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Journal of Essential Oil Research

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Economic analysis on the enhancement of citrus waste for energy production

Maurizio Lanfranchi
a a

Faculty of Economics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy Published online: 31 Oct 2012.

To cite this article: Maurizio Lanfranchi (2012): Economic analysis on the enhancement of citrus waste for energy production, Journal of Essential Oil Research, 24:6, 583-591 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10412905.2012.739788

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The Journal of Essential Oil Research Vol. 24, No. 6, December 2012, 583591

Economic analysis on the enhancement of citrus waste for energy production

Maurizio Lanfranchi*
Faculty of Economics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy (Received 12 December 2011; nal form 31 July 2012) In the last few decades, industrialized nations have become aware of the extent of how unsustainable some of the production models used are and have therefore adopted policies that aim both to save energy and to safeguard the environment through the use of alternative energy sources and, among these, biomass. The use of these alternative energy sources is very important: for example, this allows the saving of 200 g of CO2 per product, in addition to avoiding the emission of sulfur and other pollutants. The energy produced from biomass can be recovered by burning the material directly for heat, and turning it into fuel, to make it more convenient to use. The choice of destination of biomass depends on the characteristics of the biomass available, because the content of carbon and nitrogen, moisture and volatile substances inuence the choice of energy conversion. The aim of this work is to briey outline an analysis on the importance that biomass can have especially pastazzo, which is the squeezed pulp (of the processed citrus fruits), for the enhancement of a sustainable economy, sought after in recent years not only by the EU but in an entire international context. The study is conducted by a research group as part of the Department Sesast, Section of Agricultural Economics and Policy, specically directed by Prof. M. Lanfranchi. The research is based on the assumption that one can obtain both energy and bio-ethanol, not only from agricultural waste but also from the waste products of the citrus industry arising from the processes of extracting juice and oil from skins. The use of the squeezed pulp could possibly help solve some of the serious environmental problems especially in the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Sicily, which is a major citrus producing region. This particular study aims to assess the cost of producing ethanol from squeezed pulp, with particular attention to the processing of lemons, a product in which the province of Messina has a leading role in terms of utilized agricultural area. The rst part of this work presents a discussion on the evolutionary aspects of EU energy policy; in the second part, it explains the importance of biomass and its potential uses, and the last part contains data on the potential calories that can be obtained from the processing of squeezed pulp. Keywords: agro-energy policy; biomass; bio-fuel; citrus waste processing

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1. Introduction The evolution that has accompanied the economic systems of Western countries over the last thirty years, following the radical social, economic and technological changes, has also inevitably involved agriculture, which has undergone signicant changes in production systems and also within the social structure of rural areas. In particular, the agricultural sector has shown over the period a European trend in terms of GDP which on average does not exceed 3% of the total and in terms of employment. On average, agriculture accounts for no more than 5% of the total labor force employed, but nevertheless it is called upon to play a key role, since it affects 80% of the land in the EU and still provides employment for just under 20 million citizens. The reading of this data helps to understand how agriculture is potentially able to attract additional labor. In light of this, it is easy to believe that the rural sector, better than other manufacturing sectors, can realize the potential benets from energy derived from renewable
*Corresponding author. Email: mlanfranchi@unime.it
ISSN 1041-2905 print/ISSN 2163-8152 online 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10412905.2012.739788 http://www.tandfonline.com

sources in order to adapt the increasing energy demand, while limiting the negative effects on the ecosystem (1). The current scenario of European agriculture is characterized by pressing technological evolution, in an attempt on one hand to compensate for the lack of land, taken from the area through urbanization, and on the other hand to replace the productive factor with capital, which in terms of cost is cheaper (2). Such a situation, which dominated the industrialization of agriculture, resulted in the long run in a considerable increase in demand for energy, which to be satised has required heavy reliance on fossil energy sources. The constant role of external energy, which stands at approximately 3% of total needs, causes a serious negative impact on the environment; it is estimated that the contribution of agriculture to the emission of greenhouse gases comes to approximately 15% of the total emissions, resulting mainly from the use of fossil fuels for transport and for heating. The agricultural sector, although responsible for having contributed to the accumulation of greenhouse

