Energy evaluation of grass residues supply chain from non-cultivated areas for biogas feeding

The increasing demand of biomass for biogas production is arousing some concerns about the sustainability of this process. In fact, the cultivation of energy crops in farmlands is becoming more noticeable, causing a competition with food production. The utilisation of grass from the management of territory as a feedstock for the anaerobic digestion process could contribute to reduce these problems, both on environmental and social aspects. In fact, grass exploitation, beyond minimize the competition with food, could reduce eutrophication and production of greenhouse gases, provide nutrients for the fertilization of the soils and make more profitable the management of landscape and the biogas production.