2025/2026

The course aims to provide students with theoretical and operational knowledge about the bioeconomy. Specifically, the course aims to provide the ability to use and analyze economic and political information and data, to understand the logic and the present and future scenarios of the bioeconomy, with reference to the agri-food sector. The theoretical knowledge will be consolidated by practical exercises on case studies and by the reading, understanding and critical analysis, based on the knowledge gradually acquired, of scientific literature of particular relevance for the aims of the course, both suggested by the teacher and found independently by the students. At the end of the course, students should have acquired critical and judgment skills, as well as being able to find, critically analyze and use economic and political information and data regarding the present and future scenarios of the bioeconomy, with reference to the agri-food sector. During the numerous opportunities for discussion with the teacher and colleagues in the classroom, students will refine their skills in communicating and transmitting what they have learned, using appropriate economic terminology, also in order to acquire full knowledge and mastery of the topics covered in the program. Students will acquire the necessary autonomy to delve deeper, in particular, into the economic aspects addressed and will be able to independently analyze, from an economic perspective, economic and political information and data.

None. All the basic skills needed to learn the course contents will be provided by the teacher.

Institutional Web-Pages on EU Bioeconomy Strategy:
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/bioeconomy-strategy_en
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14555-Towards-a-Circular-Regenerative-and-Competitive-Bioeconomy/public-consultation_en
Flagship Biorefineries in Italy:
https://www.cbe.europa.eu/projects/first2run
Debate on the revised EU Bioeconomy Strategy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHQE0ZrGmDc
The EU Green Deal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Green_Deal
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/delivering-european-green-deal-jrc-study-finds-mixed-progress-so-far-2025-02-05_en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVU_ihjgW5A&t=4824s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Trading_System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_Carbon_Border_Adjustment_Mechanism
Policy Lesson on the Farm To Fork:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXQ1yzBRDg&t=4205s
EU's Industrial Emissions Directive:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Emissions_Directive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_available_technology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii1-LLhKltU
https://industry.eea.europa.eu/
Global Methane Pledge:
https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/
https://www.iea.org/policies/17024-european-union-methane-action-plan
Web-App INnDELTA
https://inndelta.unitus.it/

1. General information about the course. Definition, general framework and challenges of the bioeconomy.
2. Importance of the bioeconomy for the national economy, with particular reference to the agri-food sector.
3. Principles and goals of the European Green Deal, and the related Strategies.
4. Specific focus on the goals set by the Farm To Fork strategy for the European agri-food sector.
5. Principles and goals of the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive (IED 2.0).
6. Principles and goals of the Global Methane Pledge.
7. Introduction of some completed and ongoing research:
- consumers' choices on healthy foods (Willingness To Pay a premium price for functional confectionery products);
- production and economic impacts from reducing crop inputs (fertilizers and agrochemicals) on Italian farms according to the provisions of the Farm To Fork strategy, using the AGRITALIM model;
- production and economic impacts from jointly reducing crop inputs and antimicrobials for livestock on specialized Italian livestock farms according to the provisions of the Farm To Fork strategy, using the AGRITALIM model;
- production and economic impacts of setting taxes on methane emissions and subsidies for their reduction, using the AGRITALIM model;
- production and economic impacts of setting a composite economic policy instrument to curb methane emissions from Italian livestock sector, using the AGRITALIM model.
- discussion on the paper entitled "Europe’s Farm to Fork Strategy and Its Commitment to Biotechnology and Organic Farming: Conflicting or Complementary Goals?";
- adoption of Precision Livestock Farming devices in the dairy cattle sector: an assessment based on the AGRITALIM model;
- modelling assessment of the impacts and synergies between measures available for Italian dairy cattle farms for mitigating and adapting to climate change, using the AGRITALIM model;
- pricing irrigation water according to the Water Framework Directive under climate change: impacts in a Mediterranean agricultural area.
8. Theory on the financial Cost-Benefit Analysis and its practical application for ex-ante evaluating the sustainability of breeding programs based on a traditional approach and on novel breeding techniques.
9. Fundamentals of economics, first concepts: circular flow diagram, frontier of production possibilities, concept of opportunity-cost.
10. Market demand function and its determinants; market supply function and its determinants; market equilibrium; characteristics of markets in perfect competition.
11. Demand and supply elasticity to price; characteristics of goods with elastic/inelastic demand and supply (the case of agri-food products); effects of variations of market price on total producers’ revenues in presence of an elastic/inelastic demand function.
12. Consumers, producers and market efficiency; consumers' and producers' surplus and its maximization at the market equilibrium point.
13. Law of decreasing consumers' marginal utility; law of decreasing marginal productivity of production factors.
14. Supply, demand and economic policy; approaches to market regulation (price regulation and the effects of taxation on demand, supply and market equilibrium).
15. Cases market failure; definition and characteristics of market externalities and instruments for their correction (Pigouvian taxes and subsidies, tradable permits); definition and characteristics of public goods.

Teaching materials (in PDF, Power Point, Excel, etc.) will be provided by the teacher (handouts).

Not mandatory, but warmly recommended.

The evaluation will take place in two phases:
1. Midterm written exam (not mandatory);
2. Final written exam.
Students who have taken the midterm written exam (and accept its grade) may take a final written exam, the content of which will be limited to the remainder of the program.
The overall exam grade will be calculated as the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained in the two exams.

    Davide DELL'UNTO