Ferrara land reclamation, with Eni and Sdf biofuel project

Article published in Il Sole 24 Ore of 21 June

Brassica carinata passes the test to become a biofuel and the new energy seed. Also known as Abyssinian mustard, it is a relative of the better known rapeseed (brassica napus) and is proving to be the crop to focus on as part of a plan for the production of Hvo (hydrotreated vegetable oil) biofuels for transport, carried out in collaboration by Bonifiche Ferraresi (Bf spa), Eni and Sdf. This is stated by data from the experimentation that was carried out on 90 hectares of land belonging to Bonifiche Ferraresi in Jolanda di Savoia, where cultivation with brassica carinata as a cover crop was started between October and November 2023.

Eni has a programme called Agri Feedstock with which it has set itself the goal of producing over 700,000 tonnes of vegetable oils by 2027, involving about 700,000 farmers around the world and contributing to the regeneration of one million hectares, thanks to the cultivation of marginal land and agricultural rotations. In our country, according to data from the Consorzi Agrari d'Italia, we can speak of a potential for double-crop cultivation of short-cycle plants of between 2 and 3 million hectares. Experimentation with the production of biofuel from brassica carinata started in Italy and 'the path started a few years ago marks an important milestone for practices capable of combining aspects of environmental sustainability, adaptation to climate change and energy transition,' explains Federico Vecchioni, CEO of Bf spa, who presented the results yesterday at a conference attended by, among others, Lodovico Bussolati, CEO of the Sdf group, Luigi Ciarrocchi, Director CCUS, Forestry and Agro-Feedstock at Eni, Francesco Giunti, Head of Integrated Initiatives and Regulatory Activities at Eni, Gianluca Lelli, CEO of Consorzi Agrari d'Italia.

The field trials consolidated the collaboration between the Bf group and Eni, which with the 'Progetto Italia' is developing an agro-industrial supply chain for energy use, also using land defined as marginal. Hvo biofuels, in fact, could represent a valid solution also for vehicles used in agriculture, as shown by the experimentation carried out on 4 tractors of the Sdf Group fleet (Dutz-Fahr range, Sdf's brand) which has been a partner of Bf since 2020. Yesterday, after refuelling with Hvo biofuel, they were driven in the fields adjacent to the Bf Group Campus.

'The results,' Vecchioni continues, 'illustrate the great benefits of growing brassica and its uses: these aspects show us the real possibility of successfully launching a new supply chain for raw materials for the production of biofuels linked to this crop. This is yet more proof of the role that agriculture can play in areas other than the traditional food-related one. With many advantages because brassica can be cultivated on marginal land or on farmland as winter green manure, without interfering with food cereal crops. It is in fact a dual-purpose plant because if chopped and incorporated into the soil during flowering it has biofumigant power for pest control.