Piergiuseppe Morone

Unitelma - Sapienza University of Rome · Department of Law and Economics

Interest in issues surrounding sustainable production-consumption systems and alternatives to fossil fuels is booming. The circular bioeconomy is currently mainstreamed in policy-making, industry and academia as an important part of the solution to the climate crisis and towards the creation of more sustainable economies. Based on the University-le...

In this article, we analyze the role of social capital in the formation of sustainable energy communities. Specifically, we study the impact of different dimensions of social capital (i.e., structural, relational, cognitive) in determining willingness to participate in an energy community. Our survey data suggest that social contexts contribute to...

The recent crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the world’s health systems and the economy. While the recovery has been relatively fast for some countries since the second half of 2020, there are still many risks and uncertainties left by the pandemic. The symmetric shock caused by COVID-19 crisis has questioned the current economic s...

Recently, the fashion sector has been a centre of attention due to the sustainability issues associated with it. Specifically, the rise of fast fashion has increased the demand and shortened the life span of garments. Consequently, better practices are required to achieve a more sustainable and circular fashion sector. Circular economy (CE) emerges...

Knowledge diffusion is a complex and demanding process that requires coordination and collaboration between agents with different levels of knowledge, to establish fruitful learning interactions. In this paper, we develop an agent-based model to investigate how different behavioral/sociological rules can alter, strengthen, or weaken this process. W...

Clean production, the circular economy and eco-innovation aim at supporting global resilience and sustainability. The present work examines the conceptualization of the circular economy in Italy, via publicly available social media data. Specifically, we conducted a mixed-method analysis of the mission statements of Italian firms, as published on L...

Green and sustainable chemicals, such as biodegradable and biomass-based plastics, are key components of the transition to a carbon-neutral, circular and sustainable economy. In this paper, a life cycle approach is used for the ex-ante assessment of environmental effects associated with investments in biobased and biodegradable (BB) plastic mulch f...

Traditional linear economic models have long since proven their unsustainability in our finite world. Consequently, recent years have seen a steady increase in calls for a transition to circularity. The implementation of the circular economy (CE) in production and consumption practices should allow for growth while preventing irreversible damage to...

A sustainable transition towards a net zero emission economy is a primary goal of climate change mitigation. Such a transition should involve each socio-technical system, including the transport system. Adopting a multi-level perspective, the present study explores the behaviour of actors within the road passenger transport sector by investigating...

This work quantifies the economic advantage of a 110% versus a 50% subsidized tax deduction for installing new residential PV systems in Italy using net present value as an indicator. The results show that the percentage of self-consumed energy significantly impacts the profitability of these systems. The break-even point analysis identifies the va...

The European Union has recently prioritized waste policies by embedding them in the new Horizon Europe work programme. Here, circular economy (CE) and digitalization are matching together in order to support all the industrial sectors in increasing their sustainability level. One of the main impacts expected from the EU is a better exploitation of...

The state of the world urgently calls for a transition toward production and consumption partners that can support a carbon-neutral, circular and sustainable economy. Green and sustainable chemicals, especially, biodegradable and bio-based plastics, are key components of this transition. However, significant financial investments are required for t...

The use of renewable biological resources from the land and sea to produce food, materials and energy is one of the potential solutions to implement the green transition. The bioeconomy is developed in Europe, however it shows a different trend in several countries. The methodology used in this paper is based on multicriteria decision analysis and...

Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants are pivotal for the circular economy and sustainable urban development. However, public acceptance is critical to their success, given widespread skepticism (often due to limited knowledge about the potential environmental and health risks). This work examines the public mindset, identifying factors that may explain the...

As the demand for plastics increases, the international plastic waste trade has grown steeply during the last decades. Different studies have identified that plastic waste frequently travels from developed to developing/underdeveloped countries posing environmental burdens on them turning the issue into an environmental justice debate denoting the...

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can play a key role in ecosystems by satisfying the energy needs of people and businesses, helping countries become energy independent and propelling nations towards a climate-neutral future. Within this context, collective self-consumption (CSC) represents a new challenge, anchored in a new conception of the prosume...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to achieve a more inclusive, resilient, safe and sustainable society. Policy makers, together with entrepreneurs and citizens, are called to a great challenge to optimize land use. This work, through a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), aims at comparing the sustainability of 103 Italian cities thr...

People usually consider shopping for garments as a leisure activity. To create low-cost garments and meet consumers’ demand, fast fashion uses huge amounts of natural resources. The predominant linear nature of the fashion industry generates massive quantities of waste giving rise to a social and environmental sustainability crisis. Circular econom...

The circular economy is an alternative development model that promotes the reduction of the environmental impacts through the recirculation of products and material recovery to keep materials in use as long as possible and close the loop. This implies that products, components, and materials can be reused or reprocessed to reduce environmental burd...