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M. Lanfranchi 180,000 billion cubic meters; therefore, according to this data the indication is that the current consumption rate means that resources will be sufcient to meet energy demand for about another seventy years. However, when taking into account the growth of the worlds population and the growing energy demand of countries like China and India, this will inevitably affect the level of reserves and will reduce further the time of self-sufciency in energy. Currently, the USA, the EU and Japan consume about 4.6 billion toe just under half of the worlds demand of energy. If the consumption is compared with the world population, which stands at around 6.5 billion people, one can infer a world average energy consumption per capita of 1.62 toe, compared with that of the EU of 3.9 toe per capita, Japan 4 toe per capita and the USA 7.9 toe per capita. The scenario on energy consumption within the UE is also alarming, given that the member countries import 75% of the oil they need, 57% of natural gas and 40% of coal, percentages destined to increase in future years, further contributing to the energy dependence of a united Europe. The situation in Italy is particularly alarming, because it imports 85% of its energy needs. The events, which have succeeded in time, have gradually pushed the governing bodies of the Community to adopt an integrated energy policy. The journey started way back in 1952 with the establishment of the CZECH, followed by Euratom, and has been slow and tortuous, and to this day has yet to achieve the objective of an integrated energy policy capable of positively effecting the future market of energy resources. The rst example of EU energy policy dates back to the 1970s with the resolution on A new approach to energy policy, in which the rst Community energy objectives were dened. They were divided into four sections: develop electronuclear energy; develop the domestic energy resources of the Community; diversify energy supplies from abroad; promote investments in technological research to develop renewable energy. In the 1980s, a second ten-year energy plan was launched, geared to pursue the following objectives: reduce use of oil from 50% to 40% of total energy consumption; improve energy efciency by 20% through the maintaining of the share of natural gas and a program of alternative supplies. Even this energy plan failed, basically for the same reasons as the previous one, related to the fact that the realization of it passed through the instrument of the

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gases in the atmosphere, to a uctuating gure around 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the EU, can play a key role in containing these emissions that harm our planet. This role can be given to agriculture and carried out, mainly through the production of agro-forestry biomass to be allocated to the production of substitute energy derived from traditional fossil fuels; in this way, it will contribute to reducing emissions of CO2. In this work, after a brief discussion on the agroenergy policy of the EU, the intent is to highlight the role that sustainable agriculture can play towards production and use of energy derived from renewable and clean sources, especially from biomass to produce second-generation bio-fuel. The article presents a summary of data in the ongoing research on the study of the feasible production of bio-ethanol obtained from citrus waste in the province of Messina, Italy. 2. The EU policy in support of agro-energy

The world consumption of primary energy sources is at around 10 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), of which about 3.8 billion tonnes of oil, about 2.3 billion tonnes of natural gas that are anked by coal consumption, which amounts to about 2.8 billion toe, the demand for nuclear at 0.7 Mtoe and that of hydrogen is about 0.28 million toe. As can be seen, among the hydrocarbons, oil and gas account for more than 60% of world energy demand. The trend of energy consumption has increased dramatically compared with the rst two decades of the last century, during which the world demand for primary energy sources amounted to just over 1 billion toe, while today it has exceeded to 10 billion toe and predictions indicate that in the next two decades it will exceed 16 billion toe. All this justies the concerns of governments, public opinion and mass media, which in turn indicates a trend of unsustainable development that leads to the realistic expectation that the continued increase in consumption in a short time will not be met by oil and gas resources currently active. The shadows that darken the energy future of our planet not only concern the reformulation of demand, but also the environmental unsustainable of this huge energy consumption. It is expected that emissions of carbon dioxide in the rst quarter of this century will increase according to the same trend in energy consumption. In a scenario this alarming, the use of renewable energy sources can contribute on one hand to preserving the stock of fossil resources, on the other to reducing the negative impact on the environment. The alarm about the amount of available reserves of conventional energy is real, because the estimates regarding the availability of natural gas amount to

