Public consultation on the adoption of a bioeconomy Strategy for Italy The Strategy is promoted by the Italian Presidency of Council of Ministers. Involved in its development and implementation are: the i) Ministry for the Economical Development (co‐coordinator), ii) Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, iii) Ministry of Education, University and Research, iv) Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea, v) the Committee of Bioeconomy of Italian Regions, vi) Agency for Territorial Cohesion, and VI) the Italian Technology Clusters for Green Chemistry (SPRING) and AgriFood (CLAN). The consultation aims to allow citizens and public and private stakeholders to examine the Italian bioeconomy Strategy and submit their inputs, including new and additional elements. Concept Italian Bioeconomy means to encompass the sustainable production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products such as food, feed, bio‐
based products and bioenergy. The Strategy aims to provide a shared vision of the economic, social, environmental and international cooperation opportunities and challenges associated with the implementation of an Italian bioeconomy routed on the territory. It will be part of the implementation processes of the National Smart Specialisation Strategy and in particular of its thematic areas “health, food and life quality” and “sustainable and smart industry, energy and environment” and in synergy with the Italian National Strategy for the Sustainable Development and its principles for ensuring environmental sustainability and economic growth reconciliation. Priorities To move “from sectors to systems”, To create “value from local biodiversity and circularity” To move from “economy to sustainable economy” To move “from concept to reality” To promote Bioeconomy in the Mediterranean area Objective To increase our current Italian bioeconomy output (of about EUR 250 billion/y) and jobs (about 1,7 million) by 20% by 2030. To facilitate the processing and analysis of consultation results, you find hereafter a Questionnaire for addressing your comments and observations. Contributions can be sent by e‐mail, specifying the topic, within December 21st, at: [email protected] The official language of the Strategy is English; a courtesy translation in Italian language is also provided. Any proposals for amendments to the Strategy text shall be given in English in order to allow maximum effectiveness of the sent contributions. Comments and observations can be transmitted in both Italian and English languages. All contributions received will be published at the end of the consultation, unless be specifically requested not to disclose them. The default generic confidentiality warning of the e‐mail content, in the bottom of the same, will not be considered a request not to disclose your inputs. Consultation Questionnaire on Italian Bioeconomy Strategy 1. You are answering as:  an individual  on behalf of an organisation or an institution (please specify the name of organisation/institution) Renewable Energy Consortium for R&D (RE‐CORD) / University of Florence, Dept of Industrial Engineering 2. Do you deem the following problems and opportunities relevant for the development of bioeconomy sectors ? Please rank in order of importance (1 extremely important, 5 least important) AGRICULTURE Rank (1–5)
Problems • Limited profitability due to low average size of farms;
1 • Land abandoning in less favored areas due to difficult living conditions;
3 • Depletion of soil organic matter and water scarcity 1 • Soil and watershed pollution 3 • Reduction of the land surfaces devoted to agricultural use 2 • Impact of climate change on the agricultural system
1 • Biological and chemical contaminants in agricultural products 3 • Alien pests/plants 4 Other • Lack of education and training of farmers in: 1) new opportunities (techno‐
2 scientific education); 2) business management (entrepreneurial education) Opportunities • Diversification of rural incomes, reducing vulnerability deriving by price volatility 3 • Add value to local products for the development of sustainable agriculture and 2 local foods • Discovering, protecting and valuing local biodiversity agricultural ecosystem 2 services and reduction of land deterioration; • Valorization and reuse of agricultural residues for the production of bioproducts 1 and bioenergy; • Young and skilled farmers entering in the sector thanks to new incomes 1 opportunities • Production of native biomass, resilient industrial crops/short rotation forest 1 species (willow etc) in abandoned and marginal lands • Boosting the share and productivity of organic farming and livestock.
