The Environmental Compatibility Of Biomass Plants: A Methodological Approach

The European Union has an ambitious goal to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources in the overall energy mix and so with a policy that is dictated by these objectives, the use of renewable energy in Italy and many other European countries is strongly encouraged by substantial economic subsidies. With reference to specific territory situations and by considering the realistic identification of the needs for electric and thermal energy it is necessary to evaluate how much of this energy requirement can be satisfied with energy from biomass and to define the environmental compatibility of biomass plants. By using the available biomass in the Piedmont region, we use the tool of energy balance in order to define the potential production of energy and then with the tool of environmental balance, consideration about the agricultural processes, transport of biomass and localization of plants, we try to define the environmental impact deriving from the use of solid and gas biomasses.