How much energy can giant reed and Miscanthus produce in marginal lands across Italy? A modelling solution under current and future scenarios

This data were presented in the research paper “How much energy can giant reed and Miscanthus produce in marginal lands across Italy? A modelling solution under current and future scenarios”, currently accepted in the journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17571707).
The study delivers a model-based evaluation of how much energy, in the form of biomethane and bioethanol, can be produced by giant reed and Miscanthus across Italy in 2000, 2055 and 2085. Marginal lands were defined as low profitable non-irrigated lands, without mechanization and/or nature conservation limitations. Our findings offer an estimation of achievable energy yields and related stability under current/future climate, identifying critical spots and opportunities at province and regional level across Italy.
This work was conducted by the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics and supported by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MiPAAF) under i) the AGROENER project (D.D. n. 26329, April 1, 2016, http://agroener.crea.gov.it/) and ii) the AgriDigit-Agromodelli project (DM n. 36502 of 20/12/2018, https://www.progettoagridigit.it/il-progetto).

The database used was split in two main datasets, one for the national case study and one for the provincial case study (Bologna province).
The national dataset consists of:
1)    a gridded shape file (Marginal_Suitable_Areas_National.shp; 500 x 500 m resolution) including marginal lands suitable for Miscanthus and giant reed cultivation across Italy (code_nod field), together with related geographic coordinates;
2)    a csv file (Results_National.csv) reporting the values of key output variables for each of the marginal lands considered. Output variables are:
a.    USDA soil texture classification: 1= Loamy, 2=Sandy−loam, 3=Silty−loam, 4= Clay−loam, 5= Sandy−clay−loam, 6=Silty−clay−loam, 7=Loamy−sand, 8=Sandy−clay, 9=Silty−clay, 10=Silty, 11=Clay, 12=Heavy−clay, 13=Sandy.
b.    soil organic carbon (SOC) classification: SOC≤1.5%=low, 1.5%<SOC≤3%,=medium, otherwise=high;
c.    maximum soil depth (depth) classification: depth≤50 cm=shallow, otherwise=deep;
d.    absolute values of aboveground biomass (AGB, Mg ha-1) and energy yields (Giga J ha-1) obtainable from bioethanol (ETA) and biomethane (MET) energy carriers simulated for giant reed (GR) and Miscanthus (MI) in the current scenario;
e.    minimum (Mn) and maximum (Mx) AGB percentage (%) variations (compared to the baseline) estimated in 2055 (55) and 2085 (85) for RCP 4.5 (4.5) and RCP 8.5 (8.5) scenarios;
f.    potentially assignable marginal lands to Miscanthus (2) and giant reed (1) crop species in Italy based on attainable energy yields under current (C_Base) and future (2085) time slices, considering the more pessimistic (C_8.5_85_MIN) and optimistic (C_4.5_85_MAX) AGB projection for both crops.

The provincial dataset (case study in the Bologna province) consists of:
1)    a gridded shape file (Marginal_Suitable_Areas_Provincial.shp, 500 x 500 m resolution) including marginal lands suitable for Miscanthus and giant reed cultivation across the Bologna province (code_nod field), together with related geographic coordinates;
2)    a csv file (Results_Provincial.csv) reporting the values of key output variables for each of the marginal lands considered. Output variables are:
a.    absolute values of simulated energy (EN, Giga J ha-1) from bioethanol (ETA) and biomethane (MET) for giant reed (GR) and Miscanthus (MI) in 1995,
b.    energy percentage variations (compared to the baseline) estimated in 2085 for more optimistic (EN_Mx, i.e., RCP 4.5_max) and pessimistic (EN_Mn, i.e., RCP 8.5_min) projections for giant reed (GR) and Miscanthus (MI) and
c.    coefficients of variations (CV, %) computed for the whole 30-year period centred on 1995 (B) and 2085 for RCP 4.5_max (CV_Mx) and RCP 8.5_min (CV_Mn) for giant reed (GR) and Miscanthus (MI) in the Bologna province.