Exploring the production of bio-energy from wood biomass. Italian case study
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Abstract
The concerns related to the environmental impact related to energy production fromfossil fuel are increasing. In
this context, the substitution of fossil fuel based energy by bio-energy can be an effective solution. In this study,
the production of electricity and heat in Italy in a combined heat and power plant (CHP) based on an Organic
Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbine from wood based biomass both from forest and agricultural activities has been
analysed considering four potential alternative scenarios to the current energy status: biomass from very short
rotation forestry (VSRF) poplar and willow stands as well as residues from natural forests and from traditional
poplar plantations. The evaluation has been performed by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method and
an attributional cradle-to-gate approach has been followed. The expected savings of greenhouse gases emission
and fossil fuels demand have been quantified, aswell as derived emissions of toxic pollutants and substances responsible
for acidification, eutrophication and photochemical oxidant formation.The results have been also compared
with the conventional Italian scenario considering the current Italian electricity profile and heat
production from natural gas. Among the different scenarios, due to the lower transport distance, the use of biomass
from traditional poplar plantation residues shows the lowest impact. The biomass combustion emissions
are the main hotspot for several evaluated impact categories (e.g., particulatematter formation, human toxicity).
In fact, when the produced bio-energy is compared to the reference system (i.e., electricity produced under the
Italian electric profile) the results do not favor bio-energy systems. The results reported in this study support the
idea that forest residues would be an interesting and potential feedstock for bio-energy purposes although further
research is required specifically with the aim of optimizing biomass supply distances
Description
This is the accepted manuscript of the following article: González-García, S., Bacenetti, J., 2019. Exploring the production of bio-energy from wood biomass. Italian case study. Science of the Total Environment 647, 158–168
Bibliographic citation
González-García, S., Bacenetti, J., 2019. Exploring the production of bio-energy from wood biomass. Italian case study. Science of the Total Environment 647, 158–168
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.295Sponsors
This research has been partially supported by a project granted by
Xunta deGalicia (project ref. ED431F 2016/001) and by the STAR-ProBio
project funded by the European Union'sHorizon 2020 Programresearch
and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 727740.
S.G-G. would like to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry
of Economy and Competitiveness for financial support (Grant reference
RYC-2014-14984). S.G-G. belongs to the Galician Competitive
Research Group GRC 2013-032 and to CRETUS Strategic Partnership
(AGRUP2015/02). All these programmes are co-funded by Xunta de
Galicia and FEDER (EU).
Authors give thanks to the European Commission, through the
Erasmus + Call 2017-KA1-Mobility of staff in higher education-Staff
mobility for teaching and training activities
Rights
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license