The transition to a circular economy is a key concern for the fashion industry. The emerging secondhand market is a practice that could enable the circular economy in the fashion industry. As this is an emerging trend, the literature has not yet sufficiently explored how it is possible to simultaneously meet consumer and industry expectations in th...

• Purpose: This study aims to provide a comparative environmental analysis of the impacts associated with the reuse of leather leftovers. Three main types of leather bags were selected as case studies; a small size purse, a tote bag, and a double-zip backpack. • Methods: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is used to calculate the environmental impa...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a shared blueprint to support countries in their pursuit of reconciling economic growth with sustainability. This study considers 35 indicators related to the economic SDGs (SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 11 and SDG 12) considering available data from 27 European countries in order to identify an aggregate val...

Green chemistry (GC) was developed to maximise resource efficiency and minimise hazards in chemical processes and products. Over time, the approach evolved into green and sustainable chemistry (GSC), which aims at promoting the development of an ecologically friendly society. GSC encourages society’s reliance on sustainable materials and technologi...

Driving and monitoring the transition toward a sustainable economy requires sound environmental and social indicators. In this paper we outline the ‘Green Investment Financial Tool’ (GIFT), an approach developed within a pilot project of the Italian government to assess the environmental performance of investments through quantitative indicators de...

The development of photovoltaic (PV) systems in Southern Europe has been boosted by favourable sunshine levels but also by the policies implemented. Europe's ambitious plans for a green transition require new power to be installed but also new consumption habits that tend to be more responsible. The transformation of cities goes through the emergen...

Reuse and recycling are two of the most important strategies involved in the practical implementation of the circular economy (CE). Even if several indices have been defined to quantify the performance of waste management, none of them has integrated a mix of waste streams such as waste from electrical and electronic equipment, end-of-life vehicles...

as a response to COVID-19, the Italian government introduced a subsidized tax deduction of 110% over five years for the realization of battery energy storage systems integrated into photovoltaic (PV) plants in residential settings. To assess the effectiveness of this measure, we applied an economic model using net present value, and we estimated th...

In this paper, we discuss the attractiveness of green and sustainable assets, from an investor perspective. Inspired by the current state of the art, with researchers positively (re)considering the added value of stocks associated with the fulfilment of sustainable development goals, we analyze whether such stocks demonstrated: (1) a different and...

Surgical masks have become critical for protecting human health against the COVID-19 pandemic, even though their environmental burden is a matter of ongoing debate. This study aimed at shedding light on the environmental impacts of single-use (i.e., MD-Type I) versus reusable (i.e., MD-Type IIR) face masks via a comparative life cycle assessment wi...

A circular economy (CE) is one of the economic systems that uses a systemic approach to eliminate waste and enhance resources utilization through redefining growth for sustainable development of businesses, society, and the environment. It closes the gap between production and the lifecycle of the ecosystems. This study examines and reviews the cha...

This editorial, using a practical example, aims to provide some food for thought. In aligning with the increasing trend and needs (Figure 1), a new section of this journal, Bioeconomy of Sustainability, is timely and strategic to provide possible solutions to real-world problems.

The monitoring report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a global context involves a large number of actors as it represents probably the biggest change that our society is implementing. Actions at all levels, from local, regional and national to the aggregation of multiple countries (e.g. EU 27) are needed to achieve a...

The design of proper environmental and social indicators is one of the most critical challenges when monitoring and implementing corporate and government policy measures toward ecological transitions and sustainable development. In our paper we outline and discuss the characteristics of a new vintage of “living” multi-stakeholder community-based in...

This paper investigates two transition initiatives at the local level-namely the reconversion of the Porto Marghera and Gela refineries into biorefineries for second-generation biofuels. The study aimed at assessing the extent to which the narrative pressures exerted by local actors influenced the perspectives of key stakeholders involved in these...

The European Commission emphasised that a bioeconomy is an economy that uses renewable biological resources from the land and sea (e [...]

We studied whether professional traders’ risk attitudes varied according to social context. To this extent, we examined whether the level of wealth in the relevant group influenced traders’ risky decisions. The results showed that risk aversion decreased with increased income/wealth conditions in the group context.

In Europe, there is a vast amount of municipal waste available. The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) represents a particularly valuable part of this waste, due to its potential to be employed to produce a range of value-added products. While several studies have addressed the utilization of the OFMSW in the Italian context, an over...

European Commission aims to promote a more efficient and harmonized policy regulation framework for the market-pull of bio-based products. We conduct an artefactual field experiment in Italy, that demonstrates the existence of a “green premium”, which refers to increased consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for bio-based over conventional products, an...

The sun is a shining star in the emerging low-carbon society, providing bright solutions to mitigate climate change. This perspective article presents the results of an online survey that investigated peoples’ willingness to reshape their intraday energy use to both reduce energy consumption (especially from fossil fuel sources) and maximize green...