The Journal of Essential Oil Research Resolution, which as everyone knows, is not a binding document for the recipients but only for the Member States. In the 1990s, the European Energy Charter was drawn up, signed at The Hague on December 17, 1991. This is an important tool for the study of issues in energy between the states of the ex-Soviet bloc, Central and Eastern Europe and the European Community. Among the objectives that the Charter intends to pursue are to contribute to the economic development of the former USSR and the COMECON, and the diversication of energy sources of supply. Three years later in Lisbon, on December 17, 1994, the Energy Charter Treaty was signed, which entered into force on April 16, 1998. In 1995, the Green Paper on Energy was published, which sought to ensure the free movement of the resource power within the boundaries of the Community. That same year, reecting the importance that the EU had given to issues related to energy needs, the White Paper on Energy was adopted, describing the priorities of Community action for the realization of the internal energy market, in order to ensure security of supply and environmental protection. In most recent years, a second Green Paper was adopted: Towards a European strategy for energy supply security. This is the most important document along the path to achieving an energy policy that can enhance and build upon the potential abundance of renewable energy, through a system of incentives that partially offset the high cost of production. The energy policy should aim at halting the current trend, which in a few years could bring an energy dependence beyond the borders of 90%. Italy is in a situation even more problematical, because, as the importer of energy for a share of 85%, compared with a European average of 50%, it will need to implement all the actions necessary aimed at developing renewable energy, even through tax incentives, focusing primarily on the productive use of waste products, and the waste product thus from being a problem becomes a resource. To reduce energy dependence, Italy would do well to focus on one hand on promoting energy savings, in terms of energy consumption in buildings and transport infrastructures, and on the other stimulating the production of bio-fuels. The EU in this direction has laid down the principle 20 20 20, which indicates that the target-bond policy that the Community has set itself to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and increase energy efciency by 20% by 2020; also in the same timeframe, the European partners will have to be able to adopt a sustainable energy mix, 20% coming from renewable sources, and of those 8% will be generated from biomass and bio-fuels, so as to establish a minimum standard for the mandatory use, in 10% of

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the fuel market, and promoting second-generation bio-fuels, a minor environmental impact, coming from forest material and grasses. All this in harmony with the objectives enshrined in the Kyoto Protocol. 3. The importance of second-generation bio-fuels in the management of the world energy crisis First-generation bio-fuels, based on food crops such as corn, soybeans and sugar cane, not from food crops, cause problems of food supply, while second-generation bio-fuels that use the biomass of agricultural residues are still available in limited quantities. However, they have advantages in terms of environmental sustainability, because they involve the reuse of waste, therefore minimizing negative environmental externalities, which are linked to competition between food crops and non-food crops that cause fear due to the risk of food safety. Biomass is any compound of biological origin plant or animal produced by photosynthesis, which can be burned to produce energy, digested by specic bacteria to produce biogas and bio-diesel, or subjected to a process for producing ethanol. The conversion of biomass occurs, as well as for direct combustion, through a biochemical process, anaerobic digestion, i.e. in the absence of oxygen, or fermentation, or through a thermo-chemical process, combustion and pyrolysis gasication, where the energy is obtained from the transformation into heat, unlike the biochemical processes in which the energy produced results from chemical reactions. In particular, during anaerobic digestion, microorganisms cause the demolition of complex substances such as lipids and carbohydrates and produce biogas. From a chemical point of view, biogas is composed of methane with a percentage between 55% and 70%, and for the remainder of carbon dioxide. The variation in the amount of methane present is justied by the different origin of the biomass, such as biogas from the livestock sector, which is strongly inuenced by the type of animal feed and the residence time of manure in the stable. Therefore the highest percentage of methane is found in biomass from pig farms, with a lower production of biogas per cubic meter. It is a form of indirect solar energy produced from agricultural residues, forestry, industrial waste, etc. Energy from biomass is certainly the one that is more strongly linked to agriculture and forestry; now it is possible to analyze the advantages and disadvantages arising from the use of this alternative energy source, considered a renewable type and virtually inexhaustible resource, if the normal vegetative reproduction cycle of plants can be respected. The source of biomass is different, in fact, it stems from any organic compound: forests, plants grown for energy purposes, be that woody plants or grasses,

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M. Lanfranchi In agriculture, one of the items of costs that has a substantial impact on the agricultural budget is undoubtedly related to electricity, and, in cases where the management provides for the activity of a cattle farm, the annual expenditure for energy increases dramatically. Whenever agricultural entrepreneurs are confronted with an investment program aimed at saving energy it is almost always unproductive because the capital required is always prohibitive. Nevertheless, it is possible to nd a solution to signicantly cut energy costs in agriculture and in some cases to draw an additional income. This solution is precisely the use of biomass, present in satisfactory amounts on the farm, and with the use of a cogeneration plant gives a saving of approximately 20%. The real technological revolution seems feasible in multifunctional farms where it is possible to generate energy in excess to be sold to the supplying body, thus obtaining an additional prot. As for prots, the percentage in favor of the farmer, on average, uctuates around 10% of the selling price of electricity. It is easy to see the importance of this opportunity for the world of agriculture that, in addition to having enough electricity for the management of the company, allows entrepreneurs to earn an additional income and save money on the disposal of wastewater, which is estimated at about 5 euros cents per kilogram of biomass withdrawn. At present, biomass accounts for 15% of global energy needs, with an output of 55 million TJ equal to 1230 Mtoe per year. The distribution of energy from biomass on a global scale is quite uneven. In fact, while in developing countries the use related to this energy source is around 38% of the total needed with almost 90%, as in the case of Nepal; on the other hand, in industrialized countries the contribution of biomass is negligible (3%), although in some countries, like Finland and Sweden, the rate of use exceeds 15%. It is estimated that in the space of 100 years methane can be considered a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

