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Coverage

Italy, national

Project time

February – April 2007

Objectives/scope

Improve the understanding of the important role currently played by Italian forests and other woody biomass sources in the energy and their potential potential as renewable energy source and in GHG emission reduction. Immediate objective was to produce a comprehensive but spatially discrete vision of consumption and production potential.

Institutional settings

Laboratorio di Ecologia e Geomatica Forestale, Università degli Studi del Molise

Scale/resolution

Raster analysis resolution: 300 x 300 m grid cell; Sub-national units: County (Comune, 8095 units) in 103 Provinces and 20 Regions.

Demand features

Consumption in the residential sector and, marginally, industrial sector was estimated with minimum, medium and maximum values. Estimates were based on ISTAT County-level statistics on demography, industries and results of ENEA survey on solid biomass consumption in Italian households. Mapping was based on Corine Land Cover level-IV Map for inhabited places (urban areas, villages).

Supply features

The estimation of minimum, medium and maximum stock and productivity was based on 1985 National Forest Inventory results and other recent studies on biomass productivity in non-forest land uses. Residues from wood processing industries were estimated based on ISTAT data on industrial employees. Mapping was based on Corine Land Cover level-IV Map. Physical accessibility was based on DTM data populated places and road network.

Integration features

Balance between supply and demand (considering min, med and max values) was assessed at county level as well as spatially based on raster data analysis. In order to render the spatial context that relates production and consumption, the balance analysis was done considering local context of 15 and 30 km.

Woodshed/bio-shed analysis

Not implemented

Integration with other aspects

Not implemented

Findings/conclusions

The study revealed the gross underestimation of official statistics concerning woodfuel production and consumption and highlighted many critical information gaps concerning both demand and supply aspects.

Publications

Drigo R., G. Chirici, B. Lasserre, M. Marchetti. 2007. Analisi su base geografica della domanda e dell'offerta di combustibili legnosi in Italia. (Geographical analysis of demand and supply of woody fuel in Italy). In: L'ITALIA FORESTALE E MONTANA, Anno LXII - numero 5/6, settembre-dicembre 2007. P. 303-324