Bioeconomy for sustainable development of biomethane sector: Potential and challenges for agro-industrial by-products

Valenti, Francesca; Selvaggi, Roberta; Pecorino, Biagio; Porto, Simona M.C.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2023.119014

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Equation (23), the deduction of SF, in this case from the CF margin, is explicitly considered to quantify the firm's capacity to repay NFP.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some authors have examined the biomethane sector in the Italian context and emphasized that public investments in renewable energy positively affect overall welfare by integrating the livestock supply chain downstream [21,22]. Other authors have examined the efficiency of public funds utilization for climate neutrality in European Union countries, indicating that investing public funds in renewable energy for climate change could be a positive step to enhance social welfare [23]. Other authors, particularly in the Italian context, have suggested that integrating renewable energies with ecosystem services could enhance biodiversity in rural and forestry areas [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Debt Sustainability Assessment in the Biogas Sector: Application of Interest Coverage Ratios in a Sample of Agricultural Firms in Italy

Iotti,

Manghi,

Bonazzi

2024

Energies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The biogas sector in Europe and Italy is attracting growing investment, combining agricultural activity, the circular economy, and renewable energy production. Firms in the sector widely use debt capital and, for this reason, there is a need to evaluate the structure of investments, financing, and debt service capacity calculated by applying interest coverage ratios (ICRs). ICRs are widely used by banks in granting loans, and calculation of ICRs allows managers and policy makers to correctly evaluate firms’ performance in the sector. In this research, based on a sample of 160 observations, the structure of investments and sources of financing of firms in the biogas sector, operating in northern Italy, are analyzed. ICRs are calculated with different approaches to establish which ICRs provide the most reliable results in the application. The research analyzes the correlations and highlights significant differences between ICRs. The research highlights some important findings: (a) the NWC is negative in 109 out of 160 observations and, therefore, constitutes a source of financing in the majority of observations; (b) ICRs based on EBITDA and CF are above the threshold value of “1” in 143 and 145 observations, respectively, while ICRs based on EBIT, OCF, and UFCF are above the threshold value of “1” in 132, 133, and 122 observations, respectively. The research allows the conclusion that the ICRs based on EBITDA and CF tend to overestimate results; ICRs based on EBIT, OCF and UFCF are preferable, and can therefore be applied by managers, banks, and policy makers and be used as debt covenants. For the calculation of the repayment of the NFP, the research has highlighted that ICRs in which the cost of the debt is deducted from the numerator are preferable. The research can thus be usefully applied and expanded to other territories, or by considering a larger sample with the aim of inferring conclusions of general validity.

show abstract

“…In Equation (23), the deduction of SF, in this case from the CF margin, is explicitly considered to quantify the firm's capacity to repay NFP.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debt Sustainability Assessment in the Biogas Sector: Application of Interest Coverage Ratios in a Sample of Agricultural Firms in Italy

Iotti,

Manghi,

Bonazzi

2024

Energies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a consequence, without appropriate management policies, organic wastes can be responsible of methane emissions, land degradation, water contamination, pollution, diseases, ecosystem destruction, etc. (Pawlita-Posmyk & Wzorek, 2018;Valenti et al, 2023). This situation heavily accentuates the climate change issues through the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of some AM2 model parameters from a derived empirical logistic function of methane production

Zaatri

2024

EUR J SUSTAIN DEV RES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Because of its capability to convert organic wastes into renewable energy and into some components useful for agriculture, the anaerobic digestion technology can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and the pollution. Thus, anaerobic digestion can contribute to achieving some of sustainable development goals. Consequently, many theoretical and empirical approaches are proposed for estimating, predicting and optimizing the methane produced by anaerobic digestion. In this context, the logistic function is a mathematical model that can be used to approximate empirical data of the temporal methane production in anaerobic digestion. In a previous paper, under some appropriate approximations, we have derived from AM2 model a single analytical expression in a form of a logistic function for describing the evolution of methane production in batch bioreactors. In the present paper, by comparing the three standard parameters associated with the classical empirical logistic function with that of the derived one from AM2 model; some relationships between them have been established. These relations are exploited for estimating some coefficients and parameters of AM2 model with respect to empiric logistic function parameters and vice-versa. Moreover, this possibility enables more qualitative insight about the evolution of the methane production and the influence of AM2 parameters and coefficients as well as their interaction over its processes.

show abstract

“…Today, it is important to recognize that the agroecosystems produce much more than the agriculture sector, and so the waste generated by the agricultural sector is an equally important but often disregarded part of production [9]. However, in recent years, there has been greater awareness of the potential of agricultural waste and its potential to be usable as raw materials through the adoption of innovative recycling technologies in different production sectors [10,11]. Among the most investigated agricultural wastes in the literature are crop residues (i.e., leaves, bark, stalks, straw, weeds), livestock wastes (i.e., urine, manure, wash water, milk wastes, feed wastes, wool, feathers), and agro-industrial wastes (i.e., pulp, molasses, hulls) [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many examples of biorefineries that can be developed for the valorization of waste to produce energy, fossil fuels, chemical products, materials, fibers, food ingredients, films, etc. [10][11][12]. They exist in a liquid or solid form, and their composition depends on the specific agricultural activity carried out to produce them [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sheep Wool Waste Availability for Potential Sustainable Re-Use and Valorization: A GIS-Based Model

Midolo,

Porto,

Cascone

et al. 2024

Agriculture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Worldwide, 1.3 to 2.1 billion tons of agricultural waste are generated yearly, including livestock wastes (i.e., sheep wool), which create several critical environmental issues if not properly treated. In order to reduce the environmental issues related to the management and disposal, their use as natural fibers for green building components has notably developed over the last years. Indeed, sheep wool, which is a natural animal fiber that comes from shearing sheep fleece, is considered to be a problem of increasing concern due to its complex and difficult disposal management. Recently, several researchers have demonstrated that “low-quality wool” (i.e., not appropriate for textile uses) is suitable for the thermal and acoustic insulation of buildings. Indeed, thanks to its thermo-hygrometric and acoustic characteristics, it can be used as a reinforcing fiber for composite materials. In this study, a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based model to locate and quantify both the yearly amount of livestock waste, i.e., sheep wool, and the territorial distribution of sheep farms through their Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, was developed and applied within the selected study area (i.e., the Sicily region). The aim was to identify the territorial areas highly characterized by this kind of waste and therefore most suitable for localizing new shared sheep wool collection centers to sustainably manage the reuse of this waste as a potential green building component.

show abstract

Bioeconomy for sustainable development of biomethane sector: Potential and challenges for agro-industrial by-products

Cited by 6 publications

References 42 publications

Debt Sustainability Assessment in the Biogas Sector: Application of Interest Coverage Ratios in a Sample of Agricultural Firms in Italy

Debt Sustainability Assessment in the Biogas Sector: Application of Interest Coverage Ratios in a Sample of Agricultural Firms in Italy

Estimation of some AM2 model parameters from a derived empirical logistic function of methane production

Sheep Wool Waste Availability for Potential Sustainable Re-Use and Valorization: A GIS-Based Model

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About