Coupling economic and GHG emission accounting models to evaluate the sustainability of biogas policies

Andrea Bartoli,Lorie Hamelin,Stelios Rozakis,Magdalena Borzęcka,Miguel Brandão

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2019.02.031

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate and quantify the impacts of different biogas and related policies on the agricultural sector as well as their performance in terms of climate change mitigation and associated costs. To do so we coupled the partial equilibrium approach simulating the market clearing process with the perspective of Life Cycle Assessment of GHG applying it to the well-documented Lombardy case. Results show that the recent Italian biogas policy – prompting manure utilization and reducing the average subsidy per kWh – effectively increased the environmental sustainability of the system, which only now seems able to counteract global warming. Synergies are observed when the recent Common Agricultural Policy greening reform is simultaneously considered by the model.

Highlights

Sustainable Development Goals comprise 17 objectives adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 agreed by the 194 UN Members States aiming at (1) ending poverty and hunger, (2) mitigating the effects of climate change and (3) ensuring prosperous, fulfilling and peaceful lives for all
By combining economic PE modelling with an Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach for greenhouse gases (GHG) accounting, we quantified the direct and indirect consequences of biogas policies; in terms of the feedstock used, biogas produced and land required, and in terms of the overall effectiveness in reducing GHG emissions and the related social cost of alternative policies
Our comparison of the two biogas policies in place in Italy over recent years made evident that the new policy scheme introduced in 2013 strongly decreased the GHG emissions per kWh of biogas-electricity produced besides mitigating climate change

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable Development Goals comprise 17 objectives adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 agreed by the 194 UN Members States aiming at (1) ending poverty and hunger, (2) mitigating the effects of climate change and (3) ensuring prosperous, fulfilling and peaceful lives for all. In order to fulfill the agricultural SDG number 2 to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”, the Commission relies on the ongoing revisions of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and the Fertilisers Regulation. Recovery of biogas from agricultural residues, like manure and straw is an acknowledged cost-effective greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation technology for the agricultural sector, as reflected by the policies established throughout Europe [1]. Some of these policies, especially the early ones focusing on the biogas output, resulted in the expansion of energy crops dedicated to biogas production [2]. This, in turn, spurred concerns over the land rent prices and the overall sustainability of biogas production [4], so that the need for a new generation of biogas policies with an increased focus on the sustainability of the feedstock input is apparent

Methods

Results

Conclusion