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Processed manure can be an alternative source of nutrients for untreated manure and mineral fertilizers. Mineral concentrates (MCs) are derived from reversed osmosis of the liquid fraction of separated pig slurries. The emissions of ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from different (processed) manures and fertilizers were tested in an incubation experiment and a greenhouse experiment with grass as a test crop. Dry matter yields and nitrogen (N) uptake were also determined in the greenhouse experiment. Incorporation into the soil decreased on NH3 emission but increased N2O emission for all nitrogen products (mineral fertilizer, untreated slurry, MC, and solid fraction of separated slurry). Incorporation of both MC, slurries, and mineral fertilizers increased N2O emission in the incubation experiment. The lowest apparent N recovery (ANR) in the pot experiment with grass was obtained for incorporated pig slurry (30–39%) and surface-applied MC (33–38%), while the highest ANRs were obtained for liquid ammonium nitrate (45–53%) and acidified MC (43–55%). It is concluded that MCs have a similar N fertilizer value as mineral N fertilizers if NH3 emission is reduced by incorporation or acidification.

Agriculture is mainly responsible for ammonia (NH3) volatilisation. A common effort to produce reliable quantifications, national emission inventories, and policies is needed to reduce health and environmental issues related to this emission. Sources of NH3 are locally distributed and mainly depend on farm building characteristics, management of excreta, and the field application of mineral fertilisers. To date, appropriate measurements related to the application of fertilisers to the field are still scarce in the literature. Proper quantification of NH3 must consider the nature of the fertiliser, the environmental variables that influence the dynamic of the emission, and a reliable measurement method. This paper presents the state of the art of the most commonly used direct methods to measure NH3 volatilisation following field application of fertilisers, mainly focusing on chamber method. The characteristics and the associated uncertainty of the measurement of the most widespread chamber types are discussed and compared to the micrometeorological methods.

Contaminated areas represent a crucial concern in contemporary planning all over the world. The absence of shared value for such areas leads to abandonment and soil sealing specially if such areas have lost their agricultural potential. The European Project LIFE/ENV/IT/275 Ecoremed has implemented a protocol for the bioremediation of contaminated soils in Campania region. The cultivation of no food crops (Poplar and Giant reed) is proposed as buffer crops waiting for the characterization of the areas. This facilitates the uptake of the mineral contaminants and the biodegradation of organic compounds reducing the risk for leaching and the run off of harmful contaminants that would occur on bare soils. The study discusses a new approach to land use change (LUC) assessment based on environmental and socio-economic factors, evaluated through GIS tool and decision support software (ArcGIS/ILWIS). Literature data have been used to assess the current value of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by such crops (€/ha/year) and the benefits that people obtained from ecosystems. Three scenarios have sorted out and compared through multicriteria analysis. Moving from the deep knowledge of the environmental condition of the territory the study shows the alternative ES values of the land use change starting from no-change scenario to energy crops (Poplar and Giant reed), to abandonment. Results show that is possible to asses an increase of the ES value, both in case of a private and public action, also referring to the opportunities for farmers income in the short and medium-long period.

Restoration of soils contaminated by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) can be carried out through phytoremediation technique able to reduce bioavailable PTEs by translocation them from the soil to the different organs of the plants. The European LIFE ECOREMED project is now implementing an eco- compatible protocol for soil restoration through phytoremediation in Litorale Domitio - Agro Aversano NIPS (South Italy, Campania region). Populus nigra (P. nigra) is among the fastest-growing trees among the short rotation coppice with an annual dry matter production of 17.8 Mg ha-1 y-1. Poplar trees, though not hyperaccumulators, are effective in uptaking PTEs from a very deep layer due to the efficiency of their root systems. However, after soil restoration, the problem of a safe disposal of the contaminated biomasses should be faced. Pyrolysis could be an eco-sustainable post-processing treatment capable to reduce the mass of the contaminated biomass, concentrate the PTEs in the residual char and produce a vapor phase heavy metal free energy carrier. In addition there are many possibilities for valorizing char as fuel in traditional and advanced power generation facilities, in the agronomic field for carbon sequestration and as fertilizer, as contaminant adsorbent in wastewater and soil, as adsorbent or catalyst for gas cleaning, as catalyst for syngas conversion to liquid hydrocarbons and biodiesel production, as raw material for supercapacitors and, finally, as filler in wood and polymer composites. The stability of PTEs and the physico-chemical properties of the produced chars are relevant to assess if such material could be converted into a valuable resource. Steam assisted pyrolysis tests of P. nigra, contaminated by Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, have been conducted under slow pyrolysis conditions. The effect of the pyrolysis final temperature has been investigated in the temperature range 653-873 K in order to study the distribution of heavy metals in the pyrolysis products. The results show that the concentration of the metals in the chars along the temperature has a non-monotonous trend for P. nigra branches. The maximum concentration of Cd and Pb is measured in the chars produced at 653 K and 753 K, respectively. In chars derived from leaves Cd concentration shows the same trend as in branches, whereas the concentration of Cu, Pb, Zn increases in the whole temperature range. The metals recovery in the chars slightly decreases with temperature in all the examined cases, except for Cd that show a quite complete devolatilization even at temperature higher than 753 K.

