Evaluation of environmental and energy effects of biomass district heating by a wide survey based on operational conditions in Italy

The research aims to evaluate the technical features and the performance of a large sample of biomass district heating plants (BDHP), mainly located in northern Italy and fuelled by wooden chips. These plants have determined the development of a local energy supply chain based on forest by-products, as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Main strength of the research is the representativeness of the sample (65 plants of different size and features) and the reliability of data collected. After a deep desk research, data were collected by a questionnaire and then refined and elaborated by an Excel database. Energy, environment and economy indices and indicators were calculated. Despite the large range of variation of results, the following improvements and drivers can be defined: reduction of heat losses between heat generation and final users; optimization of the matching between heat demand and supply during the day and taking into account the winter or summer operative conditions, and, in a smart district heating framework, integration of other renewable sources, cascade use of heat, cogeneration and district cooling (where needed).