residues from food production, catering and from organic waste. Herbaceous energy crops are rapeseed, sunower, sorghum ber, kenaf and miscanthus. Energy crops of woody origin are predominantly of coppice, poplar, willow, eucalyptus, etc., and these cultures are referred to as SRF (short rotation forestry). Many applications are now in being: examples are the use of waste from orujillo, olive oil, allowing Spain to generate signicant quantities of electricity. The energy produced from biomass comes from a strong interaction between two subsystems: one, agroforestry, which underpins the production of fuel, the other industrial, which is responsible for energy conversion. The use of energy derived from biomass is suitable for a wide range of uses, ranging from solid fuels for civil heating to those for industrial use, for the generating of electricity to those for urban district heating, to liquid fuel for machinery to the use of gas to produce electricity. These energy products are considered good substitutes for fossil fuels; methane and diesel are replaced by the burning of straw and scraps of wood, gasoline and diesel fuel for machinery could be replaced by bio-ethanol and bio-diesel, respectively. Bio-fuels are therefore a direct substitute for fossil fuels in transport and can be integrated rapidly into the fuel supply systems. They can be considered a substitute fuel in the transport sector, which affects the total consumption of energy for 21%. Energy from biomass can also be achieved from waste sugar (bagasse) and this process is particularly common in tropical countries, major producers of sugar cane. Another method of production of biomass is that which tends to use the waste from the process of industrial processing of citrus fruits. Such wastes are commonly referred to as pastazzo (squeezed pulp). A characteristic of biomass is absorption of the carbon dioxide before release to the point of signicantly reducing the emission of carbon dioxide by 90% compared with traditional fossil fuels. It is roughly estimated that the reduction of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere following the use of biomass is about 200 g per kilowatt hour of energy produced (3). The biogas production is obtained through the use of animal sewage in special plants apt to produce methane, so this helps to solve the serious problem of pollution of underground water and that of the associated use of chemical fertilizers, as part of the sewerage can be used as natural fertilizers. The energy coming from the exploitation of biomass accounts for approximately 1012% of the aggregate worldwide production. The long-term forecasts foresee a substantial increase in the role of bio-energy. According to some estimates conducted worldwide, by mid-century bio-fuels will reach a quota of 17% of electricity and 38% of total fuel.

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Figure 1.

Traditional fuels used in the EU.

The Journal of Essential Oil Research However, in the EU the exploitation of fossil energy is still very high. Figure 1 shows how meaningful the energy dependence on traditional sources is. 4. The contribution of the second-generation fuels to environmental sustainability It should be pointed out that there is an ever broader spreading of bio-energy model farms around the world, and any farm that is able to provide for its own energy needs, by redeploying waste arising from agricultural and livestock, can produce enough power for its needs and sell the excess electric energy produced to the supplier. Doing so helps to reduce signicantly the negative impact on the environment and reduce the production of greenhouse gases. A review on the environmental impact consequent to the use of biogas also clearly highlights the advantages of reducing the excessive load of sewage on agricultural land with the well-known deleterious implications for crops: reducing the pathogenic load of sewage that facilitates their use in crops, natural reduction in emissions of odors just bearable and, above all, a considerable cut in the emission of methane, which is a greenhouse gas far more aggressive than carbon dioxide (1). Another interesting opportunity is directly linked to the production of ethanol, alcohol fuel produced from the starch in corn, the scraps of grape skins and the squeezed pulp of citrus fruits. The characteristic of ethanol is to generate greenhouse gases in an amount of about 40% less than those produced from oil. The further use of biomass is in fact in the production of ethanol made from agricultural waste such as cellulose waste, in which case the ethanol from biomass can completely eliminate the contents of the greenhouse gases. The development of this alternative eco-combustible has been hampered in the past by powerful multinational oil companies worried about losing signicant market share thanks to the special properties of ethanol, which has a higher octane level than gasoline; this octane is particularly important because it prevents ignition engines of cars from having combustion problems, which is why the multinationals have introduced an additive, lead, subsequently banned because of its high toxicity and because it is responsible, to a great degree, for air pollution. The gradual introduction of ethanol, which today covers about 20% of the content of petrol, the remainder is represented by an oil polluter of underground water, falls into existing and future policies of EU agro-energy. The use of biomass is not limited to the most well-known application that has so far been reported, but hydrogen can also be obtained and in the future, if this alternative renewable energy source is

