Planning the energy valorization of agricultural co-products, byproducts and waste in a landscape context.

Within the current global trend aimed to increase energy saving and exploit renewable energies, agriculture may play a significant role, mainly when the energy valorization of agricultural by-products, co-products and waste is concerned. Agricultural biomass is a diffuse source of energy, having one of the highest potential to cover renewable energy needs for the future, but the previous restoration of organic matter in the soil should be anyway properly considered. Litter decomposition governs the soil nutrient levels and the carbon cycle, consequently influencing the physical and chemical properties of the soil, which are the key components to maintain the productivity of agro-ecosystems and the entirety of rural landscapes. In the present paper, the spatial relationships between renewable energy potentials, coming from agricultural co-products, by-products and waste, and the rural landscape, were analyzed through the implementation of a GIS over the whole territory of the Basilicata Region. This internal Southern Italian Region can be considered as a benchmarking case study, since it is characterized by big sources of renewable energy connected to its morphological and environmental structure, as well as to its traditional agricultural and food productions. Basing on the quantity of agricultural residues, the energy production in this study area after restoring the nutrient balance of the soil was estimated in the framework of a planning process able to preserve the rural landscape.