In the in the last twenty years, there has been a sharp increase in the consumption of commodities with a short life-cycle. This is especially true for electronic equipment such as mobile phones, which are the focus of this paper. The short lifespan, which is due to continually substituting obsolete equipment with newer and more innovative models, has stimulated the growth in sales of these electronic goods. Europe continues to be the main mobile phone market in developed countries, but this growth has slowed down over the last two years. Despite being an already mature market, Italy has a “diffusion rate” (i.e., the number of active lines per 100 inhabitants) higher than 146, which is the highest in the European Union. This scenario demonstrated the need for a study examining the sustainability of the mobile phone sector according to two critical aspects that are often due to the behavioural patterns of the users: the first is the energy consumption of mobile phones and their associated equipment, and the second is related to the conflicting link between potential dematerialisation due to the miniaturisation of the devices and the resource consumption and waste generated in this sector. This paper discusses these two critical aspects and presents an overview of the Italian mobile phone sector, particularly related to the energy consumption during the use phase and increase of mass flows due to the devices circulating in Italy and the higher amount of the disposable products that have to be managed. The results show that, in Italy, the entire mobile phone system consumes approximately 2,200 GWh per year, which is equal to 0.7% of the national electricity consumption, and produces potential e-waste from end of life devices totalling over 11 thousand tonnes for the period from 2007 to 2012. Concerning the issue of resources consumption, this estimate highlights that the potential savings in inputs, due to the reduction in device weight over time, has always been counteracted by their increasing demand.

The implications associated with the increasing trade in both raw materials and biofuels show several issues worldwide. The main ones are related to the “food versus fuel” debate, the exploitation of areas with high carbon stock, the direct and indirect effects in the developing countries, the link between fossil fuels and biofuels prices, the effects of the support policies by governments and the establishment of sustainability standards and certification schemes for biofuels. In this sense, the concerns expressed by international organizations in the development of common schemes to authenticate that the origin of biofuels and/or raw materials is according to certain requirements, such as the conservation and protection of ecosystems. The authors’ research aims to describe the current status of production and trade of the biodiesel and bioethanol, the so-called biofuels of the first generation, and the several economic, social and environmental concerns about this sector. In this first note the recent evolution of the global trade of these biofuels, as well as its drawbacks, has been examined.

The mobile phone market has experienced an exponential growth trend in the last ten years. Europe continues to be the main market in developed countries, although in the last two years the growth has slowed down. Italy, despite being already a mature market, has a “penetration rate” (i.e. the number of active lines per 100 inhabitants) higher than 146, the highest in the European Union. In Italy, also about 70% of active lines are characterized by the use of UMTS and HDSPA (the so-called 3rd and 3,5rd generations). It is important to point out that these technological standards enable greater power (hence; faster transmission and the use of increasingly complex services and software), but with high energy consumption. This scenario has suggested a study on energy consumption of mobile phones and their associated equipment. The aim of the present paper is to estimate the impact of this sector (including the so-called mobile network) on Italian energy consumption.

The biomasssectorhasastrategicroleinenergyrenewablespolicy,accordingtotheNationalRenewable Energy ActionPlans(NREAPs),elaboratedincompliancewiththeDirective2009/28/EC.Planninga suitable useofbiomassforenergypurposescallforthecleardefinition ofthebiomasspotential,thathas to beperiodicallyupdatedbyinventoriesforallEUcountries. The aimofthispaperhasbeentheassessmentoftheavailableresidualbiomass,particularlylig- nocellulosic, intheItalianterritory,toevaluatethepotentialforbioenergy,particularlyforelectricityand heat generation.ThegreenhousegassavingsaccordingtotheEuropeantargetandindicatorshavebeen estimated onthenationalscale.Particularly,thetotal final energywhichcouldbegeneratedfrom 22,208,455 t/yofresidualbiomassassessedinItaly,isequalto4.57Mtoe,nearly2.7%ofthegrossItalian energy consumptionin2013andthetotalsavingsofGHGemissionscomingfromthisbioenergygen- eration, arecloseto52MtCO2eq fortheentireItalianterritoryperyear.Theconclusionsunderlinethat an appropriatebioenergypolicycanhelpdecarbonisetheeconomy,enhancethereliabilityoftheenergy supply andadditionallyitcanrevitaliseruralareas.