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encouraged, it might be possible to think of converting biomass into plastic, paper, clothing, etc. (4). From the above it is clear that the use of biomass can counteract the greenhouse effect, as indicated in the guidelines of the Conferences of Rio De Janeiro in 1992 and Kyoto in 1997, as it lowers the emissions of pollutants of fossil origin, such as CO2, sulfuric acid and benzene. Therefore, renewable energy sources seem to assume a prominent role in combating air pollution. Among the sources of energy, undoubtedly the biomass energy resource has the most potential, though currently in Western countries about 60% of agricultural waste goes for landll instead of being reused as an energy source. The advantages of the use of biomass energy are not only environmental but economical. Indeed the cost of collection and disposal of waste is quite expensive and is relevant to the economic system of a country; therefore, through the process of combustion of waste, it could be possible to solve the problem of waste management with positive effects on the environment. 5. Using biomass and the positive externalities The biomass used to produce energy can be material from residual sources, or the result of dedicated work, grown specically for energy purposes and called energy crops. Because of this classication, the sources are identied as residual sources or non-residual. The rst include the residues of agricultural production (divided into production waste, processing waste), forestry residues and wood production, animal waste (manure), or waste of by-products of agro-food, chain distribution waste and nal consumption (organic waste). Among the sources that are not considered residual are aquatic energy crops; energy crops on surplus agricultural land, energy crops on degraded land or derived from deforestation. A portion of what is collected includes agricultural products; the remainder includes derivatives that can be used to produce energy, which increases the protability of the crop without heavily affecting the cost of production or harvest. Therefore it is important to evaluate ex ante the energy source to be used, which involves a certain balance in the analysis of cost-benet. The decision on which source of most biomass to adopt is not simple and in general a choice should be made in relation to the particular situation of the territory in which it is. In any case, the factors to be evaluated and taken into account when determining the availability of biomass in a given area are: the future food needs, as determined by the expected growth and diet of the population, the food production system that can be adopted worldwide in the following years, the productivity of forests and

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M. Lanfranchi

energy plantations, the use of biomaterials in industry and in constructions, the availability of degraded land, and the use of land in competition with one another (e. g. surplus agricultural land used for reforestation). Biomass can have various uses, the crude one can be converted directly into heat and power (bio-energy) with processes similar to those used for fossil fuels, but it can also be used as fuel (bio-fuels) to be converted later into energy or products for the chemical industry (bio-products). All the conversion technologies used to obtain these three types of products fall into three broad categories: biochemical conversion (anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis and fermentation), chemical conversion (esterication); thermo-chemistry conversion (combustion, pyrolysis and mass). The solid products (charcoal) are intended mainly for boilers to produce heat and electricity, while from the synthesis gas and pyrolysis, after an appropriate treatment, electricity is produced using engines, gas turbines or fuel cells, and it is also possible to derive bio-fuels with particular processes of synthesis. Biofuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel are destined for the transport sector. Therefore, a bio-fuel is a fuel to replace fossil fuels completely, as well as being a renewable source. Biofuel as the object of the research is the resulting pellet from the drying the pulp. The processes that allow the conversion of biomass into energy are biochemical and thermo-chemical: aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion, combustion, pyrolysis, co-ring and gasication. The rst produced energy is due to the chemical reaction given by the activity of enzymes, fungi and microorganisms that are formed in biomass under specic conditions, and applicable to some farming by-products within the livestock manure and certain waste processing, and biomass heterogeneous storage in controlled landlls. The thermo-chemical conversion processes, however, are based on the action of heat, which creates the chemical reactions necessary to turn the matter into energy. These are used to treat wood and its derivatives, the most common type of crop by-products and certain lignocellulose waste processing. Among the thermo-chemical processes, gasication is the most interesting: it provides greater efciency compared with direct combustion, and has reached a more advanced stage of development compared with fast pyrolysis. Today, biomass energy covers 914% of world energy consumption and is used mainly in developing countries to meet the daily energy needs. In these countries, biomass produces an average of 38% of primary energy consumed, with peaks up to 90% in some cases, but often is used inefciently. In developed countries, conversely, with certain exceptions (Austria

Figure 2.

