Modelling the suitability of energy crops through a fuzzy-based system approach: The case of sugar beet in the bioethanol supply chain

Pasquale Garofalo, Marcello Mastrorilli, Domenico Ventrella, Alessandro Vittorio Vonella and Pasquale Campi

Energy, 2020, vol. 196, issue C

Abstract: Energy efficiency (EE) and energy performance (EP) are the main indicators of sustainability for a crop-energy supply chain. This study aims at assessing the sugar beet suitability as energy crop. Sugar beet was cropped under six agronomic treatments, varying in nitrogen supply and in soil tillage. The energy patterns were verified through four indicators. The treatment with the highest agronomic input provided an enhanced energy yield, on the contrary the mid-energy input scheme maximized net energy gain. “No nitrogen”, coupled with “No-tillage” treatment, achieved the best EE performance. Therefore, the most suitable agro-energy scheme does result tricky to recognize since contrasting information provided by the single energy indicators could exacerbate EP and penalizing EE, or vice versa. The synthesis of different information in a single (multi-metric) indicator was the main objective of this study. The multi-metric indicator from the fuzzy-based expert system, highlighted that “No-tillage” combined with “No nitrogen” was the cropping system which optimizes energy output and input. As for the highest nitrogen treatment, coupled with conventional or no tillage, the multi-metric index indicated these management unsuitable for the sugar-beet supply chain. A multi-composite metric, built on ad hoc modules, was fully described in this paper.

Keywords: Cropping system; Soil tillage; Energy yield; Energy performance; Energy use efficiency; Multi-metric indicator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:196:y:2020:i:c:s036054422030267x

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117160

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