Objectives Ammonia emissions represent a growing issue for European countries due to the rapid increase in livestock production and next National Emission Ceilings EU Directive adoption, which will limit emissions of NH3 as well as SO2, NOx and NMVOC applicable from 2020 and 2030. Recent researches are devoted to the individuation of standard methods for reliable assessment, consequently many European countries are now building national emissions inventory. The main issue is a lack of data about ammonia losses from buffalo manure, under Mediterranean climate. Buffalo is reared mostly in South Italy, and even if well studied, there are not researches about ammonia emissions. Besides measurement method itself, meteorological conditions influence emissions too. In this paper, ammonia emissions assessment from buffalo manure application to the field under Mediterranean climate is proposed, with aim of giving first data for this animal species. Methods During summer period of 2016 an experimental trial combining the use of three wind tunnel (WT) and Micrometeorological method specifically Integrate Horizontal flux (IHF) in circular plot was carried out. Buffalo slurry was applied with splash plate spreader for IHF and manually under WT. Acid traps were used to assess ammonia fluxes from WT. Acid solutions were replaced every 2 hours for the first two days and every three to four hours for the remaining two days. Glass tubes were employed for IHF method, sampled with same time step of WT. Meteorological data were acquired during the trial and soil samples were taken at the end of each day for pH and NH4-N and NO3-N. Results Results confirm the reliability of WT assessments in ammonia emissions compared to IHF method. The total ammonia fluxes is in the order of about 40% and 50% (of applied TAN) for WT and IHF, respectively. Moreover, it appears that ammonia loss had a positive relationship with air Temperature and wind speed

Objectives According to international and EU policies, complementary approaches for landscape and environment values assessment, in land use planning, are an essential prerequisite on a supra-regional scale. Study area is an area in transformation, now also affected by the institution of the Matese national park, between Campania and Molise regions. In this context, appropriate management policies and land use change (LUC), in favor of bio-energy crops, may help to create new economies and new spatial development perspectives aimed to change negative trends such as erosion risk, socio-economic problems and environmental impacts. The work intends to present a possible physical-mathematical approach for pragmatic determination of the predictable consequences for LUC environmental effects, through empirical analysis, simulation models and objective diagnosis, as support for the decision makers, already in the ex-ante evaluation stage. Methods Tools used in the framework adopted are GIS processing and spatial decision support analysis (ILWIS and ArcGIS software) for LUC scenarios construction. LUC possible impacts assessment on environmental components, was evaluated through science shared approaches of Ecosystem Services considering Habitat Quality and Soil Risk with Invest software, and of landscape metrics such as Patch number, Patch density, Simpson Index, through FRAGSTAT software. Results From the framework three scenarios are delineated. First scenario (Scenario 1) refers to the current development trend. Second scenario (Scenario 2) the energy crops spatial allocation is foreseen in areas with the highest LUC degree. The third scenario (Scenario 3) concerns land abandonment and downgrade in the same areas of scenario 2. Ecosystem services values of habitat quality and erosion risk in Scenario 2 showed highest improvement, in contrast to scenarios 1 and 3. On the other hand landscape metrics highlighted greatest risks of landscape homogenisation and mosaic structure simplification, just in Scenario 2. Consequently integrated assessments enforce for further investigation on LUC spatial distribution and for corrective and mitigation measures that would be applied.

