Assessment of environmental impact of biomass power plants to increase the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies

Alessandro Paletto; Silvia Bernardi; Elisa Pieratti; Francesca Teston; Manuela Romagnoli

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02070

Assessment of environmental impact of biomass power plants to increase the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies

Heliyon. 2019 Jul 13;5(7):e02070. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02070. eCollection 2019 Jul.

Authors

Alessandro Paletto¹, Silvia Bernardi¹, Elisa Pieratti¹, Francesca Teston², Manuela Romagnoli³

Affiliations

¹ Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria (CREA), Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, p.za Nicolini 6, 38123, Trento, Italy.
² EURAC Research Institute for Regional Development, Italy.
³ Centro Studi Alpino (CSALP), Tuscia University - DIBAF, Italy.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Bioenergy; Conflicts; Energy engineering; Engineering; Environmental assessment; Environmental pollution; Environmental science; Heating district plants; Life cycle assessment (LCA); Local community; Renewable energy policy; Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy).