A combined experimental evaluation of methane production (obtained by anaerobic digestion) and detailed digestate characterization (with physical-chemical, thermo-gravimetric and mineralogical approaches) was conducted on two organic substrates, which are specific to Italy (at regional and national levels). One of the substrates was grape seeds, which have an agricultural origin, whereas the other substrate was vegetable-tanned leather dust, which has an industrial origin. Under the assumed experimental conditions of the performed lab-scale test series, the grape seed substrate exhibited a resulting net methane production of 175.0 NmL g volatile solids (VS)(-1); hence, it can be considered as a potential energy source via anaerobic digestion. Conversely, the net methane production obtained from the anaerobic digestion of the vegetable-tanned leather dust substrate was limited to 16.1 NmL gVS(-1). A detailed characterization of the obtained digestates showed that there were both nitrogen-containing compounds and complex organic compounds present in the digestate that was obtained from the mixture of leather dust and inoculum. As a general perspective of this experimental study, the application of diversified characterization analyzes could facilitate (1) a better understanding of the main properties of the obtained digestates to evaluate their potential valorization, and (2) a combination of the digestate characteristics with the corresponding methane productions to comprehensively evaluate the bioconversion process.
In sizeable tourist areas, the mutual interaction "tourism -municipal solid waste (MSW) -sustainability" should be attentively investigated, as tourism fluxes could have a strong impact on the performance of implemented MSW management strategies. In this perspective, the present paper analyses the possible tourism influence on MSW generation, composition and separate collection with reference to the Italian case study of "Adriatic Riviera" (expressly located in the Province of Rimini, Central Italy), which is internationally renowned as a major summer seaside destination. In order to evaluate effectively the tourism impact on MSW, the provincial territory of Rimini has been suitably divided into some "territorial macro-areas". The elaborations relate to: the monthly variations of MSW production, the estimate of resulting MSW per-capita production, the estimate of MSW compositions at generation source, the monthly variations of separate collection, and finally the estimate of resulting per-capita separate collection yields.
According to the European Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC and the related Italian Legislation "D.Lgs. No. 36/2003", monitoring and control procedures of landfill gas emissions, migration and external dispersions are clearly requested. A possible quantitative approach for field measurement and consequential evaluation of landfill gas emission rates (CO 2 , CH 4 ) consist of the static, non-stationary accumulation chamber technique. At the Italian level, a significant and recent situation of periodical biogas emission monitoring is represented by the sanitary landfill for non-hazardous waste of the "Fano" town district (Marche Region), whereas monitoring campaigns with the static chamber have been annually conducted during the last five years (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009). This paper deals with some representative elaborations derivable from this multiyear monitoring experience.
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