3 • Agricultural management for food/feed safety
2 • Adaptation measures to climate change (e.g. less water/fertiliser demanding 1 crops, use of local varieties, medium‐ to long‐term planning). Other • Avoiding phase‐out and abandonment of agricultural land in next decades due to 1 the already forecast desertification and salinization of South EU (EU MED) territory FOOD INDUSTRY Problems • Strong products counterfeiting and imitations;
• Biological and chemical contaminants along food processing • Low efficiency of food making chain with high production of byproducts/waste • Lack of advanced technological microbial starters for fermented products
• Under exploitation of by‐products and production residues due to not proper terms and conditions set by national legislation for the qualification and management of by‐products not in line with harmonized EU rules Other • Opportunities • Valorization and increasing of “typical/quality” foods (DOP, IGP,STG, etc.);
• Production of ingredients from local food industry byproducts
• Extensive production of waste to be exploited in biorefyining pathways as well as for composting, the latter also contributing to halt the depletion of soil organic matter • Proper adoption of circular economy directives for the valorization of by product • Innovative and rapid detection methods for food/feed contaminats during storage and processing • Adoption of rules consistent with the development of circular economy according to the EU framework for the valorization of by product Other • FOREST AND WOOD PROCESSING Problems • Abandonment of historically managed forests with possible biodiversity depletion and ecosystem degradation; • National wood processing industry based on imported raw material products of medium‐ to low‐added value • Limited management strategies, genetic improvement and valorization of autochthonous forestry production • Impact of climate change on forests
Other • Lack of education and training of forest company managers in: 1) new opportunities (techno‐scientific education); 2) business management (entrepreneurial education) • Modernization (i.e. mechanization and innovation) of forest farms to reduce production costs and improve efficiency Opportunities • Multipurpose forest management to maintain/enhance production, maintain/improve forest biodiversity and ecosystem services • Improve forest biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services; • Exploitation of valuable and eco‐labelled national raw material in national biorefineries Rank (1–5)
1 4 3 3 1 2 2 1 3 4 1 Rank (1–5)
1 3 4 4 1 1 3 4 2 •
•
Development and production of high value new wood products, wood‐based materials and composites. Increase the surface of forests managed according to the Sustainable Forest Management schemes Endorse the creation of local value chain from forests and services to raw material transformation and secondary/tertiary products Other • BIO‐BASED INDUSTRY Problems • Limited national availability of low costly biomass • Limited market for national biobased products
• Huge and risky investments needed for research and the build up of industrial flagship investment and infrastructure of bioeconomy • Spread of products that doesn’t comply to international standards and labelling on biobased and biodegradable products Other • Lack of financing for new research and start‐up or too complex nd unpractical system to access financial resources. Lack of risks understanding in the entrepreneur and financial stakeholders at DEMO scale (which comes first, before Flagship and after lab/pilot): it is the valley of death for innovative (i.e. risky) investments. Opportunities • Availability of former oil refineries/industrial sites that can be converted into biorefineries • Availability of a good collection system for organic waste (to be improved by setting specific targets) and of large amount of national biowaste (Food industry: 15 MT/y; agriculture residues: 10 MT/y livestock effluents; 150 MT/y; Sludge: 3 MT/y, Municipal organic fraction: 12 MT/y) • Availability of abandoned/marginal lands for the production of industrial biomass and bioenergy • Availability of positive case studies on biobased products developed in Italy (i.e. shopping bags example) and price premiums for environmental sustainable products (Made green in Italy) Other • Large number of very creative and innovative research groups, start‐ups, spin‐off are existing in the Italian context and continuously created MARINE BIOECONOMY Problems • Unsustainable fishery and adverse environmental impacts of marine aquaculture; • Underexplotaition of aquaculture opportunities
• Sea pollution (chemical pollutants, litter, etc) and invasive species • Increasing import of fish from areas with low environmental regulation and monitoring • Lack of innovative solutions to replace the use of fish oil and/or feeds of fish origin in the feeding strategies of farmed marine fishes Other • 1 1 Rank (1–5)
1 2 1 4 1 1 1 1 2 1 Rank (1–5)
3 1 3 3 2 Opportunities • Boost environmental safe marine aquaculture (also off shore)
2 • Development of aquaculture supply chains at local level. 2 • Exploitation of marine biological resources and fishery/aquaculture processing 1 waste in biorefinery • Sustainable exploitation of deep sea biosystems and land/sea nexus 3 • Boosting programmes of fish genetic improvement with new breeding goals 4 while preserving diversity Other • EURO‐MED ECONOMIC COOPERATION Rank (1–5)
Problems • Weak cooperation among European Member States of the Mediterranean basins 1 • Growing migratory flows toward Europe
2 • Lack of integration of knowledge and efforts across sectors and countries
