Perennial crops, as energy feedstocks, offer ecological advantages over fossil fuels by contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases and fossil energy savings. Yet, the intensity of agricultural production may increase the pressure on soil, water resources and on biological and landscape diversity. Moreover, land use competition with food crops is demanding a spatial segregation of energy producing areas to land currently marginal for agricultural production. Therefore, the objective of this work was to determine the local and site-specific environmental impacts associated with the cultivation of perennial crops in marginal soils. The study, supported by the European Union (project OPTIMA - Optimization of Perennial Grasses for Biomass Production), was developed and applied to the cultivation phase of several perennial crops, in marginal soils of the Mediterranean region, using environmental impact assessment (EIA) protocols. Investigated crops include Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu), giant reed (Arundo donax L.), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.). Different categories were studied: fertilizers and pesticides related emissions, impact on soil and water resources and biological and landscape diversity. Results suggest that growing perennial crops in marginal Mediterranean soils do not inflict a higher impact to the environment than wheat farming (the current land use). At a scale from 0 (lower impact) to 10 (higher impact), against idle land (the reference system with a score of 5), wheat and giant reed showed the highest scores (6.7–7.3 and 6.7–7.1, respectively). Impact scores of the remaining perennials decreased in the order cardoon (5.7–6.0), Miscanthus (5.4–5.6), and switchgrass (5.2–5.5), the last one showing the lowest difference to the reference system. Overall results suggest that perennial crops provide benefits regarding soil properties and erodibility (with an average score of 2.2 and 5.6, respectively). Cardoon also showed benefits related with the biological and landscape diversity, scoring 5.0, like the reference system. On average, perennial crops showed a score of 6.3 and 6.9 towards the same categories. Impacts associated with water resources and N-fertilizer related emissions were high (with average scores of 8.1 and 8.3, respectively) but impacts associated with pesticide related emissions were low (average score of 5.4).

多年生作物作为能源原料，通过减少温室气体和节省化石能源，提供了优于化石燃料的生态优势。然而，农业生产的集约化可能会增加对土壤，水资源以及生物和景观多样性的压力。此外，土地与粮食作物的竞争要求将能源生产区的空间隔离到目前农业生产边缘的土地上。因此，这项工作的目的是确定与在边缘土壤中种植多年生作物有关的当地和特定地点的环境影响。该研究在欧洲联盟的支持下（OPTIMA项目-优化多年生禾草用于生物量生产）已开发并应用于几种多年生作物的栽培阶段，使用环境影响评估（EIA）协议在地中海地区的边缘土壤中使用。调查的农作物包括芒草（ Miscanthus  ×  giganteus Greef et Deu），巨型芦苇（Arundo donax L.），柳枝（（Panicum virgatum L.）和菜豆（Cynara cardunculus）L.）。研究了不同类别：肥料和农药相关的排放，对土壤和水资源的影响以及生物和景观多样性。结果表明，在地中海边缘的土壤上种植多年生作物对环境的影响不会比小麦种植（当前的土地利用）对环境的影响更大。相对于闲置土地（基准系统得分为5），从0（较低影响）到10（较高影响）的等级，小麦和巨型芦苇得分最高（分别为6.7-7.3和6.7-7.1）。其余多年生植物的影响力得分依次为菜豆阶（5.7–6.0），芒草（5.4–5.6）和柳枝（（5.2–5.5），最后一个与参考系的差异最小。总体结果表明，多年生作物在土壤特性和易蚀性方面具有优势（平均分分别为2.2和5.6）。Cardoon还显示了与生物和景观多样性相关的优势，与参考系统一样，获得了5.0分。平均而言，多年生作物对同一类别的得分分别为6.3和6.9。与水资源和氮肥相关排放相关的影响较高（分别为8.1和8.3的平均评分），但与农药相关排放相关的影响较低（平均评分为5.4）。