Enhancement of second materials arising from forest biomass pyrolysis processes in the context of a local supply chain

STUDY LOCAL FOREST COMPREHENSORY FOR THE SUPPLY OF BIOMASS FOR PYROGASIFICATION PLANTS AND FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOCHAR - In the Ligurian forestry chains, low-quality wood has no possibility of economic locations; its use as forest biomass for energy purposes is a point of innovation in Liguria, for an economic enhancement of these productions, with a replicable model.
The timber procurement plan for the cogeneration plant, based on a local supply chain in the Sturla and Aveto Valleys, will require timely operational phases and consequent documents:
- precise definition of the area;
- individuation. forest types, structures, forms of government, indicative commissions, current status, etc.
- definition of the land regime (public, private, collective ownership)
- identification of the territorial structure and infrastructures (accessibility, practicability, morphology, etc.)
- organization of local forestry and primary processing companies
- assessment of the availability of biomass and wood, with identification of the retractable assortments
- verification of the potential for effective withdrawal of the wood mass and evaluation of retractable assortments
- evaluation of silvicultural management techniques and intervention systems
- subdivision of the territory into homogeneous subdivision units and sized for the regular supply of biomass
- drafting of the plan of silvicultural interventions for biomass withdrawal
- drafting of a plan of the infrastructural interventions necessary for silvicultural operations, according to the logging and biomass transport techniques 

"CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BIOCHAR and PRODUCTION SITES FOR THE PURPOSE OF REGISTRATION IN THE"" ""REGISTER OF MANUFACTURERS OF FERTILIZERS"" ""and REGISTRATION OF THE PRODUCT IN THE"" FERTILIZERS AND AMENDANTS REGISTER ""- Pursuant to Legislative Decree 75/2010, the procedure for The recognition and registration in the register of fertilizers of the manufacturers, and the registration of the product in the Register of Fertilizers and Amenders """". It requires administrative obligations of the manufacturer, as a producer of fertilizers and on the product. This process is innovative, for biochar as a fertilizer product, in the Liguria Region, it must be carried out with specific tests and analyzes on biochar and the verification of compliance with all the elements currently required by the legislation on fertilizers.
The chemical and physical values ​​of biochar are dependent on the pyrolysis process with an effect on its value in agronomic terms or carbon sequestration. Both the process (pyrolysis or gasification) and its parameters (temperature) are important in determining the properties of the product: as the pyrolysis temperature increases, the yield of the solid product (biochar) decreases and the production of syngas for energy increases. .
The Biochar Analysis to be carried out, with repetitions, (Legislative Decree 75/10 - annex 2).
Chemical-biological parameters
- C tot biological origin, Salinity (electrical conductivity) mS / m, pH (H2O), Humidity%, Ash%, H / C (molar) ≤ 0.7
- Phytotoxicity test, Contaminants (Pb, Cd Ni, Zn, Cu, Hg, Cr); PAH mg / kg
- PCB mg / kg ss and Dioxin ng / kg
- Particle size% s.s., N tot% ss; Ktot% ss; Ptot% ss
The biochar will also be evaluated on Reg UE 1009/2019 (effective from 07/22)."
 

"EVALUATION TESTS OF THE AMENDING AND FERTILIZING EFFECT OF BIOCHAR IN OLIVE GROWING AND LIGURIAN FOREST CONTEXT - The effectiveness and problems of using a fertilizer product in the field (specifically biochar, an innovative activity for the Liguria Region) must also be tested in the field , in order to evaluate both the positive and negative effects and the conditions of optimal application, according to the conditions in use and to remedy this by modifying the formulations or variations in the production techniques.
It is necessary that the biochar is evaluated in its effectiveness on the most common crops of the territory to which it can be adapted, also in relation to the time limits imposed by the call for the conclusion of the project. In the olive and forest sector (degraded soils), therefore, application tests of the biochar fertilizer from forest biomass will be carried out to evaluate both the nutritional effects, but in particular soil improvers, such as effects of physical and biological improvement of the soil.
Olive and forestry sector evaluation tests of the efficacy of biochar fertilizer from forest biomass with randomized and repeated test / demonstration fields, according to the following application scheme:
- Comparison (normal conduction)
- Biochar application
- Biochar + compost application
- Application of biochar (+ compost) and reduction of normal fertilizer inputs (olive tree)
Tests will be carried out in 2021, with evaluation of the residual effects of biochar until the end of the project, determining the vegetative-productive-phytoiatric results and potential savings in terms of fertilizer and water resources, in addition to the effects on the soil"
 

CARBON BALANCE - Climate warming is unequivocal, as is evident from the increase in global average atmospheric and ocean temperatures, the contraction of glaciers and sea level rise. The atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, N2O have increased due to human activity from pre-industrial data (19th century). The report Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (Lulucf), of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) already in 2003 sees agriculture as a means of action of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and in particular, it highlights the practices of fixing C in the soil, which is a dynamic reserve of C (carbon sink) capable of retaining considerable quantities of C in organic form (> 1500 Gt, 3 times higher than in the atmosphere). In agricultural soils the stock of COrg is now lower than the potential capacity, due to the management of soils in industrial agriculture (average loss between 30 and 40 t / ha of C) . Hence the potential role of agriculture in soil management and increase of the C stock in them, also functional to the mitigation of climate change.
The use of fertilizer biochar in soils can therefore contribute to the increase of the C stock in soils and therefore to mitigate climate change.
During the project, the Carbon Balance due to the fertilizer biochar applications will be evaluated, with precise sampling of the soil, repeated several times, in the various test environments. The """" Carbon Stock """" will then be determined, calculating how much the carbon contained in the biochar can increase the Corg stored in the soil, also intended as a fraction of stable Carbon present (C stable for more than 100 years)