Niccolò Pampuro

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility – CNR-STEMS

The present study focuses on the expected benefits and drivers that may influence the adoption of sustainable waste treatment technologies in the livestock sector, as well as enterprises’ provision for future investments pursuing sustainability. Forty-seven livestock enterprises were administered a questionnaire investigating: i) the adoption and i...

In the context of climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, the present study investigated the diffusion of sustainable agricultural practices and technologies among Italian farm enterprises. An online questionnaire was administered to a sample of 456 farm managers and contractors. Participants were asked to evaluate their rate of adoption, inte...

Agricultural and livestock wastes are an important resource for the production of renewable fuels such as biomethane, and the effective management of the components of supply chain, such as available biomass feedstock, are critical to the transition to a low-carbon circular economy. Considering that more than half of the emissions (CO2eq) generated...

div class="section abstract"> Biomethane is a valuable alternative to fossil fuels, specifically in transport sector, contributing to “energy security” and “carbon neutrality”. Though at present, research has mainly invested in the automotive sector, the demand for alternative and low environmental impact fuels is growing. Hence, in the scope of en...

In recent years, agricultural robotics has received great attention in research studies, being considered a way to address some important issues of the agricultural sector, such as precision agriculture, resources saving, improvement of safety conditions, and shortage of human labor. These issues are particularly relevant in greenhouse production s...

The composting process allows one to minimize quantities of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) disposed through landfills. Compost obtained from OFMSW is not yet widespread across all European countries, including Italy. Even though previous studies emphasized the role that social interaction and socio-demographic users’ characte...

Composting is an aerobic process that involves the decomposition of the urban waste leading, in accordance with the paradigm of the circular economy, to a stabilized final product rich in fertilizer properties. However, adopting this organic fertilizer may encounter significant barriers since many users still associate compost from organic municipa...

In the last decade, hop cultivation has seen greater interest in small and medium-sized farms due to the rising importance of craft beer microbreweries requiring local raw materials. However, high investments are needed for mechanized harvesters. Small-scale farms cannot face these costs; thus, manual harvesting of hop cones is frequently adopted....

The main challenge of this work is to identify a novel approach to reuse and valorize brewers’ spent grain (BSG) to produce a new source of income for the brewers in terms of self-consumption or selling goods. Therefore, this study explored the composting behavior of BSG mixed with different organic materials: wheat straw with pig slurry solid frac...

Composting represents an alternative for the management of the organic fraction from municipal waste. However, the adoption of compost made from municipal waste is not yet widespread across all European countries, including Italy. Being ‘professional’ (i.e., farmers and gardeners) and ‘hobbyists’ the most representative categories of compost buyers...

The brewing industry is characterized by the large production of by-products. Following the fundamentals of a circular economy, several attempts to recycle brewers’ spent grain (BSG) have been investigated. However, little information is available on its use for composting. Considering the main parameters required for optimal development of compost...

This study aimed at exploring the frequency of use and perceived benefits of application of organic matter to the soil in a group of Italian farmers, investigating also the preferred sources of information, to identify potential interventions to promote the improvement of the soil organic matter. The study has been carried out administering a 21-it...

Wood chips represent one of the most popular biomass fuel in latest cogenerating plants and in small heating systems. This fuel, being characterized by low bulk density, requires high transportation costs. This obstacle can be overcome by wood chips densification. The authors investigated the energy benefit of wood chips densification for transport...

Silage is one of the typical systems to preserve biomass usually oriented from corn, sorghum, wheat, grass, and other forage and perennial crops. A critical task within the logistics operations in silage production, i.e. harvesting, transporting, and compacting, is the management of the biomass flow, in connection with the biomass storage system an...

Hop cones, due to their essential flavor, are one of the four main ingredients for beer production. The paper reports the results on an investigation of the densification process of hop cones. This experiment investigated (i) the effects of compression pressure in the range of 40 to 80 MPa and pressure application time in the range of 10 to 40 s on...