2 • Climate context and demographic trends are strongly increasing the pressures on 3 the capabilities of the societies to provide affordable food, good quality water and to ensure healthy seas Other • Lack of financial resources for cooperation cross‐border/transnational 1 programmes providing actual demonstration of technologies, feedstocks and value chains Opportunities • Large availability of biomass, also by‐products and waste streams, from local 2 agriculture, livestock production and food industry in Mediterranean countries • Cooperation in the context of the PRIMA Initiative and BLUEMED Initiative 1 • Creating the conditions to ensure the adoption of knowledge and innovations 2 across countries • Improving the sharing and joint exploitation of existing data, knowledge, 1 capacities, project results • Advocacy for enhancing public understanding of the value of the blue economy 2 in the Mediterranean • Cooperation projects in No‐European Mediterranean countries, for investments 1 in agrifood sector, territorial regeneration, contrast to desertification, also in the frame of Migration compact and EU strategy for external action on migration Other • 3. Which are the objectives that bioeconomy can help to achieve? Please rank in order of importance (1 extremely important, 5 least important) Objectives Rank (1–5) Ensuring food security 3 Managing natural resources sustainably 3 Reducing dependence on non‐renewable resources 2 Coping with climate change 1 Enhancing economic growth and high skilled jobs 1 4. Is there any other objective that bioeconomy strategy should consider? ‐The issue of fighting Land Abandonment should be better reflected in the strategy and its objectives & actions, while it is already well mentioned at the beginning of Section 2. This topic is very relevant for Italy, can have an impact on EU Policy as well, and would stimulate a necessary discussion around this concept. ‐It is also recommended to consider the issue of fighting Desertification and Salinization of land, with special regards to all Southern EU Countries. Bioeconomy could be a fantastic opportunity to address and mitigate this impact on the environment as well as on related socioeconomic activites, an impact which is already well recognized by all scientific Institutions and expected to increase in next decades, due to climate change. This should be present also in the box at page 44, about the problems and opportunities in the Euro‐MED area, the most affected (alraeady!) by these problems. ‐Chapter 5.1, among EU Directives, should necessarily mention the proposed revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED2) ‐Chapter 5.2 should also mention the Italian Decree on the use of Biochar as amendment in agriculture (G.U 12.08.2015, n 186), given the potentially large impact of this decree on C sequestration ‐Under Chapter 6, Challenges 6 (Forest and Wood Processing), the goal of modernization and mechanization of forest activities is completely missing. This is a serious issue that should be corrected: in fact, to develop the bioproduct and biorefining chains, well fractionated and cost‐ competitive lignocellulosic feedstock is absolutely necessary, and the first fundamental action starts in the forest itself! This is exactly a major different between the status in several IT Regions and Northern EU Countries. ‐At page 42, the sentence “Limited national availability of low costly (?) biomass” should be modified in “Limited availability of low cost sustainable feedstock”. Moreover, to our opinion, the lack of capital/investment and risk sharing/supporting instruments should be more emphasized in the box. 5. Which data and information do you deem relevant for society participation? Is the indicators set, as defined in Chapter 7, complete and exhaustive? Any suggestion? Section 7 ‐Indicators about Biomass Availability are too generic and probably going to account very different products and value chains….we guess it could generate more confusion that benefits ‐Similarly, for the following criteria, the strategy always refers to the “Firms in the Bioeconomy sector”. It is a very generic and vague definition, that will inevitably create confusion and probably disagreements in defining which is a “Bioeconomy firm” and which is not…probably a more defined list of the sectors of Bioeconomy is necessary (not in this document: it could be left for future work…but necessary indeed) 6. Which are the actions necessary to better engage society and foster social innovation in the bioeconomy? Rank (1–5) Provide actions related to communication and dissemination of information on 3 bioeconomy Create discussion platforms with the wider public and civil society 4 lmprove information on bio‐based products for consumers 2 Provide incentives for consumers to buy sustainable bio‐based products 1 Fund research on consumer behavior 1 Promote social innovation in the agri‐food chain such as local delivery of food, 2 etc. Enhance actions to encourage healthier, sustainable consumption 3 Enhance actions to reduce food waste in households and the food service 2 industries 7. Other (please specify) The RE‐CORD/University of Florence R&D activity, both Experimental field and R&D center, is missing from Page 16. The University of Florence and the Renewable Energy Consortium for R&D (RE‐CORD) is active since decades in the field of biomass, bioenergy & bioproducts. It carries out research on BioEnergy and Biofuels (in the framework of major EU supported projects, from pyrolysis oil to aviation biofuels to decentralized bioenergy/gasification and advanced biofuels, including Algae), as well as on Bioproducts, among which we only mention the more recent works on ‐Biochar and derived products ‐Oleochemicals, and thermochemical catalytic processing of residual lipids ‐Algae plants, design and downstream processing of products ‐EU and International cooperation in Advanced Biofuels and Biorefining A long list of EU projects in which the group has been/is involved can be provided and is partly available on the Web site. Finally, RE‐CORD is also deeply involved in policy development/discussion in the EU: it was chairing the European Sustainable Biofuel Forum,it is Country representant of Italy in the UN‐ICAO Alternative Fuel Task Force (Aviation Biofuels) as well as in IEA Task 34 (Biomass Pyrolysis) and 39 (Liquid Biofuels), and recently RE‐CORD is technically coordinating the EU Industrially‐led Platform on Biofuel Policy in the EU (DG Energy). Thank you for your participation!