District heating thermal plant fed by biomass residues in a rural area of Central Italy

Abstract

According to the European goals defined in EU Dir. 28/2009, biomass represents a valid alternative to fossil fuels. Combined heat and power (CHP) biomass plants are considered as advantageous in those rural areas which show critical issues regarding the disposal of organic wastes from agriculture and forestry activities. Furthermore, the connection of those villages to the national energy grid requires high operational costs which can be avoided by realizing an autonomous district system exploiting available renewable sources. The hereby study aims at demonstrating all these benefits through the presentation of a pilot project about a district heating system powered by a CHP biomass plant. The intervention has been proposed for a group of buildings located in Perugia, Central Italy. Their connection to the plant would be realized through an underground pipeline. Both the biomass exploitation and the district scale guarantee significant economic and environmental advantages. Indeed, the installing costs can be paid back in less than ten years considering (i) the savings from avoided natural gas exploitation and (ii) incomes from the disposal of wooden organic wastes.