The study aimed at determining ammonia and GHG emissions from soil fertilized with pellets made from composted pig slurry solid fraction and to evaluate the effects of pellet diameter and pellet application method on gaseous emissions. A laboratory scale experiment was carried out investigating two composts: pig slurry solid fraction compost (SSFC)...

The present study aimed at investigating perceptions and preferences about the use and the chemical characteristics of pellets made from composted animal manure in a sample of Italian farmers and agricultural advisors (Piedmont region, Northwestern Italy). The study encompassed two different steps: At first, the participants were administered a que...

The aim of this investigation was to determine the physical and acoustical properties of compacts made from composted pig slurry solid fraction (SF) in order to assess the potential to recycle this agricultural waste as a sound absorber. The compacts were obtained by compression. The physical parameters investigated were bulk density, durability, a...

Conversion of pig slurry to pellets is a desirable fertilizer option for farmers who want to mitigate environmental pollution from slurry accumulation. The goals of the current investigation were to determine the fertilizer properties of pig slurry solid fraction (SF) pellets and to assess its potential to enhance soil properties in order to reduce...

The phytotoxicity of four different composts obtained from pig slurry solid fraction composted by itself (SSFC) and mixed with sawdust (SC), woodchips (WCC) and wheat straw (WSC) was tested with bioassay methods. For each compost type, the effect of water extracts of compost on seed germination and primary root growth of cress (Lepidium Sativum L.)...

This study reports the effects of the addition of different woody bulking agents and pelletizing pressure on the final bulk density, durability and compression resistance of pellets manufactured from composted pig solid fraction. Two pressure levels (3.5 and 5.0 MPa) and three different types of compost (SFC - pig solid fraction, BC - pig solid fra...

In this study, two composting strategies (not turned and turned windrows) of pig slurry solid fraction (SF) were evaluated and compared in terms of their suitability to obtain a composted manure appropriate for further pelletizing (i.e., moisture content <40%). The effect of the two composting strategies on carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitr...

INTRODUCTION In Europe, because of the high production levels of livestock farming in general and pig farming in particular, animal waste management has become increasingly important to comply with the required lowering of livestock farming environmental pressure. Usually manures undergo solid/liquid separation, which generates one clarified liquid...

In this study, swine solid fraction was composted with the objective to obtain a composted manure with a moisture content between 20 and 40% - suitable to pelletize. Three identical SF windrows of approximately 4 m3 and 1800 kg were set up outside, on a concrete pad in an open-sided, roofed facility, and composted for a period of 72 days. An evalua...

The need to mitigate climate change and the progressive fossil fuel exhaustion have engendered a great interest for renewable fuels. This boosted the demand for wood fuel in all industrialized Countries creating a considerable business opportunity for the different stakeholders of the forestry sector. To increase the efficiency of the entire wood f...

The excessive amount of pig slurry spread on soil has contributed to nitrate water pollution both in surface and in ground waters, especially in areas classified as vulnerable zones to nitrate in accordance with European Regulation (91/676/CEE). Several techniques have been developed to manage livestock slurries as cheaply and conveniently as possi...

Compost derived from swine solid fraction is a low density material (bulk density less than 500 kg m(-3)). This makes it costly to transport from production sites to areas where it could be effectively utilized for value-added applications such as in soil fertilization. Densification is one possible way to enhance the storage and transportation of...

The excessive amount of pig slurry spread on soil has contributed to nitrate water pollution both in surface and in ground waters, especially in areas classified as vulnerable zones to nitrate in accordance with European Regulation (91/676/CEE). Several techniques have been developed to manage livestock slurries as cheaply and conveniently as possi...

One of the problems that farmers have to deal with is animal garbage disposal. At the same time the increasing demand of acoustic performance of building materials, stimulates the research and development of new materials. The main factors considered in building construction are the sound absorption properties of the materials used. The aim of this...