Last years have been characterized by a growing interest toward natural origin products such as plant pigments and dyes or animal ones. The reasons of this interest are different, for example, the environmental pollution linked to synthetic dyes use, their toxicity occurring in health risks for workers and consumers and the increasing preference toward natural extract in commodities consumption. Recent restrictions (e.g. Directive EEC 61/2002) imposed by the legislation concerning the use of some synthetic dyes, in food and textile fields, make research and studies engaged in the valorization of organic dyes. The aim of this paper is to review only the plant species useful in natural dye production in alternatives to synthetic ones and to evaluate the market potentialities of this sector. Furthermore, a briefly description of extraction and applications methods are highlighted.

The consumer rising attention to health problems and the need of more and more balanced and correct nutrition have led to functional foods production which, appeared for the first time in Japan in the late '80s, are now a steady segment market with good growth potential in the short and medium term. Nevertheless, in the world these products have different terminology and regulations. This paper focuses on analyzing this sector, from the late nineties to now, to better understand the changes involving the main markets and the prospects for further growth.

Negli ultimi anni si è diffuso un ravvivato interesse verso i prodotti di origine naturale, come i coloranti e i pigmenti di origine vegetale e quelli di origine animale. Ciò è avvenuto per diverse ragioni, come l'inquinamento ambientale derivante dall'utilizzo dei coloranti sintetici, la loro provata tossicità manifestatasi in notevoli rischi per la salute di lavoratori e consumatori e la crescente preferenza verso merci per la cui fabbricazione sono utilizzati estratti naturali. Anche le restrizioni imposte dalla legislazione nell'uso di alcuni coloranti sintetici, sia nel campo alimentare che tessile, hanno contribuito a sollecitare studi e ricerche nel settore dei coloranti derivanti da colture vegetali (ad esempio la Direttiva CEE 61/2002). L'obiettivo di questa nota è quello di passare in rassegna solo le specie vegetali da usare per la produzione di coloranti naturali, alternativi a quelli sintetici, e di valutare le potenzialità di mercato di questo settore. Inoltre vengono illustrati brevemente i metodi di estrazione e le applicazioni, con i loro vantaggi e svantaggi.

L’attuale modello energetico, caratterizzato da una forte dipendenza dalle fonti fossili e dall’esaurimento delle stesse, evidenzia la necessità di incrementare lo sviluppo delle fonti energetiche rinnovabili. Benché non completamente sostitutive di quelle tradizionali, queste, e i biocombustibili in particolare, possono contribuire a soddisfare la crescente domanda di energia limitando le emissioni di gas climalteranti. In questo scenario, il libro si propone di delineare il ruolo che il settore dei biocombustibili può svolgere e le nuove potenzialità che esso offre, attraverso l’analisi delle diverse metodologie di produzione, delle principali barriere tecnologiche ed economiche e degli impatti socio-ambientali conseguenti alla loro produzione. Al fine di testare le potenzialità del territorio pugliese e anche in virtù del sostegno finanziario assicurato dalla Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Puglia, l’attività di ricerca si è concentrata sullo studio di fattibilità d’impianti di produzione di biocarburanti con tecniche di II generazione. Il richiamo ai criteri di sostenibilità economico-ambientale e alla legislazione che disciplina il settore termina tale analisi

The implications associated with the increasing trade in both raw materials and biofuels show several issues worldwide. The main ones are related to the “food versus fuel” debate, the exploitation of areas with high carbon stock, the direct and indirect effects in the developing countries, the link between fossil fuels and biofuels prices, the effects of the support policies by governments and the establishment of sustainability standards and certification schemes for biofuels. In this sense, the concerns expressed by international organizations and European ones in the development of common schemes to authenticate the origin of biofuels and/or raw materials according to certain requirements, such as the conservation and protection of ecosystems. The authors’ research aims to describe the current status of production and trade of the biodiesel and bioethanol, the so-called biofuels of the first generation, and the several economic, social and environmental concerns about this sector. Furthermore, the recent evolution of the world and the European trade of these biofuels has been analysed for underlining the positive oncoming developments and, at the same time, the implications that this will bring.