Use of biomass compared with the energy needs.

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and Scandinavian countries), it is a niche market and provides only 3% of the energy needs (3.5% in EU countries). In the USA, biomass covers 4% of energy needs but could have the potential to reach at least 20% even without competing with food production, by simply using to the best advantage the land and agricultural infrastructure available. Therefore, in developed countries, biomass can bring many benets especially to the environment, while in the developing countries efforts could well be directed to promote a more modern and sustainable use, in which the growth of welfare can be sustained over the long term allowing the recovery of the resources used and at the same time preserving the ability of future generations through new technologies or through the use of alternative energies. In the light of these considerations, it can easily be imagined that if biomass is efciently used it can certainly provide a benecial effect not only to the individual rm but a reection on the whole Community that receives a positive externality. 6. The biomass obtained from citrus waste processing The term pastazzo means all waste by-products from the industrial processing of citrus fruits such as peel and squeezed pulp. It is composed of peel and albedo of citrus, which are present inside d-limonene, pectin, polymers, cellulose and hemicellulose, simple and complex sugars. It has been, from the earliest times, used both in Italy (especially Sicily in view of the considerable annual production of citrus fruit) and in other foreign countries as food for farm animals, but recently this particular biomass has been used in the process of anaerobic digestion for the production of gas and energy. The use of pastazzo could be a potential solution to the disposal of organic material, which is

The Journal of Essential Oil Research

Water (on average 75-85% by weight) polysaccharides (pectin, cellulose and hemicellulose) approximately 1.5-3% organic acids (citric, isocitric and malic) for a content of 0.5-1.5%

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mono and disaccharides (glucose, fructose and sucrose) for a 6-8%

amino acids, vitamins, pigments, enzymes and mineral salts

Figure 3. Chemical composition of citrus pulp.

still a problem, due to a signicant lack of suitable disposal sites. The energy costs are so high that sometimes companies are forced to use the processing waste as fuel. It is to be noted that this use is far from being economically viable. In fact, pastazzo contains on average more than 90% water, and to burn must rst be subjected to drying, and this increases the cost of energy because, among other things, the rotary kilns are used. There may be several uses for this product, which ows from residues of processing citrus in particular, to producing biogas, bio-fuel and bio-ethanol. The process involves the drying of the waste, in order to have as nal product a usable pellet as a source of energy, as a result of its combustion. Its calorie value is about 1213 MJ/kg dry weight, slightly lower than that generated by other biomass and about a quarter of that compared with fossil fuels. The higher the level of drying the higher the calorie value, since it will not take a lot of energy to evaporate the remaining water. If from the fruit the initial 40% approximately of juice and 0.005% of essential oil are extracted, the gap will be the remaining 60%. The water present in the peel corresponds to approximately 85% of the total; the aim of the drying process is to reduce the humidity to 15%, guaranteeing a product with very low levels of water content that can be used as fuel. The production of pastazzo is around 5060% by weight of the original produce to be transformed, therefore, for every tonne put in for processing there is 400500 kg of juice produced (and derivatives) and 600500 kg waste with a dry matter content of around 1718%. The pulp produced by processing industries has led, over the years, to many problems related to the economic and environmental disposal. The business decision to consider this product not a waste but a resource could overcome the obstacles and the costs associated with its disposal, allocating large amounts of product to the production of quality compost and especially the production of bio-fuel. Table 1 shows the volume in tonnes produced in 2011 in Italy, with reference to the citrus industry. This data refers to ISTAT of May 2012. Considering that 25% of the total citrus production is destined for processing, the data in Table 2 can be inferred.

Table 1.

Production of citrus in Italy, 2011. Tonnes

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Oranges Mandarin Clementines Grapefruit Bergamot Lemons Other citrus Total

Source: Our elaboration on ISTAT data (2011).

2,520,659.1 146,163.7 730,564.3 7,595.0 25,473.6 509,663.2 955.0 3,941,073.90

Table 2.

