Cambiamenti climatici e sicurezza alimentare

This paper presents an overview of the recent scientific literature on the link between food production and climate change, both for present and future impacts of climate changes, and for the contribution that policies and measures in the sector of food production and consumption can give to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many available studies show that agriculture and food production are inherently sensitive to climate variability and change, as a result of either natural causes or human activities, and outline the likely direct influences of climate change on crops production system for food and fodder, as well as other indirect impacts on the health of livestock, and on trade of food and food products. Conclusions common to the different studies are: a) the improvement of model projections of the effects of climate change at regional and local level is crucial to better define the impacts and steer the decision-making process of adaptation of food systems; b) the impacts of climate change on food security will be greater in countries which already suffer from high levels of hunger and are vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather events, are potentially large and will grow in the future if adaptive responses will not be implemented; d) although the climate crisis is mainly related to energy production, food production will play an important role both for the contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural and livestock activities and for the control of deforestation

Importance of activity data for improving the residential wood combustion emission inventory at regional level

The contribution of residential wood combustion (RWC) to emission inventory at local level was estimated using a bottomeup approach for the Lombardy Region of North Italy. A survey, based on the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) method, has been undertaken through 18,000 interviews. The interviews had the objective to characterize the RWC use in this region, in term of both total and municipal wood consumption. Details on the type of appliances used in RWC were also gathered. The results of the survey were then statistically analyzed in order to allow an estimate of RWC with high spatial resolution (i.e., at municipal level) in relation to the size and altitude of the territory. The work provides new evidence of the importance of wood combustion as a key source for PM and NMVOC emissions at local level, and thus highlights the importance of technological improvements and new policies aimed at emission reduction in this sector. Considering the great differences in average PM emission factors between low efficiency appliances (fireplaces, old stoves) and high efficiency ones (new stoves, pellet burners), this work emphasizes the importance of obtaining more detailed information on the types of wood appliances used for arriving at a reliable PM emission inventory for RWC

Benzo(a)pyrene air concentrations and emission inventory in Lombardy region, Italy

Three years of particle phase B(a)P air concentration measurements in 13 sites in Lombardy (Italy) and a detailed emission inventory at the municipal scale for the whole region were used to infer the contribution of different sources to B(a)P atmospheric levels. The analyses of the weekly and monthly profiles of B(a)P concentrations, the cluster analysis and the comparison between the B(a)P/PM10 ratios in ambient air and in the emissions allowed identifying wood burning in small residential appliances as the key source for all the sites, except for those located in Milan. The highest values of the average B(a)P concentrations were not found in the wider urban areas, where in general the highest PM10 levels were registered. Regarding the seasonal variability, a marked reduction of both B(a)P concentrations and B(a)P/PM10 ratios was observed in the summer season. The cluster analysis of PM10 and B(a)P concentrations showed that the two pollutants tend to have a separate pattern; moreover the cluster analysis of B(a)P/PM10 ratios showed that the trend of this ratio split the stations depending on their location: plain area, piedmont and valley zones, and mountain sites. The dominance of the wood combustion highlighted by the emission inventory, originating from the residential sector and from pizzerias in the city of Milan, is consistent with the findings of other studies based on a source apportionment approach or air quality modeling, although some patterns of ambient B(a)P concentrations in one site were not adequately explained by the emission sources included in the emission inventory

Fattori di emissione dalla combustione di legna e pellet in piccoli apparecchi domestici

The aim of this study was to report emission factors of pollutants (i.e., carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane hydrocarbons, particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins) from biomass burning residential heating appliances. The influence of several factors such as biomass type, appliance and combustion cycle was investigated. Four manually fed (6-11 kW) firewood burning and two automatic wood pellets (8.8-25 kW) appliances were tested under real-world operating conditions in order to determine the actual environmental performance of the appliance. The experimental EFs were also compared with the values proposed by the European emission inventory guidebook used in the local inventory in order to evaluate their representativeness of real world emissions. The composite macropollutant EFs for manually fed appliances are: for CO 5858 g GJ-1, for NOx 122 g GJ-1, NMHC 542 g GJ-1, PM 254 g GJ-1, whereas emissions are much lower for automatic pellets appliances: CO 219 g GJ-1, for NOx 66 g GJ-1, NMHC 5 g GJ-1, PM 85 g GJ-1. The open fireplace appears to have very high emission factors, however traditional and advanced stoves show the highest overall CO EFs. Especially for the advanced stove real-world emissions are far worse than those measured under cycles used for type testing of residential solid fuel appliances. No great difference is observed for different firewood types in batch working appliances, diversely the quality of the pellets is observed to influence directly the emission performance of the automatic appliances. Benzo(b)fluoranthene is the PAH with the highest contribution (110 mg GJ-1 for manual appliances and 2 mg GJ-1 for automatic devices) followed by benzo(a)pyrene (77 mg GJ-1 for manual appliances and 0,8 mg GJ-1 for automatic devices)

La contabilità ambientale per la stima delle emissioni e delle compensazioni di gas climalteranti

La stima delle emissioni di gas climalteranti (principalmente CO2) è sempre più utilizzata come elemento di valutazione delle politiche ambientali, in particolare con la realizzazione di inventari delle emissioni a diverse scale territoriali e per valutare interventi di riduzione o progetti di compensazione delle emissioni. A questo fine sono spesso da superare criticità legate alla carenza di dati e sono da considerare adeguatamente le assunzioni metodologiche che possono influire notevolmente sui risultati

Imparare dalle catastrofi

Catastrofe, collasso, shock, default: parole che compaiono ogni giorno sui giornali e in televisione. È solo per catturare l'attenzione, dato che nulla vende meglio dell'ansia? O forse nella "narrazione" delle magnifiche sorti e progressive della nostra civiltà qualcosa non quadra? Questo libro è un kit di sopravvivenza - brillante nella scrittura almeno quanto è inquietante nei contenuti - per orientarci nella profonda crisi in atto e raccontare il presente. Con la consapevolezza che i segnali del clima che cambia e le ricorrenti crisi finanziarie sono i primi indizi d'una catastrofe già iniziata, magari non riconosciuta, negata per paura o abitudine, ma non per questo meno reale. Una "pedagogia delle catastrofi" per aiutarci ad assumere un atteggiamento resiliente e produttivo. Un glossario per rintracciare le parole-chiave del presente, da Apocalisse a Zig-zag, e per guardare al futuro, provando a immaginare il dopo e il nuovo. Con la postfazione di Luca Mercalli