Short Rotation Coppice in Italy: a model to asses economic, energetic and environmental performances of different crop systems

In the near future, the role that renewable energies can play in order to achieve the ambitious objectives fixed by the European Union is decisive. Besides economic aspect also energetic and environmental issues of agro-energy chains must be carefully evaluated. We developed a software tool able to assess economic, energetic and environmental performance of renewable energy from biomass. The aim of this paper is present the software and its application about one of the most promising energy crop in Italy: Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) based on poplar clones. SRC, subdivided into SRF – plantation with a short cutting frequency (1 or 2 yrs) and in MRF – plantation with a medium cutting time (5 yrs), takes up about 7,000 hectares in Italy. Twenty years after their introduction, in bibliography the information concerning this crop is not always clear and unanimous. On the basis of the cultivation technique carried out in Northern Italy, an economic, energetic and environmental (EEE) evaluation of the poplar SRC (SRF and MRF) has been carried out. The analysis is focused on field and transport phases of the agro-energy chain.