Title:
Gis-Based Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy Chains in a Mediterranean Area: Comparing Environmental and Economic Performances of a Large-Scale Power Plant with Small-Scale Cogeneration Schemes
Author(s):
Ragaglini, G., Villani, R., Bologna, S., Bonari, E., Uggè, C., De Luca, F., Nati, C.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
Environmental and economic performance of bioenergy chains are key issues for defining the sustainability of forest biomass-based bioenergy chains. In the study area, Tuscany Region (central Italy), forest surface is 50.1% of the total land area which could provide up to 1.65 Mt year-1 of firewood and 0.77 Mt year-1 of residues from wood harvesting according to a recent study. A GIS-based evaluation of potential bioenergy chains at regional scale was carried out within the Biopower in Tuscany Project considering two alternative scenarios, namely CHP scenario (Combined Heat-Power) supposed sourcing small heat-power plants, assumed to be developed in 55 different existing industrial sites within the study area and Large-scale Power Plant (LSP) scenario, which supposed using all potentially available biomass to feed a single LSP, sited in an existing electric facility. In both cases the economic and environmental feasibility of supplying biomass was evaluated considering only local forest resources. In the two scenarios, wooded areas were allocated to the plants by means of a cost-distance allocation function allowing: 1) in CHP scenario, to estimate a biomass supply in the surrounding areas of each plant, based on the minimum distance of biomass road transport; 2) in LSP scenario, to define a potential biomass supply according to increasing road distances to the power plant. Forest areas from the Tuscany Forest Inventory (TFI) and Corine Land Cover (CLC2006), were classified according to accessibility (distance from roads, terrain slope and topographic constrains), forest management (high forests and coppices) and productivity (annual biomass increment). Costs and GHG emissions associated with the production of woodchips were estimated for each forest type based on different forest chain schemes. Costs and GHG emissions for handling and delivering wood chips were estimated considering mechanical work in the forest and road transport by truck considering distances from each forest area to the associated plants. Final results provide an overview on the sustainability of producing electricity from local forest biomass at the second level of the EU Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 2).
Keywords:
economics, forestry, geographical information system (GIS), greenhouse gases (GHG), environmental impacts
Topic:
Biomass Resources
Subtopic:
Biomass potentials and biomass mobilisation
Event:
23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1AO.7.5
Pages:
34 - 39
ISBN:
978-88-89407-516
Paper DOI:
10.5071/23rdEUBCE2015-1AO.7.5
Price:
FREE
