Geothermal energy is based on the exploitation of natural heat in the earth’s subsurface. It can be more costly to develop and is available only in specific locations where there is important geothermal activity.

The term “biomass” refers to a series of biologically-derived materials, generally agricultural waste, which can be processes so to obtain fuels or even electrical and thermal energy. Biomasses include: firewood, residues from agricultural and forestry activities, food industry waste, wastewater from farms, marine algae. Plants specifically cultivated for energy production and urban organic waste are also included.

Hydro power, which uses the force of water flows to produce electricity through a turbine and generator, remain the main source of renewable energy production in the world

A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include petroleum, coal, and natural gas.

According to the Commission on Functional Food Science in Europe, which has developed the Functional Food Science in Europe (Fufose) project, a definition of functional food could be: “a food that has beneficial effects on one or more functions of the human organism, thus either improving the general and physical conditions or/and decreasing the risk of the evolution of diseases, which is consumed as part of a normal nutritional regimen. The project has discovered a variety of strawberry rich in antioxidants, providing 27% of the substances needed to a balanced diet, and well over 60% of vitamin C recommended daily allowance. Additionally, low in carbohydrates and sodium and high in potassium, this red fruit is a major functional food, whose consumption is recommended to control hypertension problems.

Mini-wind is one of the technological solutions that can be adopted to: Meet electrical needs (self-consumption); In economic terms, have profits by supplying the possible surplus of energy produced in the market; Achieve greater energy autonomy.

Circular economy is an economic model that focuses on the sustainability of the system, in which there are no waste products and where the matters are constantly being reused. This is an opposite system called “linear”, which starts from matter and arrives at waste.

Biogas is one of the most widely used sources of renewable energy production. It is a mixture of several gases derived from the fermentation in the total absence of oxygen (a process called anaerobic digestion) by some bacteria that digest organic waste and vegetables coming from the urban area (bio-waste collection, animal slurries, rotting carcasses).

Compost is the result of the natural process of decomposition and humidification of all organic waste: it forms naturally thanks to microorganisms, oxygen and specific chemical reactions.

The simultaneity between demographic growth and the desertification of soils is at the basis of a significant phenomenon known as land grabbing, meaning land acquisition by multinationals and investors. It consists of purchases or long-term use concessions by multinationals and investment funds or foreign government agencies finalised to the exploitation of farmland. Local corrupted bureaucracies facilitate the phenomenon, mostly to the detriment of resident populations.

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. According to the organizing committee at the outset of the talks, the expected key result was an agreement to set a goal of limiting global warming to “well below 2 °C” compared to pre-industrial levels. The agreement calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to be reached during the second half of the 21st century. In the adopted version of the Paris Agreement, the parties will also “pursue efforts to” limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. The 1.5 °C goal will require zero emissions sometime between 2030 and 2050, according to some scientists.

Sustainable development is a form of economic development that is compatible with the protection of the environment and free assets for future generations, which has given rise to a sustainable economy, relying at least in part on the so-called green economy.

Unlike energy conservation which focuses on reducing demand for energy services, energy efficiency seeks to reduce the amount of energy needed to provide an equivalent level of service.

Final energy refers to the energy available to consumers. For example, it can be the gasoline that you use for your car, or the electricity or gas that you use at home or at the office.

Quality fuels can be obtained through a mechanical process called “mini-pelletizing”, by exploiting waste from wood-based cellulose biomass, such as wood waste and tobacco stalks. The pellet, also used for self-consumption, can be produced by small commercially available machines for the processing of even small quantities of residual biomass.