Author(s)

D. Panepinto & G. Genon

Abstract

In consideration of local critical aspects in opposition to overall environmental benefits (decrease of GHG generation), the aim of this work is to verify the local acceptability from the point of view of air quality of the territory in question for a biomass plant. The plant to be realized in a small town located in Piedmont, Northern Italy, will be constructed to produce electricity and heat. In order to verify the aspect of compatibility we performed an evaluation of the emissive flow modification that in the hypothesis of the biomass plant activation should be introduced in the municipal area. The evaluation has been conducted by using mass and energy balances as a tool. Keywords: biomass plant, district heating, environmental balance, environmental impact, energy recovery. 1 Introduction Climate change is the major planetary threat of the 21st century, not only for the natural ecosystems, but for some national economies too. In order to reduce immediately the emissions of greenhouse gases, it is strongly proposed to use renewable and clean sources instead of fossil fuels. In this research, one of the most important solutions consists of a modern use of the biomass (Boman and Turnbull [1]; Dornburg et al. [2]). Fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas are generating a very large proportion of the electricity that is produced annually around the globe. The combustion of these fuels gives rise to carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a

Keywords

biomass plant, district heating, environmental balance, environmental impact, energy recovery