In the last years the economic and environmental sustainability of modern agriculture has been often challenged. It is affected more and more also by the several market crisis and the productive processes with a significant environmental burden. The organic agriculture might be a suitable solution to change course on these concerns. In the last few years its market has continued to grow also thanks to the introduction of new marketing strategies very often linked to the concept of short supply chain. The aim of this note is the analysis of the main characteristics of the organic food market, focusing on the factors that can lead to the enhancement of this agricultural sector. For this purpose the constraints and the potentials for the " short supply chain" concept have been highlighted, taking into account the effects generated from its widespread application in the distribution phase of the biological food.

Today energy systems not only put pressure on natural energy resources which are nearly running down but also they involve an increase in the greenhouse gas emissions. After the development of the 1st and 2nd generation technologies for biofuels production, the attention is now shifting to the 3rd generation ones, which use microalgae as feedstocks (since their main features are the high oil content, the high oil and biodiesel yield, the low land area needed). These technologies have been developed only in pilot plants (ponds or photobioreactors), with high capital expenditures. In the medium-long term with the joint production of several profitable co-products (pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, animal feed supplements, bioplatsics, etc.) and the link with other processes (such as the waste gas recovery and the wastewater treatment), it is expected that, the production of biodiesel from microalgae, as well as sustainable, it may become an economically viable option

The railways transport has to be further implemented in the medium and long term to reduce traffic on the road and greenhouse gases emissions. The aim of the paper was the analysis of the end-of-life (EOL) of rolling stock and the evaluation of its management taking into account the sustainable use of resources and the reduction of waste. Considering that, at present, the EOL of this sector has been not much investigated, this case study was an attempt to show as the information regarding the flows on the material composition of railway vehicles and the material basis of the EOL are helpful for decision makers to carry out profitable, as well as, sustainable strategies of EOL in the medium and long term. In this way, the case study allowed to verify the feasibility of a practically application of the industrial ecology theory and the closed loop concepts.

The flows of natural resources, goods and services (air quality, soil fertility etc.) from ecosystems are the natural capital of the economies. Among these flows the ecosystem services are critic and in decline. It has been underlined the need for ecosystem accounting techniques to study the relationship between economic sectors and their dependence from ecosystem goods and services, as well as the impacts on the last ones. Many countries are being developed payment programmes for ecosystem services (PES). This paper analyses definitions, scope, schemes and the main actors of the PES as tool to protect the natural capital.

At present, photovoltaics is, after hydro and wind power, the third most important renewable energy source in terms of its capacity to be globally installed; furthermore, for two years in a row, it was the number one new source of electricity generation installed in the European Union. Italy became the second country in the European Union concerning the cumulative installed power of PV (in 2013, the Italian PV cumulative power reached over 17,620 MW), which was also the result of the very attractive support policy. In connection with this development, the issue has emerged about the treatment and disposal of photovoltaic waste when the operative time (approximately twenty-thirty years) of the photovoltaic systems ended. The European Union, to address this environmental impact, passed the Directive 2012/19/EU to increase the amount of waste of electrical and electronic equipment in the form of photovoltaic panels that have been appropriately collected and treated to reduce the volume that become disposed. This paper aims to provide an assessment of the potential waste arising in Italy from the use and end-of-life phases of these renewable energy systems in the coming years and their disposal and/or recycling. Based on the lifetime of 25 years of photovoltaic panels, the estimate has been referred to two periods of waste generation (2012–2038 and 2039–2050). The importance of managing this flow of waste to enhance the correct disposal of the hazardous substances as well as the importance of the recovery and recycling of valuable resources has also been underlined.

