With regard to its energy supply, Italy has always been heavily dependent on foreign countries. As a consequence adequate strategies to solve the problem are urgently needed. In the last years the Italian energy policy has seemed to squint: on the one hand, renewable energies, particularly wind and photovoltaic energies, have been developed, also driven by the political strategy of the European institutions; on the other hand, a return to nuclear energy production has been attempted unsuccessfully, due to a recent popular referendum that ratified the termination of this kind of energy production. In conjunction with the consideration that in Italy the use of fossil fuel is very high and responsible for relevant greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, particularly in the transport sector, this issue is boosting the need to study new and complementary options to diversify the energy supply and to tackle the most relevant economic and environmental effects of the energy system. All things considered, the production and use of biofuels could become a viable alternative. However, the implications associated with the increasing production and trade in both raw materials and biofuels, particularly the first-generation ones, show several issues worldwide (e.g. the “food versus fuel” debate). In the light of the previous considerations, this chapter focuses on an Italian energy strategy based also on the production of biofuels, particularly second and third-generation technologies, which could potentially overcome some of the mentioned limits. It should be noted that although both of them are in a pre-trade phase, they could be a good choice in the medium and long terms. Among the several sources for next-generation biofuel production, residual biomass, particularly the lignocellulosic kind, generated by the agricultural, forest and agro-industrial sectors, has to be considered as a potential feedstock for the second-generation biofuels. The authors aim to carry out an analysis of the exploitation of this residual biomass for the entire Italian territory in order to underline its potential in this sector. A hypothesis of territorial development of third-generation biofuel production from algae is also considered.

THE PRODUCTION OF BIOFUELS AS A STRATEGY TO IMPLEMENT IN THE ITALIAN ENERGY SYSTEM

PAIANO, ANNARITA;LAGIOIA, Giovanni
2012-01-01

Abstract

With regard to its energy supply, Italy has always been heavily dependent on foreign countries. As a consequence adequate strategies to solve the problem are urgently needed. In the last years the Italian energy policy has seemed to squint: on the one hand, renewable energies, particularly wind and photovoltaic energies, have been developed, also driven by the political strategy of the European institutions; on the other hand, a return to nuclear energy production has been attempted unsuccessfully, due to a recent popular referendum that ratified the termination of this kind of energy production. In conjunction with the consideration that in Italy the use of fossil fuel is very high and responsible for relevant greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, particularly in the transport sector, this issue is boosting the need to study new and complementary options to diversify the energy supply and to tackle the most relevant economic and environmental effects of the energy system. All things considered, the production and use of biofuels could become a viable alternative. However, the implications associated with the increasing production and trade in both raw materials and biofuels, particularly the first-generation ones, show several issues worldwide (e.g. the “food versus fuel” debate). In the light of the previous considerations, this chapter focuses on an Italian energy strategy based also on the production of biofuels, particularly second and third-generation technologies, which could potentially overcome some of the mentioned limits. It should be noted that although both of them are in a pre-trade phase, they could be a good choice in the medium and long terms. Among the several sources for next-generation biofuel production, residual biomass, particularly the lignocellulosic kind, generated by the agricultural, forest and agro-industrial sectors, has to be considered as a potential feedstock for the second-generation biofuels. The authors aim to carry out an analysis of the exploitation of this residual biomass for the entire Italian territory in order to underline its potential in this sector. A hypothesis of territorial development of third-generation biofuel production from algae is also considered.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/112224
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