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Beyond climate impacts, the integration of biochar and AVS brings additional benefits at the farm scale.
Reductions in irrigation demand, improvements in soil structure and annual erosion potential, and yield
increases, highlight the potential of these strategies to strengthen agroecosystem resilience in a region facing
recurrent droughts and severe erosion.
The analysis also reveals environmental trade-offs stemming from PV panel manufacturing, which adds
considerable burdens to various impact categories, specifically causing terrestrial ecotoxicity to perform
worse than the baseline. However, these findings do not undermine the overall potential of the system but
point to areas where technological improvements and updated life cycle data could further enhance
environmental performance.
Alongside these environmental considerations, economic feasibility and policy support remain decisive
factors for adoption. Biochar application costs and AVS capital requirements remain high, yet both strategies
offer opportunities for income diversification and land-use efficiency if supported by targeted incentives and
adaptive designs that prioritize long-term crop productivity and delivery of key ecosystem services that
secure the long-term sustainability of the landscape. While the evidence presented here positions these
interventions as strategic tools for Spain’s climate and energy goals, future work should focus on more
extensive field validation and policy frameworks that enable farmers to adopt these solutions at scale. By
addressing these dimensions, the proposed model can serve as a replicable pathway for sustainable
agriculture in dryland regions worldwide.
DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Carboliva S. L. for providing technical details regarding the biochar production system
from olive pomace.
Authors' contributions
Writing - original draft; writing - review & editing; visualization; validation; software; methodology,
investigation; formal analysis; and conceptualization: Salmerón, M.
Writing- review and editing; validation; supervision, conceptualization; and funding acquisition:
Cherubini, F.
Writing - review and editing; validation; supervision, conceptualization; methodology; and project
administration: Dias de Souza, N. R.
Availability of data and materials
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
AI and AI-assisted tools statement
Not applicable.
Financial support and sponsorship
This work was supported by the LCA4BIO project (https://lca4bioproject.eu/) Horizon Europe grant
agreement No. 101135371.
Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