Objectives Terraced landscapes are the most distinctive sign of human influence on territory modelling and a peculiar feature of cultural heritage worldwide. Indeed their construction has been essential to make mountain or steep slope areas habitable and arable, reducing the slope gradient and increasing soil permeability. Recently, they are barely sights and commonly abandoned due to their inadequate and insufficient competitiveness. This trend is causing serious problems of hydrogeological instability and, therefore, both European and Italian agricultural and environmental policy is focusing on the promotion of the protection of these areas. In particular, terraced landscapes wrap Amalfi Coast becoming a typical shape and enhancing its beauty. Moreover, they are a proof of the past and, for this reason, they are involved in UNESCO World Heritage List. In view of the above, the safeguard of this place and the development of a management and maintenance plan of these areas should be a priority. Understanding their evolution over the years is a prerequisite to implement a rescue plan suitable to the study area. Hence, the volumetric and geo-morphology changes of terraced landscapes in Amalfi Coast have been performed by analysing different photogrammetric Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), obtained by historical series of aerial photos. Methods The assessment of volumetric and geomorphologic changes have been implemented in Amalfi Coast, a stretch of coastline on the southern coast of Salerno Province in Southern Italy. To achieve this purpose, some historical series of aerial photos related to the area of interest over a fifty-year period have been taken into account and processed using Agisoft Photoscan Professional in order to generate a fine photogrammetric DEM for each year considered. Subsequently, the volumetric changes (m3) between the different DEMs have been evaluated by multiplying their horizontal grid resolution (m2) with their slope differences. Instead, also the slope degree differences have been analyzed. Eventually, the influence of terraces on the surface flow path have been estimated by the Relative Path Impact Index (RPII), computed on a smoothed DEM, purified of roads, trails and terraces. These indices have been computed using ArcGis. Results This research shows that the photogrammetric technique is a promising method to analyze the volumetric and geomorphological changes of terraced landscapes in Amalfi Coast. In particular, it allows to compare DEMs of different years and to quantify study area changes, which are significant because of the abandonment of this place and their insufficient maintenance.

Restoration of soils contaminated by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) can be carried out through phytoremediation technique able to reduce bioavailable PTEs by traslocating them from the soil to the different organs of the plants. The European LIFE ECOREMED project is now implementing an eco-compatible protocol for soil restoration through phytoremediation in Litorale Domitio - Agro Aversano NIPS (South Italy, Campania region). Populus nigra (P. nigra) is among the fastest-growing trees for short rotation coppice with an annual dry matter production of 17.8 Mg ha-1 y-1. Poplar trees, though not hyperaccumulators, are effective in uptaking PTEs from a very deep layer due to the efficiency of their root systems. However, after soil restoration, the problem of a safe disposal of the contaminated biomasses should be faced with. Pyrolysis could be an eco-sustainable post-processing treatment capable to reduce the mass of the contaminated biomass, concentrate the PTEs in the residual char and produce a vapour phase heavy metal free energy carrier. There are many possibilities for valorizing char potential for energy production in traditional and advanced power generation facilities, in the agronomic field for carbon sequestration and as fertilizer, contaminant adsorbent in wastewater and soil, adsorbent or catalyst for gas cleaning, catalyst for syngas conversion to liquid hydrocarbons and biodiesel production, raw material for supercapacitors and, finally, as filler in wood and polymer composites. The stability of PTEs and the physico-chemical properties of the produced chars are relevant to assess if such material could be converted into a valuable resource. Steam assisted pyrolysis tests of P. nigra, contaminated by Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, have been conducted under slow pyrolysis conditions. The effect of the pyrolysis final temperature has been investigated in the temperature range 653-873 K in order to study the distribution of heavy metals in the pyrolysis products. Preliminary results show that the concentration of the metals in the chars along the temperature has a non monotonous trend for P. nigra branches. The maximum concentration is at 653 K and 753 K respectively for Cd and Pb. The same trend is observed for Cd in chars derived from leaves, while the concentration of Cu, Pb, Zn increases in the whole temperature range. The metals recovery in the chars slightly decreases with temperature in all the examined cases, except for Cd that devolatilizes significantly at temperature higher than 753 K.