Il presente lavoro si è proposto di selezionare le specie vegetali tintorie e da fibra più promettenti ai fini di una loro proficua coltivazione nella Regione Puglia. Le colture che sono state individuate sono: Reseda luteola L. e Rubia tinctorum L. per quanto concerne le specie vegetali tintorie, e l'Urtica dioica L. per quelle da fibra. L'analisi è stata estesa a colture non tradizionali, quali amaranto e agave.

La biomassa rappresenta oggi una risorsa versatile e con grandi potenzialità. Le bioenergie hanno comunque caratteristiche e peculiarità proprie per cui diventano indispensabili studi ed analisi di filiera affinché il loro utilizzo possa essere sostenibile e rivestire un ruolo strategico nel breve e medio termine. Tutto ciò è stato sancito anche dalla recente legislazione europea che, da una parte stimola la diffusione dell’uso della biomassa a fini energetici, dall’altra frena dettando parametri restrittivi soprattutto in relazione all’uso di questa fonte per la produzione dei biocarburanti. Questa ricerca mirerà ad evidenziare le potenzialità della filiera delle bioenergie in ambito europeo.

Today energy systems not only put pressure on natural energy resources which are nearly running down but also they involve an increase in the greenhouse gas emissions. After the development of the 1st and 2nd techniques of biofuels generation and considering the several issues bound up with their production, the attention is now shifting to the 3rd generation technologies, which use microalgae as feedstocks (since their main features are the high oil content, the high oil and biodiesel yield, the low land area needed). These technologies have been developed only in pilot plants (ponds or photobioreactors), with high capital expenditures. In the long term, through the genetic engineering development, the joint production of several profitable co-products (pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, animal feed supplements, bioplatsics, etc.) and the link with other processes (such as the waste gas recovery and the wastewater treatment), it is expected, as well as the environmental sustainability, also the economic feasibility of the biodiesel production by microalgae.

An analysis of the biofuel production chain suggests that adapting and optimizing the whole system to an appropriate scale based on the availability of agricultural and/or agro-industrial biomass feedstock is needed. This study of the potential use of these biomass materials is carried out on a regional scale and, in particular, in Apulia, a region in south Italy with a high agricultural vocation. The aims of this paper are to identify the real availability of the residual biomass (particularly lignocellulosic), and form a hypothesis regarding launching new production chains (from biomass to diesel) on a regional scale with appropriate localization in the Apulia territory. According to the methodology (adapted from the European Directive 2009/28/EC on renewable energy sources), the greenhouse gas savings due to the replacement of a share of fossil diesel with BTL diesel produced from inland biomass are evaluated as well. A hypothesis regarding the appropriate scale and localization of BTL plant together with relative costs are presented in the results and discussion section. The conclusion section provides perspectives regarding the BTL diesel and bioenergy system, and the creation of an agro-energy district in the Apulia region.

Nowadays, the attention of enterprises towards the environmental issues is considerably increased. The main problem they have to face consists in rethinking the production cycle of the commodities, taking into account the efficient use of resources, the waste reduction and the implementation of technological innovation. It should be emphasized that one of the most problems concerns the efficient management of the end of useful life of goods. Some terms like "reuse", "recycling", "reverse logistics" have today a strategic role. The knowledge of the composition of material and energy flows involved in the production of goods help to implement the management practices for suitable development of the end of life (EOL) phase. This note focuses on the railways industry, which historically has had a significant role in the development of modern industrial civilization. A large number of complex and high-tech equipment characterize the rolling stocks. This aspect lays the stress on the problem of correct management at the end of useful life of this equipment. To reach this aim, it is necessary the thorough knowledge of their material composition for carrying out strategies of reuse or recycling of these materials. The aim is to elaborate the study of the end of life of some equipment of the Italian railway sector, by the material flows analysis approach.

