was also confirmed by LAI analysis that showed a good soil covering of giant reed in the above mentioned period, even during the initial yield increasing phase following crop transplant. According to biomass yield, from the fifteen year of cultivation in a low fertile inland hilly area of Southern Italy, giant reed was characterized by a yield-decreasing phase that resulted postponed as compared to more fertile environments thus ensuring a longstanding soil protection from soil erosion. In addition, the higher nitrogen fertilization dose (100 kg ha−1 of N) allowed interesting biomass yield as compared to the lower dose (50 kg N ha−1) and kept constant SOC along the year of experimentation due to an improved contribution of leaf fall, root exudates and root turnover to soil. o.

Sources of anthropogenic environmental pollution are widespread, not only as a result of industrial activities, but also due to recreational facilities. Outdoor shooting ranges, involving millions of people everywhere in the world, can produce several negative effects on environment and public health. The area of a dismissed outdoor shooting range in Campania region (Southern Italy) has been declared unsuitable for agricultural and forest-pastoral production by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Resources, due to an extensive long term (approximately 10 years of activity) soil contamination associated with Pb, Sb, PAHs, dioxins, PCBs and C> 12 hydrocarbons. In the framework of a site characterization plan aiming at its reclamation, the shooting range area was surveyed by means of i) proximal sensors (such as EMI - Electromagnetic Induction - and Gamma Ray - dose rate, K, eU, eTh - spectroscopy) for indirect, cost effective and rapid measurements at field scale, to identify homogeneous zones in terms of soil degradation; ii) ultrasonic penetrometry to evaluate both soil compaction rate and depth of occurring hard layers, iii) direct investigations by means of hand drillings to preliminary characterize the soil down to the presence of a hardened, impenetrable layer; iv) direct XRF measurements on the soils sampled at different depths, to assess the total content of some potentially toxic metals (PTE); v) chemical analyses of PAHs compounds on topsoil samples collected on the basis of the regular grid across the study area. Apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) map, consistently with the Gamma Ray dose rate map, evidenced three key zones, wide bands North-South oriented. Cone index data, obtained by ultrasonic penetrometer measurements, indicated the presence of a very dense, hard and impenetrable to hand hauger layer, recognised as travertine rock, from 25 to more than 55 cm of depth, and dipping northward. Sandy soils, frequently enriched of coarse fragments, were identified to a variable depth from 25 to 80 cm of depth. Elemental analyses, carried out with the portable XRF analyzer on soil sampled until the travertine layer, showed a high contamination by Pb (greater than 1000 mg/kg) and Sb (greater than 30 mg/kg) in the first 15 cm of depth, at approximately 90 m from the shooting platforms. Concentrations of 13 PAHs compounds determined on 32 topsoil samples showed the highest values close to the firing lanes where a huge amount of shooting target and fragments were present. Data were analyzed by means of GIS and multivariate analysis was completed jointly considering compositional and non-compositional variables to explore hidden potential relationships among involved parameters.

For defining a soil as contaminated and to be remediated, it is necessary to make a risk analysis for assessing the risks for human health and environment and the exposure pathways to contaminants. The tools currently available, consider only the direct risks for people who frequent a residential or commercial/industrial site, but the risks related to agricultural soils are not laid down in Italian legislation. In this last case, the risks for human health can be defined as indirect since they are due to the uptake of contaminants by the food crops and to the consequent dietary exposure of population. Therefore, the risks of contamination of food chain are represented only by the bioavailable fraction of potentially toxic ele- ments (PTEs) that can be absorbed by crops, rather than by the totalcontent of PTEs into the soil that often is not mobile. Once environmental characterization and risk analysis allow classification of an agricultural site as contaminated, then its remediation must be undertaken, but it must aim to progressively reduce the bioavailable portion of PTEs. In this regard, the use of environmentally friendly techniques based on the use of natural resources (e.g. vegetation and soil microflora) resulted the most suitable both for the reduced costs and for the positive environmental impact. Indeed bio and phytoremediation allow protecting soil and its ecosystem services. The main steps of ecocompatible remediation of contaminated soils carried out in the Ecoremed projects are reported in this volume from the detailed geophysical and geochemical characterization, and the assessment of ecological and dietary risks, to the agriculture-based techniques for remediation and to the evaluation of the impact on ecosystem services of such soils.

The results of experiments carried out in the National Interest Priority Site (NIPS) Agro Aversano-Litorale Domizio in Campania (southern Italy) within the framework of the project ECOREMED (LIFE11 ENV/IT/275) are used as a basis for reporting the main threats to soil fertility. In this paper we focus on soil degradation and contamination due to illegal waste disposal and burning, widespread phenomena in the NIPS in question, evaluating different options for soil remediation with agriculturebased techniques in light of their impact on the ecosystem services of soils. Bioremediation and assisted phytoremediation are recognized as the best options for protecting human health and enhancing environmental quality, maintaining agricultural soil functions with the application of relatively low-cost protocols. The purpose of agriculture-based remediation techniques is threefold: i) make the area in question safe, interrupting exposure to contaminant pathways through ecological structures such as dense reed plantations or dense turfgrass combined with high-density tree rows for reducing ground wind speed; ii) remediation, aiming to reduce the bioavailable fraction of potentially toxic elements (PTEs); iii) environmental restoration, to improve environment and landscape quality of degraded, but not contaminated land. The technical steps for carrying out phytoremediation projects and the results of their application are described for the following case studies monitored in Campania: i) agricultural soil contaminated by bioavailable Cd (San Giuseppiello site in Giugliano); ii) industrial soil heavily contaminated by Pb and Cd (Ecobat site in Marcianise); iii) agricultural soils potentially contaminated by non-bioavailable PTEs and organic pollutants (Giugliano and Trentola-Ducenta sites); iv) physically degraded soil (Teverola site). In all the case studies phytoremediation proved a low-cost tool to reduce risks for human health and enhance environmental quality, whilst maintaining soil fertility and improving ecosystem services.