Phytoremediation technique is of growing interest in the restoration of trace elements contaminated soils. An integrated approach, combining land restoration and biomass post-processing, using a pyrolysis process for material and/or energy recovery, could allow for effective realization of such a process. The dependence of yields, chemical and structural characteristics of char on the biomass feedstock and pyrolysis thermal conditions are important features to be evaluated to explore the possible applications of such a product. In this framework, a comparative study of steam assisted slow pyrolysis of five biomasses has been carried at 873 K. Results demonstrate that for applications requiring high specific surface area Populus Nigra. On the contrary, if the goal is the maximization of the energy recovery in the char, Eucalyptus represents the best choice.

The paper presents the advances of the research team in the framework of the EU Project LIFE/ENV/IT/275 aimed at providing scientific proofs in the using of no food crops to prevent marginalization or abandonment of wide agricultural areas. Moving from this, the study provides a GIS based approach for finding out a set of consistent scenario for testing the impacts of Land Use Change (LUC) for polluted areas at regional scale. The scenarios set out and their comparision through the multicriteria method could represent a more effective support for planner and decision makers. Further the study demonstrates that bioremediation could become an opportunity for improving the ESs values, improving the biodiversity of the territory.

In recent centuries, the athropogenic land use change caused extensive loss of habitat and is widely recognized as a major driver of the current biodiversity crisis (de Lima, Dallimer, Atkinson, Barlow, 2012). One of the main transformation of the land use is caused by agriculture. Understanding how to minimize the impacts on biodiversity of the LUC not just limited to the peri-urban areas, but also to agricultural land is one of the main issues in land management. Mitigation measures have to be devoted to contrast fragmentation and increasing insulation in more natural environments, avoiding, on the other hand, an increasing homogenization of the agricultural landscape. This paper presents the evaluation of three LUC scenarios in a NIP Area of Campania Region (Cervelli et al., 2016), in terms of impacts on wildlife. The work was developed within European LIFE/ENV/IT/275 Ecoremed projects. GIS applications techniques and Spatial Multicriteria Decision Analysis (Malczewskj, 2006) have identified the areas of 14 wildlife species-umbrella possible presence in landscape. The evaluations were integrated through the use of sensitivity data, based on habitat assessments, territory permeability, species conservation and rarity, extended to more than 300 taxa. The developed methodology allows the identification of potential conflict areas between LUC scenarios and species presence areas, in order to calibrate interventions and mitigation strategies. The methodology is, therefore, a support tool for the decision-maker, to define appropriate planning strategies aimed to ecological networks management, physical-territorial continuity among the natural environments maintenance, creation of a species mobility support systems, combating isolation and ensuring the maintenance of adequate biodiversity levels. Purpose of the work is to contribute to the definition of positive LUC for NIP area, not only in economic terms, but as integrated development opportunities of the territory.

Livestock and agricultural activities contribute significantly to atmospheric ammonia emission in Europe. The volatilization process depends on many factors especially the wind speed and rainfall. The most important methods to evaluate ammonia volatilization are the dynamic flux chamber and micrometeorological method. The chambers are more flexible and simple to use in every situation. Few studies have been carried out to determine, which conditions are established inside the tunnel and how they could influence the measurements. For that purpose, in this paper an assessment of the effects of the wind tunnel configuration and flow rate was performed with CFD simulations and wind speed measurements in order to verify that airflow is completely developed. The wind tunnel consists in a mixing chamber situated between a divergent and a convergent duct, on which is possible to mount an axial fan. Each part of the tunnel is equipped with sampling points and measurements were performed with a portable anemometer. During the test the tunnel is flushed with incoming air, for simulating the wind action on the soil surface. Two conditions were accomplished: air blowing and air suction. The vertical profiles of the air velocity in three cross sections were then investigate with more measurements made in the vicinity of the emitting surface. Results of velocity profiles demonstrate that the wind tunnel works better in the air suction conditions, for which there is less influence of the geometry of wind tunnel on the air flux.

