Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace
Renewable energy sources represent a suitable alternative to conventional fossil fuels, due to the possible advantages in terms of environmental impact reduction. Anaerobic digestion of biomasses could be considered an environmental friendly way to treat and revalorise large amounts of by-products f...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PAGEPress Publications
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agricultural Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.agroengineering.org/index.php/jae/article/view/727 |
| _version_ | 1818870343595458560 |
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| author | Francesca Valenti Simona M.C. Porto Giovanni Cascone Claudia Arcidiacono |
| author_facet | Francesca Valenti Simona M.C. Porto Giovanni Cascone Claudia Arcidiacono |
| author_sort | Francesca Valenti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Renewable energy sources represent a suitable alternative to conventional fossil fuels, due to the possible advantages in terms of environmental impact reduction. Anaerobic digestion of biomasses could be considered an environmental friendly way to treat and revalorise large amounts of by-products from farming industries because it ensures both pollution control and energy recovery. Therefore, the objective of this study was to define a methodology for evaluating the potential biogas production available from citrus pulp and olive pomace, which are suitable agricultural by-products for biogas production. In the first phase of the study, the spatial distribution of both olive and citrus-producing areas was analysed in Sicily, a geographical area of the Mediterranean basin highly representative of these types of cultivation. Then, a GIS-based model, which had been previously defined and utilised to evaluate the amount of citrus pulp and olive pomace production, was applied to this case study. Based on the results obtained for the different provinces of Sicily, the province of Catania was chosen as the study area of this work since it showed the highest production of both citrus pulp and olive pomace. Therefore, a further analysis regarded the quantification of olive pomace and citrus pulp at municipal level. The results of this analysis showed that the total amount of available citrus pulp and olive pomace corresponded theoretically to about 11,102,469 Nm3/year biogas. Finally, the methodology adopted in this study made it possible to identify suitable areas for the development of new biogas plants by considering both the spatial distribution of the olive and citrus growing areas and the locations of the existing processing industries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T12:05:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b3636ea4e27f4386837dddd542413d1e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1974-7071 2239-6268 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T12:05:31Z |
| publishDate | 2017-07-01 |
| publisher | PAGEPress Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Agricultural Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-b3636ea4e27f4386837dddd542413d1e2022-12-21T20:22:22ZengPAGEPress PublicationsJournal of Agricultural Engineering1974-70712239-62682017-07-0148419620210.4081/jae.2017.727469Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomaceFrancesca Valenti0Simona M.C. Porto1Giovanni Cascone2Claudia Arcidiacono3Building and Land Engineering Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of CataniaBuilding and Land Engineering Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of CataniaBuilding and Land Engineering Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of CataniaBuilding and Land Engineering Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of CataniaRenewable energy sources represent a suitable alternative to conventional fossil fuels, due to the possible advantages in terms of environmental impact reduction. Anaerobic digestion of biomasses could be considered an environmental friendly way to treat and revalorise large amounts of by-products from farming industries because it ensures both pollution control and energy recovery. Therefore, the objective of this study was to define a methodology for evaluating the potential biogas production available from citrus pulp and olive pomace, which are suitable agricultural by-products for biogas production. In the first phase of the study, the spatial distribution of both olive and citrus-producing areas was analysed in Sicily, a geographical area of the Mediterranean basin highly representative of these types of cultivation. Then, a GIS-based model, which had been previously defined and utilised to evaluate the amount of citrus pulp and olive pomace production, was applied to this case study. Based on the results obtained for the different provinces of Sicily, the province of Catania was chosen as the study area of this work since it showed the highest production of both citrus pulp and olive pomace. Therefore, a further analysis regarded the quantification of olive pomace and citrus pulp at municipal level. The results of this analysis showed that the total amount of available citrus pulp and olive pomace corresponded theoretically to about 11,102,469 Nm3/year biogas. Finally, the methodology adopted in this study made it possible to identify suitable areas for the development of new biogas plants by considering both the spatial distribution of the olive and citrus growing areas and the locations of the existing processing industries.http://www.agroengineering.org/index.php/jae/article/view/727Olive pomacecitrus pulpby-productsanaerobic digestionbiogasGISspatial analysis. |
| spellingShingle | Francesca Valenti Simona M.C. Porto Giovanni Cascone Claudia Arcidiacono Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace Journal of Agricultural Engineering Olive pomace citrus pulp by-products anaerobic digestion biogas GIS spatial analysis. |
| title | Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace |
| title_full | Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace |
| title_fullStr | Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace |
| title_full_unstemmed | Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace |
| title_short | Potential biogas production from agricultural by-products in Sicily. A case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace |
| title_sort | potential biogas production from agricultural by products in sicily a case study of citrus pulp and olive pomace |
| topic | Olive pomace citrus pulp by-products anaerobic digestion biogas GIS spatial analysis. |
| url | http://www.agroengineering.org/index.php/jae/article/view/727 |
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