Energetic and economic viability of olive stone recovery as a renewable energy source: a Southern Italy case study

The recovery of olive stone for biofuel purpose is becoming increasingly widespread in olive milling plants. The study looks at the economic and energetic benefits of using a de-stoner machine in a small-to-medium sized oil milling plant. The performance of the olive stone recovery system was evaluated over a full olive oil production season. The energetic viability of the de-stoner was assessed using an energy balance. The break-even point was achieved when about 76 tons of olives had been processed, which is less than the annual production of the mill under study. Similarly, in economic terms, the machine covered its costs after about the half of its technical life.