Potential of energy production from agricultural residues in Europe

This study provides a spatial explicit assessment of sustainable crop residues removal based on GIS approach and data from multiple sources, considering local soil, climate, and farming practices across Europe. It represents an update of previous studies with an improved methodology and extended geographical scope that includes all the EU-28 MS and other European countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM - the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo - under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Ukraine). The availability of crop residues was estimated considering the technical constraints for harvesting and the impacts of crop residues removal on soil organic matter. The results, represented by the theoretical, technical and sustainable potentials, provide the amount of residues at 1 km of spatial resolution that could be mobilized and available for different types of uses, including energy, agriculture, biochemical and biomaterial production, etc.