Environmental and economic effects of renewable energy sources use on a local case study

Abstract

Renewable sources represent an effective alternative to fossil fuels for preventing resources depletion and for reducing air pollution. However, their diffusion requires huge capital investment and major infrastructure changes, which have to be assessed to verify their effectiveness. The article present an application of the R-MARKAL model to investigate the feasibility of renewable use on a local case study for electricity and thermal energy production. A comprehensive modelling approach is used to emphasise the relationships and feedback between conversion and demand sectors (residential, services and commercial), taking into account contemporaneously legal issues and physical limits of the system. The model's solutions represent the minimum cost choice and the results show that even in absence of exogenous environmental constraints, many renewable technologies are profitable demand device and their investment costs are paid off in a medium term by lower operating and maintenance expenditures. In this context the use of thermal energy from incinerator allows one to achieve a consistent reduction of atmospheric pollutant emissions and, particularly, of greenhouse gases emissions due to waste degradation.