The Effect of Biogas Production on Farmland Rental Prices : Empirical Evidences from Northern Italy
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2016
Citazione:
The Effect of Biogas Production on Farmland Rental Prices : Empirical Evidences from Northern Italy / E. Demartini, A. Gaviglio, M. Gelati, D. Cavicchioli. - In: ENERGIES. - ISSN 1996-1073. - 9:11(2016 Nov 18), pp. 965.1-965.23. [10.3390/en9110965]
Abstract:
In the last decade, increased environmental awareness has prompted the adoption of
incentives for exploiting renewable energy sources. Among these, biogas production has received
a certain attention in developed countries. Nonetheless, the subsidies provided have posed the
problem of an activity (the production of bioenergy) that engages in direct competition with food
and feed production for limited resources, like agricultural land. Even if this competition may
be softened by allocating marginal land and/or using dedicated non-agricultural crops, empirical
evidence shows that biogas plants have been developed in highly-productive agricultural areas, using increasing amounts of maize silage as feedstock. Thus, studies aimed at measuring the effect of biogas production on agricultural activities are needed in order to avoid this socially undesirable outcome. The paper presents an econometric estimation of the impact of biogas plants on farmland rental values of a Northern Italian rural area. Results show that biogas has a non-linear effect on rental prices, suggesting that incentive schemes specifically accounting for plants’ dimensions and technologies would improve the social sustainability of the bioenergy sector and its coexistence with agricultural activity.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
biogas; farmland rental price; farmland value; environmental trilemma; bioenergy; social sustainability; agricultural fixed resource; rent; agricultural land price; land use
Elenco autori:
E. Demartini, A. Gaviglio, M. Gelati, D. Cavicchioli
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