Abstract
Agrarian pruning and plantation removal (APPR) is a common residue from pomo-technical maintenance of orchards, vineyards, and olive groves, frequently overlooked by the energy sector. This paper sheds new light on the socio-economic role of APPR as solid biofuel. The paper suggests business models that could both alleviate energy poverty in rural areas and increase the competitiveness of perennial crop (fruits, olives, vine) production. The effects of mobilizing APPR potential via business models are estimated at the micro (households’ income) and macro (number of households affected, size of the investment, tax effect, CO2eq savings) levels in the Croatian setting. Contrary to classical energy planning, the paper provides an approach that fosters local use of bioenergy by linking rural development with renewable energy end-use. The approach linked pruning energy potential with 47% of Croatian rural households which allows creating an evidence-based policy for rural development utilizing APPR as a sustainable solid biofuel. The most attractive business model for Croatian rural areas is utilization of APPR as a solid biofuel. It could be used as an energy poverty alleviation measure, allowing savings per heating season equivalent to 5%–11% of the average disposable income per household. Net APPR influence at VAT tax is estimated at 5.5 million euro·y−1. The paper proves that using average values for APPR in energy planning could be misleading.
Highlights
Energy potential from woody biomass originated from regular care of orchards, vineyards, and olive groves is frequently overlooked both at the micro and macro levels
The effects of mobilizing APPR potential via business models are estimated at the micro and macro levels for Croatian rural households
The approach was applied to the EU and Croatian average values to demonstrate how the role of APPR in energy planning could be underestimated when applying the classical approach to energy planning
Summary
Energy potential from woody biomass originated from regular care of orchards, vineyards, and olive groves is frequently overlooked both at the micro (local source of renewable energy and additional farm income) and macro (energy planning) levels. Numerous studies have been conducted to estimate the energy potential from agrarian pruning and plantation removal (APPR) focusing either on a geographical area (country [7], region [4], macro-region [8,9,10,11]) or on a certain type of APPR from vineyards [7,12], specific fruit plantation [13], or olive groves [14,15]. Theoretical pruning potential estimated at 227.2 PJ·y−1 [10] represented 0.33% of the total energy supply in the EU-28 2017 [16]. Adding to that spatial distribution, seasonal dynamics, and variation in quality and quantity, APPR does not represent an attractive “low hanging fruit” to decarbonize our society, from that perspective
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