The latest EU Directives stimulate the spread of the biomass use for energy purposes, but impose restrictive parameters to achieve a more suitable and sustainable development of this sector. This refers especially to the use of this renewable source for biofuels production, particularly the first generation ones both within the European Union and outside. This will influence the future trend of the global biofuels trade, as well as the related feedstocks. It also becomes an important issue, because of some of the main biofuels producer countries, especially European ones, need to import large quantities of biofuels and/or their feedstocks. This second note of the authors’ research aims to describe the first generation biofuels trade and its features, particularly at European and Italian level. The latest EU regulations and the main biofuel support policies have been analysed too for underlining the positive oncoming developments and, at the same time, the implications about this trade.

At worldwide the implications associated with an increasing trade both in raw materials and biofuels show a double issue: the first is linked to the long transport distances and therefore to the reduction of environmental benefits; the second issue regards to the exploitation of areas with high carbon stock, often located in countries with economic and social problems. In this sense, the concerns expressed by international organizations in the development of common schemes to authenticate that the origin of biofuels and/or raw materials to produce them meets certain requirements, such as the conservation and protection of ecosystems. This research aims to describe the current status of international trade of biofuels, particularly at European level and the concerns about this sector.

Generally the flows of natural resources, goods and services (climate regulation, water and air quality etc.) from ecosystems are the natural capital of the economies. Among these flows the ecosystem services, which derive from interactions between the organisms and their function within the ecosystems, are critic and in decline. The need of knowing and assess these services to realize a suitable management it is clear indeed by the negative trends of health of the biodiversity of biomes. It has been underlined the need for ecosystem accounting techniques to study the relationship between economic sectors and their dependence from ecosystem goods and services, as well as the impacts on the last ones. Many countries are being developed payment programmes for ecosystem services (PES), even if there are many definitions and types for the PES. As a consequence in the PES scheme it is possible to delineate many steps for their implementation. The first one is really to choose and clearly define the environmental goods and service and the second one has to be the identification of stakeholders involved in this programme. The following step is the economic evaluation of the specific ecosystem service and finally it has to carry out the relative “payment”, according to the type of economic and/or financial tools chosen. Each of these steps shows several issues and controversial aspects, due to many reasons. This paper analyses definitions, scope, schemes and the main actors of the PES as tool to protect the natural capital.

With regard to its energy supply, Italy has always been heavily dependent on foreign countries. As a consequence adequate strategies to solve the problem are urgently needed. In the last years the Italian energy policy has seemed to squint: on the one hand, renewable energies, particularly wind and photovoltaic energies, have been developed, also driven by the political strategy of the European institutions; on the other hand, a return to nuclear energy production has been attempted unsuccessfully, due to a recent popular referendum that ratified the termination of this kind of energy production. In conjunction with the consideration that in Italy the use of fossil fuel is very high and responsible for relevant greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, particularly in the transport sector, this issue is boosting the need to study new and complementary options to diversify the energy supply and to tackle the most relevant economic and environmental effects of the energy system. All things considered, the production and use of biofuels could become a viable alternative. However, the implications associated with the increasing production and trade in both raw materials and biofuels, particularly the first-generation ones, show several issues worldwide (e.g. the “food versus fuel” debate). In the light of the previous considerations, this chapter focuses on an Italian energy strategy based also on the production of biofuels, particularly second and third-generation technologies, which could potentially overcome some of the mentioned limits. It should be noted that although both of them are in a pre-trade phase, they could be a good choice in the medium and long terms. Among the several sources for next-generation biofuel production, residual biomass, particularly the lignocellulosic kind, generated by the agricultural, forest and agro-industrial sectors, has to be considered as a potential feedstock for the second-generation biofuels. The authors aim to carry out an analysis of the exploitation of this residual biomass for the entire Italian territory in order to underline its potential in this sector. A hypothesis of territorial development of third-generation biofuel production from algae is also considered.