This paper aims at increasing our understanding of the role of space dimensions in niche evolution dynamics. To accomplish this goal, an agent-based model is developed, locating agents in geographical space. The model is then used to show how local niches built on geographical proximity perform differently from global niches built on relative proxi...

Different framings of food may shape food policies and their impact. Despite acknowledging food systems’ complexities, the European Commission’s Farm to Fork Strategy still addresses food as a commodity instead of a human right or common good.

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need to analyze and measure the performance of sustainable transitions at a regional level. This work presents the results of an application of the socioeconomic indicator for the bioec-onomy (SEIB) to evaluate the socioeconomic performance of the bioeconomy at a regional level, providing e...

This data article aims at providing a data description about the manuscript entitled “The post COVID-19 green recovery in practice: assessing the profitability of a policy proposal on residential photovoltaic plants”. The definition of a business plan is a complex decision because the choice of the input data significantly influences the economic a...

Italy has the third largest bioeconomy in Europe (€330 billion annual turnover, 2 million employees), making it a core pillar of the national economy. Its sectors of excellence are food and biobased products, and it is a consistent presence in research and innovation projects funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme (Societal Challenges 2) and the E...

This paper defines the roles of biomethane for a double-green transition, through the integration of an effective management of renewable energy and municipal waste. The authors perform an assessment of the potential transition of the municipality of Rome to a more sustainable transport system, based on the economic feasibility of production of bio...

Motivated by the debate over the economic implications of financial transaction taxes, the present study involved a thorough investigation of the impact of such taxes on a financial market of the type described by Camerer and Weigelt (J Bus 64:463–493, 1991), whereby noise traders are unaware of whether privileged information is fluctuating in the...

The European Commission supports the production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into value added products and bio-energy. A new bioeconomy strategy aimed at promoting a sustainable Europe was launched in October 2018. However, little work has been done to monitor, model and appraise the impacts and developmental trajectories...

This paper analyzes the causes and effects of the COVID-19 crisis, with a specific focus on the food system. Food consumption and production has not only been impacted by the crisis, but it may have also contributed to causing the pandemic. After providing a brief introductory framework, the paper presents the results of a pilot study on the link b...

The development of photovoltaic (PV) energy has been very significant in the last years, thanks to cost reductions brought about by policy actions favouring the transition from a fossil to a green society. As this transition is likely to stretch over the long term, policy support must be programmed accordingly. In light of the human and economic sh...

The concept of sustainability is attracting great attention as societies become increasingly aware of the environmental consequences of their actions. One of the most critical challenges that humankind is facing is the scarcity of resources, which are expected to reach their limits in the foreseeable future. Associated with this, there is increasin...

This data article aims at providing a data description about the manuscript entitled “A socio-economic indicator for EoL strategies for bio-based products” [1]. Data regarding the socio-economic assessment of End of Life (EoL) options for the specific case of PLA-based film for food packaging are presented, with a special emphasis on policy recomme...

Policies with relevance to products based on bio-based carbon are unquestionably key for the transition towards a sustainable circular European bioeconomy. The STAR-ProBio project dedicates the last deliverable of WP9 to highlight and simulate the European policy arena and respective scenes which are potentially relevant for the market development...

Photovoltaic (PV) systems transform solar irradiation into electricity, thereby substituting for traditional energy sources and reducing environmental pollution. The present work evaluates a developed market (Italy) in which subsidies have been re-introduced for PV plants with a nominal capacity above 20 kW through the FER1 (renewable energy source...

In this paper, we investigate the transition to clean energy technologies in the Boston area, as perceived through the lens of strategic niche management. The main goal of the study was to assess the role of policy in fostering/hindering the development of the clean energy niche and the complete deployment of clean energy technologies in this area....

The global demand for food will increase in the future. To meet this demand, it is not enough simply to increase productivity in a sustainable way. We also need to change from linear mass consumption to a more circular economy — which will mean changing our norms, habits and routines. The evidence shows that this kind of behaviour change needs to...

Policy interventions to promote innovative industries in peripheral regions are often hampered by lack of information on the functioning of the local socio-economic systems, due to their complexity. This might result in mismatches between policy objectives and the actual needs and capability of local communities. To overcome this drawback, it is cr...

The Italian region of Campania and its capital Naples have epitomized waste management failure in Europe since 2008 when international media covered extensively the waste crisis occurring there. In response to the crisis, the Italian national government took an authoritarian turn in waste policies and criminalized citizens’ grievances and mobilizat...

Europe is attempting to accelerate the development of renewables and, within the 2030 climate and energy framework, is required to achieve a share of renewable energy of at least 32%. However, the current share of renewables in the European transport sector (RES-T) is not adequate for reaching the 2020 target. The present work presents the trajecto...

