Compost from Biomass: Production quality and Use.

In the European Community, if agricultural surpluses and the Community expenditure on agricultural subsides are to be brought under control, over 15 million ha will have to be taken out of food production. Short rotation agro-forestry biomass plantations would constitute one of the best destination for this land. The production of energy from biomass would also reduce the extensive oil import market with benefits which are not only economic, but also social (new jobs) and environmental (less pollution of water, air and soil). In this sense the Commission of European Communities is earring out a " Research and Development programme on Energy from Biomass. This programme considers of priority importance, in order to obtain the highest benefits from biomass, the activation of integrated projects which mainly concern with: 1. production of energy through pyrolisis (liquid fuel from lignocellulosis material); 2. production of bio-ethanol from sugar or starch by advanced technologies and new crops; 3. production of pulp for paper industry using new processes with low energy consumption, zero-pollution and the possibility to use low quality wood; 4. production of organic fertilizers through composting biomass and agricultural by-products. The present paper will deal with this fourth point "Composting of Biomass" within integrated projects and with the state of the art of composting systems for biomass. If the programme "Energy from biomass" will find large application in the European Community, the introduction of high productivity crops could, if prolonged for any further length of time, cause an unacceptable variation of the soil characteristics.