potentially toxic elements (PTEs) to assess the relationship between spontaneous vegetation and pollution levels, the potential risks for biological communities and ecosystems, and the potential of native plant species for phytoremediation. PTE concentrations had negative effects on plant biodiversity, as determined through changes in the Shannon index, Pielou evenness index and species richness. Poaceae and Asteraceae were moderately affected by soil contamination, while PTE levels had a negative effect on the other species groups. Cadmium had the greatest effect on plant species diversity, followed by zinc and then lead. The ecological risk index showed a mean value of 4924, corresponding to a very high risk in most plants. Target PTEs for phytoremediation were Cd (3813 on average) followed by Pb (937 on average) contributing to the ecological risk index, respectively from 42 to 81% and from 11 to 24%, in spite of the much higher concentrations of Pb. The most frequent species were Holcus lanatus subsp. lanatus and Silene latifolia that showed good adaptability to contamination, growing in very high-risk areas. S. latifolia reported high concentrations of Tl both in shoot and in roots, at levels typical of hyperaccumulator species. High values of bioaccumulation (BACS, BACR) and translocation factors (TF) confirmed that this species may be considered a hyperaccumulator of Tl. Holcus lanatus and Silene latifolia proved the most suitable species respectively for Cd and Pb phytostabilization and can be used in association for soil cover during the summer when soil resuspension is generally more intense and for protecting groundwater from pollutant leaching.

Annual fiber sorghum (FS) and perennial giant reed (GR) cultivated in the Mediterranean area are interesting due to their high productivity under drought conditions and their potential use as lignocellulosic feedstock for biorefinery purposes. This study compares environmental constraints related to FS and GR produced on experimental farms (in the Campania region) using an attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) approach through appropriate modeling of the perennial cultivation. For both crops, primary data were available for agricultural management. Direct field emissions (DFEs) were computed, including the potential soil carbon storage (SCS). Giant reed showed the lowest burdens for all impact categories analyzed (most were in the range of 40%-80% of FS values). More apparent were the differences for climate change and freshwater eutrophication (respectively 80% and 81% lower for GR compared to FS). These results are due to the short-term SCS, experimentally detected in the perennial GR crop (about 0.25 ton C ha(-1) yr(-1), with a global warming offsetting potential of about 0.03 ton CO2/ton(GR dry biomass)). The results are also due to the annual application of triple superphosphate at the sowing fertilization phase for FS, which occurs differently than it does for GR. Phosphorous fertilization was performed only when crops were being established and therefore properly spread along the overall crop lifetime. For both crops, after normalization, terrestrial acidification and particulate matter formation were relevant impact categories, as a consequence of the NH3 DFE by volatilization after urea were spread superficially. Therefore, the results suggest higher environmental benefits of the perennial crop than the annual crop.

A Life Cycle Assessment was performed to compare the environmental impacts generated by Mediterranean maize crops (Southern Italy) under conventional management and C-friendly management aimed to preserve soil organic matter and reduce mineral N fertilizers application. Primary data from three fertilizing practices were processed: urea (CONV, conventional), compost (COM) and green manure (GMAN) distribution. Suitable comparisons among treatments were carried out by adopting the same system boundary (one hectare of cropped land) and functional unit (1kgmaize dry matter). Direct field emissions were calculated and the short term soil carbon storage, experimentally derived for COM and GMAN, was also included. Results indicate that the highest impacts are from chemical fertilizers over the background industrial supply chain. GMAN showed the lower environmental burdens, while soil protection strategy expected for COM appeared not sustainable, due to the low crop yield achieved.

a piattaforma PETIT-OSA è un sistema di comunicazione di centri di ricerca per il monitoraggio ambientale ed il controllo, la prevenzione e la gestione delle emergenze collegate all'ambiente. La regione Campania è stata scelta come riferimento per lo sviluppo del progetto. Il monitoraggio riguarda le deformazioni lente sul costruito; gli incendi, l'attività vulcanica, il livello di sismicità associato a terremoti e vibrazioni antropiche, l'inquinamento dell'aria, del suolo e delle acque, il rischio frane. Contributi di G. Argento, F. Aliberti, B. De Vivo, F. Giudicepietro, S. Mazzoleni, F. Murena, C. Nunziata, S.P. Romano, G. Urciuoli, G. Zuccaro

In the last decades the increased N-input and the large use of irrigation, have greatly increased N2O emissions from croplands (IPCC, 2007). Scanty data are available about N2O effluxes from irrigated croplands of Mediterranean countries, despite the extension of these areas and their potential as high N2O emitters via bacterial denitrification and/or nitrification, due to the combined effect of irrigation and high soil temperature, especially after N fertilization (Sanchez et al., 2001; Vallejo et al., 2004). Indeed irrigation appears to play a key role in the evolution of N2O from cropped soil under Mediterranean condition and recently it has been underlined (Sánchez-Martín et al., 2008) that the reduction of the amount of water applied and the optimization of its distribution into the soil profile can effectively mitigate N2O emission from Mediterranean irrigated cropland The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sub-optimal irrigation scheduling on nitrous oxide emissions from the soil of two Mediterranean irrigated croplands under different N-input. Mineral N availability played a key role in the evolution of N2O from soil, as evidenced by the total N2O-N emissions - which were more than doubled in BC compared with TL. Overall low values for N2O efflux from soil and N2O emission factor were detected at both sites, despite the highest N input supplied at BC. Fhese findings confirm that a proper management of irrigation can restrain N losses from Mediterranean agroecosystems, reducing N2O production by soil microbial processes.