Sustainability of cereal straw production for energy feedstock: An on-farm environmental assessment

Recently, interest in straws as biomass feedstock has been growing. In this research the environmental sustainability of cereal straw as biomass feedstock is carried out with the aim of underlining the best disposal practice in environmental terms. We compare the current straw uses and disposals (i.e. chopped and left on the field then incorporated into soil or burnt) with a potential straw market for bio-energy purposes (i.e. baled and transported). Through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, the environmental sustainability of the alternative disposal of straw is assessed. The system boundary of analysis is constrained to farm gate. The activities undertaken by the farmers in order to provide on-farm straws (e.g. harvesting, baling) are analyzed. At the same time, changes in the disposal activities of straws and farming-related adaptations (e.g. tillage, fertilization) are accounted. A case study in Italy (Apulia region) is analyzed. Data are collected by a survey to cereals growers. According to the first results, a market of biomass feedstock would lead to improve the environmental impact of straw disposal, provided that the current straw burnt is devoted to biomass market. To this regard, farmer’s decision on straws disposal results to be relevant considering both the agricultural and the environmental point of view.