To be socially accepted widely, the emerging circular bioeconomy needs to rely increasingly on residual bio-based feedstock and waste, hence reducing its dependency on crops which are in competition with agriculture/food markets. Food waste represents a valuable option as it allows for the production of a wide range of bio-based products ranging fr...

The development, implementation and social acceptance of resource efficient, circular, bio-based economies require critical understanding of the whole supply chain from feedstock to end-use. Trust, transparency and traceability will be paramount. Though life cycle assessment (LCA) is a universally chosen approach to fulfil this purpose, the nature...

Climate change, environmental degradation, air pollution, and the expected world population growth make the transition out of a fossil-based economy into one based on biomasses of outmost importance and urgency. This transition involves both the energy sector and goods production sector and should combine new production models with new consumption...

There is a clear overall consensus among international institutions and governments on the need to scale down the reliance of the global economy on fossil fuels. Yet, a sustainable transition from a long-established regime based on rooted production and consumption models, requires tackling a wide array of challenges. Indeed, the transition towards...

Organizations falling within the category of ‘social enterprises’ are rapidly expanding in transition countries, representing an innovative instrument for poverty reduction and endogenous development. However, economic long-term sustainability remains a major problem. The acquisition of knowledge is then claimed as a key issue for their competivene...

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the most popular products in Mediterranean diet. Spain produces about 52% of olive oil with the presence of larger firms; Italy follows with a share of 9% and a production structure characterized instead by small family businesses. A social analysis, based on a multiple-questionnaire, has analyzed the perspec...

The need for innovative approaches to solving the problem of food waste is widely recognised, considering its tight links with food security, energy and climate change challenges, as well as the potential for food waste to produce valuable chemicals, materials and fuels. The relevance of this problem at the European (and global) level is well docum...

International institutions are calling for a transition towards more sustainable systems of production and consumption. In this transition, sustainable innovations are expected to play an ever-increasing role. In particular, the production of innovative bio-based products-products wholly or partly derived from biological materials or from innovativ...

International institutions are calling for a transition towards more sustainable systems of production and consumption. In this transition, sustainable innovations are expected to play an ever‐increasing role. In particular, the production of innovative bio‐based products—products wholly or partly derived from biological materials or from innovativ...

Grand societal challenges call for a sustainability transition away from a fossil-based society toward a bioeconomy, in which energy and manufacturing production processes are based on sustainable biological resources. In this context, the forest bioeconomy can play a key role, as it links the entire forest value chain, from the management and use...

As bio-based chemicals become more technically and financially competitive, spurring the further development of the chemical industry, they are also presented as more sustainable alternatives to petrol-based chemicals. We argue that an ad hoc and coordinated regulatory and standards framework channeling sustainability efforts would legitimize susta...

The emergence of the bioeconomy is an important result of the need for a more sustainable economy for the 21st century. However, achieving the paradigm shift from the established fossil-based economy toward a bio-based economy is an ambitious goal. To accelerate the shift, consumers need to understand how and where scientifically proven “sustainabi...

In the literature on innovation and organizational learning, there is a wide consensus about the relevance of learning activities. Specifically, they occur both individually (as producers will increase their knowledge simply “by doing”) and collectively (as producers and other stakeholders involved will learn “by interacting”). Therefore, in these...

Around one third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted globally. This bears economic, social and environmental costs and calls for urgent and adequate measures. Such measures should target: (1) preventable food waste minimization; and (2) non-preventable food waste valorisation. This VSI addresses these two points by highlighting the...

This paper focuses on the development of a bioplastics innovation niche as an important sector of the bio-based economy and a viable solution to promote sustainable long-term growth. Relying on the Strategic Niche Management framework, the following niche mechanisms are analysed: (1) convergence of expectations, (2) learning processes, and (3) netw...

Transition towards bioeconomy is expected to deliver social and socioeconomic benefits in a broad spectrum of areas spanning from health and safety, to working conditions, employment and prosperity, access to material and immaterial resources, food and energy security, and gender issues (Rafiaani et al., 2017; Sillanpää and Ncibi, 2017). These area...

This Special Issue proposes an array of 11 key papers aimed at investigating the complex and multifaceted nature of the biobased economy, focusing both on a conceptual understanding of the transition and on the measurement issues associated to it. More specifically, collected papers can be broadly divided in two groups: (1) those aiming at adding t...

STAR-ProBio is a multi-actor collaborative Research and Innovation Action (RIA) coordinated by Unitelma Sapienza University and including 15 partners from 11 European Countries. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and innovation action under grant agreement No 727740. The overall objective of the projec...

Standardization research is a fairly new and is a still-evolving field of research, with possibly major practical ramifications. This article presents a summary of the authors' subjective views of the most pressing research topics in the field. These include, among others, standards (e.g. incorporation of ethical issues), the potential impact of st...