This is the first work to introduce the use of blockchain technology for the electronic traceability of wood from standing tree to final user. Infotracing integrates the information related to the product quality with those related to the traceability [physical and digital documents (Radio Frequency IDentification—RFID—architecture)] within an online information system whose steps (transactions) can be made safe to evidence of alteration through the blockchain. This is a decentralized and distributed ledger that keeps records of digital transactions in such a way that makes them accessible and visible to multiple participants in a network while keeping them secure without the need of a centralized certification organism. This work implements a blockchain architecture within the wood chain electronic traceability. The infotracing system is based on RFID sensors and open source technology. The entire forest wood supply chain was simulated from standing trees to the final product passing through tree cutting and sawmill process. Different kinds of Internet of Things (IoT) open source devices and tags were used, and a specific app aiming the forest operations was engineered to collect and store in a centralized database information (e.g., species, date, position, dendrometric and commercial information).

Traceability is the ability to follow the displacement of food through its entire chain. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) represents Italian excellence, with consumers’ increased awareness for traceability. The aim of this work is to propose and analyze the economic sustainability and consumers’ preference of three technological systems supporting traceability: Near Field Communication (NFC) based; tamper-proof device plus Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and app; QR code tag plus “scratch and win” system and blockchain. An anonymous questionnaire to Italian consumers (n = 1120) was made to acquire consumers’ acceptability of the systems and estimating their willingness to pay additional premium prices for these. An economic analysis estimated and compared the technology costs at different production levels. Results show that 94% of the consumer respondents are interested in the implementation of such technologies, and among them 45% chose QR-code protected by a “scratch-and-win” system with a blockchain infotracing-platform (QR-B). The consumers interested are willing to pay a mean premium price of 17.8% and economic analysis reported evidenced an incidence always lower than mid-/high-production levels. The success of the QR-B could be ascribed to different aspects: the cutting-edge fashion trend of blockchain in the food sector, the use of incentives, the easy-to-use QR-code, and the gamification strategy.

High-density biomass plantations have played a key role in the national energy landscape in Italy since the 1990s but, to date, an inversion of tendency and a significant reduction of cultivated areas has been noted. Despite this, the existing plantations have seen their coppicing rotation become significantly lengthened, resulting in large quantities of biomass per hectare. This study aimed to identify the best raw material suitable for pellet production using whole trees or stems without branches from poplar plantations at the end of the third, sixth and ninth year of age. All types of pellets made reach the requirements of class A1 for diameter, length, moisture content, ash melting point, lower heating value, as well as nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and heavy metals. None of the theses satisfied the bulk density parameters while for ashes and mechanical durability, a great variability was observed according to the different raw materials used. An improvement in terms of heating value was observed by transforming the poplar wood chips refined into pellets. The pelletizing process using high density poplar plantation as a raw material highlights the possibility of obtaining a product that meets many of the quality standards required on the market. These aspects are closely related to the innovation carried out in the agro-forestry sector for effective energetic sustainability.

Logistics is a fundamental component of the post-harvest processes, especially in the floricultural sector where the products have to be marketed in short times after the cutting because of their fragility. In the previous years, new approaches to efficiently manage the logistical function and to reduce costs and environmental impacts have been consolidated. In this paper, the investments for two different containers for flower transportation, one disposable and one reusable, are compared, considering a specific supply chain located in central Italy. All data were provided by stakeholders. These were divided into four groups: purchasing, administration, logistical and disposal costs. For the reusable containers, a reverse logistical system, to collect the return components, was hypothesised by using the network analysis tool of the geographic information system (GIS). Results show that the use of a reusable system, which assures a production with less waste and less environmental pressures, is also economically advantageous. Reusable containers involve an initial investment but became cheaper from the second year of the investment and also remained convenient, considering all the costs related to the return collection of the items. Reusable system permits a financial advantage of approximately 140k€ in total and 21k€ for each year, considering all the nine years of analysis. Logistics is responsible of the great contribution of total cost in both the reusable and the disposable container (88% and 76%), probably because of the high fragmentation in the delivery service to sale points. Reverse logistics represents the 17% of the reusable container total costs. Product delivery from FT to the DC. The number of pallets shipped from FT to the DC was calculated by the monthly list of orders, considering a transport with a truck loaded with a maximum of 18 pallets. The distance was determined finding the shortest route between the two points with NAT. Finally, the two values were multiplied for the cost per pallet per kilometre, provided by FT.Product delivery from the DC to SPs. In this case, the yearly cost for transportation was calculated for each SP considered in the SC. Single values were obtained multiplying the constant cost (provided by FT) for the number of pallets ordered and for the distance from the DC determined with NAT. 208 P. MENESATTI ET AL.