A key factor influencing the farmer's cultivation choices in the greenhouses sector is the thermal energy demand. In particular, the high cost for heating is one of the major restrictive factor for greenhouse cultivation. Thus the potential access to low-cost heat supply could drive farmer's choices towards more profitable crops even if with stringent cultivation requirements. In this paper a techno-economic assessment is proposed to evaluate the competitiveness of local sustainable biomass supply pathways to serve greenhouses heat demand and thus propose alternative and more profitable cultivation options to farmers. In the first part of the paper the biomass supply chain is assessed, investigating a number of Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) cultivars, on field chipping, logistics of transport and seasonal storage, in order to derive wood chips supply cost at the premises of a greenhouse. In the second part, starting from input data from a direct survey, a number of thermal energy demand patterns are estimated for a typical greenhouse considering three different type of crops (low-medium-high thermal energy demand). In the third section, the thermal energy supply costs are calculated, assuming the innovative business model of a biomass-ESCO in charge of the biofuel production, biomass plant operation and thermal energy supply to the greenhouse. The results of the study allow comparing the total energy costs of different cultivation scenarios and biomass supply chains with the maximum values compatible with the farmer's profitability and derive relevant considerations about the heating costs and crops selection for greenhouses farmers.

The need to provide clean and reliable energy for cooking that is compatible with socio-economic status of the population, technologically appropriate and environmentally friendly is a major challenge to sustainable development in developing countries. Efforts to simultaneously fulfil the social, economic, environmental and technological objectives of systems are hampered by conflicting nature of the objectives. The multi-criteria decision methods are suitable for solving such conflicting decisions. In this study, we proposed a multi-criteria decision analysis method that attempts to incorporate all these conflicting objectives to make more sustainable choices of cooking energy systems in a developing country. The method involves selection and quantification social, economic, environmental and technological criteria and incorporating them in a decision making framework using Preference Ranking and Organisational Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) and Graphical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA) methods. The framework was used in a case study to aid the decision choice between domestic biogas system and traditional charcoal system in Uganda. Impacts on human health and climate change impacts were used as environmental criteria and determined using Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Efficiency and maintainability of combustion appliances were used as technical criteria, while economic criteria were based on capital and operating costs. Job creation and acceptability comprised the social criteria. Results showed that the biogas system is more competitive than charcoal under both the PROMETHEE I partial ranking and the PROMETHEE II complete ranking. However, the major challenges of biogas systems were the high capital costs and impact on human health attributed to use of chemical fertilizers in grass feed production. In an alternative scenario with increased recycling of slurry as substitute to chemical fertilizers, the performance of the biogas systems showed improvement. In both scenarios, the main challenges of the charcoal system were the high operating costs, climate change impacts and inability to create formal jobs. The study therefore suggests that biogas is a more sustainable household cooking energy than charcoal in Uganda, but still faces the challenge of high capital costs

The paper discusses a field study on the topics of the Land Use Change (LUC) applied to the Ecosystem services (ES). Specially, the study focuses on the assessment of the value of ES through different option in LUC according to progressive findings of the European Project LIFE/ENV/IT/275 Ecoremed that has implemented a protocol for the bioremediation of contaminated soils in Campania region. The cultivation of no food crops (Poplar and Giant reed) is proposed as buffer crops waiting for the characterization of the areas. This facilitates the uptake of the mineral contaminants and the biodegradation of organic compounds reducing the risk for leaching and the run off of harmful contaminants that would occur on bare soils. The study aims at testing a proposal in approaching Land Use Change (LUC) adding socio-economic factors to the environmental topics. The research experience evaluated ES economic value through GIS tool and decision support software (ArcGIS/ILWIS), using literature data to assess the current value of the ES provided for such crops (€/ha/year) as benefits that people obtained from ecosystems. Some key scenarios have sorted out and compared through multicriteria analysis. Those scenarios are based on a large data set produced within the Life project activity. Moving from the deep knowledge of the environmental condition of the territory the study shows the alternative ES values of the Land Use Change starting from no-change scenario (Poplar and Giant reed), to abandonment. The discussion gives evidence that is possible to asses an increase of the ES value, both in case of a private and public action.

This study employed the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts of utilizing cattle manure as a substrate for biogas generation for cooking energy in Uganda. Results of the study showed that biogas energy systems based of cattle manure has potential environmental benefits in comparison to charcoal produced from natural forests. Under baseline scenario, without recycling of slurry as fertilizer, the biogas system leads to total environmental impacts of over 80% less than that of charcoal system. When slurry is utilized as substitute mineral fertilizers, the environmental impact of biogas system was found to be less than that of charcoal by close to 95%. The study further showed that that use of biogas could lead to considerable reduction on human health impacts compared to charcoal. In conclusion, utilization of cattle manure for biogas production has potential benefit of reducing the environmental impacts due to charcoal production and use in Uganda.