Quantity of citrus fruits for processing, 2011. Tonnes

Oranges Mandarin Clementines Grapefruit Bergamot Lemons Other citrus Total

Source: Our elaborations on ISTAT data (2011).

630,164.78 36,540.93 182,641.08 1,898.75 6,368.40 127,415.80 238.75 985,268.49

Analysis conducted shows that the production leader in the national territory is represented by oranges with 2,520,659.1 tonnes, followed by clementines with 730,564.3 tonnes and 509,663.2 tonnes of lemons. The remaining operations are minor and relate to mandarins, grapefruit (though the production is minimal), bergamot and other citrus fruit (citron, Chinotto). The volume in tonnes of citrus fruit at the national level for industry amounted to 985,268, while the transformation in tonnes of oranges and lemons alone came to 757,580. According to data previously reported (5060% of total conversion), it can be seen that each year pastazzo produced could amount to 460,000/550,000 tonnes, but if the production of oranges and lemons only is taken into account, the amount of pastazzo goes to 385,000/ 455,000 tonnes. On the other hand, Table 3 describes the tonnes of citrus fruit that were produced in 2011 in Sicily. With regards to the processing industry, Table 4 shows the quantities of citrus fruits.

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Table 3. Production of citrus in Sicily, 2011.

M. Lanfranchi
Table 6. 2011. Tonnes 1,251,811 71,759.7 66,918.1 437,806.6 7,525.0 1,835,820 Quantity of citrus fruit for processing in Messina, Tonnes Oranges Mandarin Clementines Lemons Total citrus
Source: Our elaborations on ISTAT data (2011).

Oranges Mandarin Clementines Lemons Grapefruit Total citrus

Source: ISTAT (2008).

7,500 1,875 225 15,000 24,600

Table 4.

Quantity of citrus for processing in Sicily, 2011. Tonnes

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Oranges Mandarin Clementines Lemons Grapefruit Total citrus

Source: Our elaborations on ISTAT data (2011).

283,905 18,344 15,569 85,820 1,881.2 457,073.8

With 457,073 tonnes, 228,536/274,243 tonnes of pastazzo can be obtained, but if only the production of Sicilian oranges and lemons are taken into account, and the transformation is worth around 422,403 tonnes with a production of pastazzo amounting to 210,000/ 250,000 tonnes. The analysis also quantied the production in tonnes of citrus fruit produced in the province of Messina in 2011 to outline the positive impact on the economic environment and provide decision support to political leaders for local development in the area (Table 5). Considering 25% of the total production is destined for processing, namely for the production of juices, canned food, essential oils and other products, the data in Table 6 can be inferred. In total, 13,000/15,000 tonnes of pastazzo can be produced, but if only the processing of oranges and lemons is taken into account, then it is possible to extract 11,000/ 13,500 tonnes. However, even today, despite the large quantities of pastazzo constantly produced, a protable way of employing it has yet to be found, that is, a use that
Table 5. Production of citrus in Messina, 2011. Tonnes Oranges Mandarin Clementines Lemons Total citrus
Source: ISTAT (2011).

30,000 7,500 900 60,000 98,400

through a policy of low cost may help to improve environmental conditions and to ensure that industry gains from the processing and at the same time have a sustainable activity. The machines that carry out the drying of the pastazzo consume, in fact, for every kg of dry biomass, approximately 268 cubic decimeters of methane. The dry by-product produced is able to release 186 MJ of heat with an energy cost for the removal of water equal to 138 MJ. Therefore, for every kilogram of pastazzo, it is possible to obtain 48 MJ of heat. Through a study of the data previously mentioned, it can be seen that in Italy it is possible to obtain through the use of pastazzo, taking into account only the production of oranges and lemons, about 21,600,000,000 MJ of heat (6,000,000,000 kWh); Sicily 12,000,000,000 MJ of heat (3.33 109 kWh), and in the province of Messina 648,000,000 MJ heat (180,000,000 kilowatt hour). Whereas the price of a kWh is about e0.25, in the province of Messina alone, there could be a potential revenue of e45,000,000. To minimize the loss of energy for transformation, a natural pre-drying of the product would seem appropriate. However, it is to be specied that in this work, only the expected cost and consequently revenue, or calorie value, which can be inferred from a given quantity of pastazzo that was analyzed, and the costs (and any revenue) and economic factors facing the company for processing or use of this important biomass were not taken into account. Recently, the initiation of different research throughout the world, to try to make the best use of this resource, has been witnessed. Another example is the University of Valencia, which has developed a unique technology to reuse the skins of oranges in order to produce bio-ethanol. Research conducted in Australia found that if the minimum content of essential oils is reduced, eliminating the liquid resulting from the pressing of the peel before sending to the reactor of anaerobic digestion, for each kilogram of fresh pastazzo, 77 liters of biogas are produced. This means that in Italy, taking into account only the processing of oranges and lemons, it could be possible to obtain approximately 34,650,000,000 liters of biogas (34,650,000 m3), in Sicily 19,250,000,000 liters

