Economic and environmental sustainability of forestry measures in Apulia Region Rural Development Plan: An application of life cycle approach

This article investigates the applicability of combined Life Cycle Assessment and market analysis, to support efficiency evaluation of rural development strategies developed by the Apulian Rural Development Plan 2007-2013 (BURP n 93 26105/2010). Measure 122 "Improving the economic value of forest" had the aim to improve of forestry farms technological resources addressing them toward the biomass production. As an example pellet production from sawmill residues (PSR) and firewood productions have been compared both under environmental and economic performances. The functional unit (FU) is 1 kWh of residential thermal energy. Environmental impacts of both fuels have been evaluated through the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, considering the most relevant impact categories: the damages on human health, the ecosystems qualities, the kg of CO2 eq. produced (GWP100) and the balance between energy requests and consumed (Cumulative Energy Demand - CED). About the economic analysis, data on pellet and firewood local market prices have been collected and consumer's expenditure for FU calculated. Results supplied relevant suggestions to improve efficiency and farmer's subscription to Apulia Regional Development Plan forestry measures. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.