Journal
HELIYON
Volume 5, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02070
Keywords
Engineering; Energy engineering; Environmental science; Environmental assessment; Environmental pollution; Renewable energy policy; Conflicts; Local community; Heating district plants; Bioenergy; Life cycle assessment (LCA); Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy)
Categories
Funding
- EU-Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) funds: Alpine Region Preparatory Action Fund (ARPAF) - CirculAlps project
- Departments of Excellence-2018 Program (Dipartimenti di Eccellenza) of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, DIBAF-Department of University of Tuscia, Project Landscape 4.0 - food, wellbeing and environment
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: The objectives of the European Union (EU) policy agenda are to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and to decrease the dependence of EU member countries from fossil fuel sources. In order to achieve these policy objectives, in the last decades the number of biomass power plants has increased throughout the EU. This study analyzed the environmental impacts of the bioenergy systems at global and local level to support communication and information strategies to increase social acceptance and to reduce conflicts between stakeholders. The environmental impacts were estimated to a sample of biomass power plants in North Italy selected based on the size, feedstock and type (cogeneration or heating). The study aims to identify and evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the thermal energy production in biomass power plants using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. Materials and methods: For each biomass district plant an LCA analysis was performed to: compare the environmental impacts associated with the production of the same functional unit, quantifying and valuating the environmental performance deriving from the production process life cycle, and highlighting the production phases with greater impact. Results: The results show an average climate change impact by biomass energy plant of 45.84 gCO(2eq) MJ(-1) and a range between 14.93 gCO(2eq) MJ(-1) and 90.70 gCO(2eq) MJ(-1). The results show that the size of the biomass energy plant (less than 1 MW or more than 1 MW) and the feedstock used (forest or sawmill woodchip) are two main variables that influence many categories of environmental impact.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available