The Journal of Essential Oil Research (19,250,000 m3) of biogas, and in Messina 1,039,500,000 liters (1,039,500 m3) of biogas. 7. Conclusions

591

As has been seen in recent years, the Communitys energy policy has set the targets in line with the Kyoto Protocol and with relevant International Agreements on energy saving and in the research of renewable sources. The achieving of these goals to reduce energy dependence and the consequent consumption of fossil fuels has provided an important impetus to the production of fuel derived from agricultural non-food crops, known as the rst-generation bio-fuels. Despite the cost of production of such fuels still being higher than those of fossil fuels, their use has become, following the impulses and strategies undertaken by the international policy, a growing trend worldwide. In fact, it is currently estimated that the worldwide production of bio-fuels exceeds 35 billion liters. It is realistic to presume that there are well founded fears according to which rst-generation bio-fuels may threaten and undermine food security and contribute to increase the volatility of agricultural prices. This concern, which affects all states of the world, has no doubt concrete foundations; in fact, the production of bio-fuels obtained from non-food crops requires large surface areas. According to some estimates, it is calculated that, at Community level, to pursue the goal set for 2020 to reach a 10% share of bio-fuels to be allocated to the transport sector in the most optimistic assumptions it would be necessary to have an AA of about 20 million hectares, slightly less than 20% of the total area devoted to arable land in the Community. In remembering that in 2011 the EU used 3 million hectares of land to grow bio-fuels, it is understandable how this has contributed to the prices of agricultural commodities, combined with the rise in oil prices, resulting in soaring costs in transport and a growth in demand for agro-food in emerging Asian countries. It would therefore seem necessary to explore alternatives that can restrict the massive demand for land to be used for energy purposes, in order to avoid the gradual removal of land from the cereal producing companies, because in that case, there would be a particularly paradoxical scenario characterized by an energy policy that encourages the production of energy from non-food

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crops, and a PAC that protects the production of quality European food. Indeed in such a scenario, parallel competition between the market of rst-generation bio-fuels and food products would be created, which in turn would cause farmers to abandon extensive crops in favor of energy. A comprehensive analysis will probably lead to the result showing an increase in imports of agricultural products with the consequent contraction of exports and the emergence of food security risk, in terms of food self-sufciency within the EU. The High Level Group CARS 21, formed in 2005 to examine the competitive challenges that the European car industry is facing, said that second-generation biofuels are particularly promising and has recommended signicant support for the development. Therefore it would be wise to look at possible alternatives and, among these, the second-generation bio-fuels derived from waste in processing and agrofood processing, such as the production of biomass from the pastazzo of citrus fruits, which has been highlighted in this work. Even for a reality such as the province of Messina, it could represent an interesting opportunity in the process of implementation of integrated and multifunctional farming. The opportunities offered by the rural development policy provide for the possibility of nancing investments on the farm itself or nearby to it, for example for the processing of biomass and for the mobilization of unused biomass in forestry. The PSR 2007/2013 for Sicily sets out the objectives of Axis II as the increase in biomass production and diffusion of practices/activities for the reduction of greenhouse gases. References
1. P. Marzullo and M. Lanfranchi, Il contributo dellagricoltura alla sostenibilit attraverso la produzione e lutilizzo di energia rinnovabile. Annali facolt di Economia, Messina (2003). 2. M. Lanfranchi, Sulla multifunzionalit dellagricoltura, aspetti e problem. Antonino Sfameni Editore, Messina (2002). 3. E. Crabbe, C. Nolasco-Hipolito, G. Kobayashi, K. Sonomoto and A. Ishizaki, Biodiesel production from crude palm oil and evaluation of butanol extraction and fuel properties. Proc. Biochem., 37, 6571 (2001). 4. H. Fukuda, A. Kondo and N. Hideo, Biodiesel fuel production by transesterication of oils. J. Biosci. Bioeng., 92, 405416 (2001).