Innovative sustainable strategies in agro-food systems and in buildings for energy efficiency

EU identified the energy efficiency policy as the major strategy for ensuring both the sustainability of the use of energy resources and to develop the transition towards a low-carbon and decentralized energy system in Europe. This paper presents a brief analysis on available innovative technologies to reduce the dependency of agriculture and agro-food sector from fossil energy, and comply with the international commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions and to combat climate change. A general overview is provided on the energy consumption in agriculture and agro-food sector, with particular focus on the Italian sector is taken into consideration. It is discussed the role of solid biomass in place of fossil resources and the application of solar cooling technology as new technologies for acclimatization in greenhouse agriculture. Moreover, the application of living vegetated horizontal and vertical layers on buildings is evaluated as innovative and natural technology for improving the sustainability of towns and reducing the energy consumption for air conditioning in summer and CO2 emissions in towns.