Building integrated bioenergy production (BIBP): Economic sustainability analysis of Bari airport CHP (combined heat and power) upgrade fueled with bioenergy from short chain
Introduction
In response to predictions of increasing global energy consumption and GHG emissions, one adaptation strategy that has been encouraged is the planning, design, and increased installation of bioenergy plants, such as biomass combustion, thermo-chemical conversion and biogas and biofuels production. In order to enable commercial availability of advanced bioenergy at large scale by 2020, European Union has adopted several measures [1] to aim at production costs allowing competitiveness with fossil fuels at the prevailing economic and regulatory market conditions.
A number of studies have been conducted to investigate bioenergy sustainability using environmental and socio-economic indicators [2], [3] and life cycle assessment analysis [4]. While LCA studies have considered different key methodological issues and assumptions [5], for example, in relation to energy balance [6], land-use changes [7] and GHG savings [8], relatively little is yet known about the relationships between groups of factors [9], such as the sizes, types, and locations of bioenergy plants which together influence their effectiveness in improving territorial sustainability. Even a recent research article [10] shows that there is no rationale for discriminating between scales of stationary bioenergy plants related to environmental performances; but associated impact due to energy distribution has been considered decisive.
Although a large number of specific applications of bioenergy from dedicated crops are documented. Recently, several studies have focused on electricity production from dedicated short-rotation bioenergy crops [11], [12], [13]. One of these studies [12] has shown that there is no clear environmental advantage between some dedicated bioenergy crops (corn and miscanthus) and conventional fossil fuel for several energy-related products, although some advantages in terms of mitigating climate change, considering biogenic CO2 emissions as carbon neutral. The future of biomass energy supply would lie in the optimization of current technologies evaluating capabilities of decentralized renewable combined heat and power production [14].
A recent scientific research [15], dealing with optimization of bioenergy scale, has focused on economic aspects; it has pointed out that there is a clear trade-off between economy of scale related to the energy production size and the biomass procurement costs due to increasing supply chain size, in particular the raise of transportation distances. Other links have been found between scales of deployment and life cycle environmental impact. For instance, another recent study [16], focusing on an energy distribution perspective, has highlighted the close relationship between the environmental assessment parameters and the operational losses of bioenergy systems. Therefore, the reduction of supply chain costs and cons is possible through efficient proximity logic [17], promoting short production–consumption pathways for energy. Short chain is indeed not only a logic solution, but also a way to develop the role of territory in the bioenergy systems.
In order to improve sustainability level, it is necessary to investigate and build a new relationship with the territory, not only as the place of production and consumption. Just taking a holistic design approach will be possible to enhance the local impacts of energy production, meeting the territorial needs, so that energy will turn into a driver for development.
This model, shown below, allows comparison at a social, economic, environmental sustainability level with the ability to develop suitable bioenergy profiles that are specific to a local context, hereinafter called “Territorial Energy Vocation” (TEV). In particular, it will be pointed out how a sustainable planning approach [18] represents a viable alternative to ordinary energy design and management.
Section snippets
Methods
In order to achieve the sustainability goal, the specialized approach so far has focused on improving energy systems efficiency, by building many models [19] in relation to production, distribution and consumption, whereas separated from each other. The holistic approach tries to act simultaneously on the three sectors, taking advantage of the high-level policy attention on bioenergy as a driver to showcase the territorial energy vocation (TEV) and to pursue socially acceptable dynamics for the
Results and discussion
The holistic approach described in the second section is the original core around which an economic analysis organized in sixteen scenarios for each available bioenergy is developed. Overall, the economic feasibility study evaluates forty-eight (48) scenarios, considering the three local bioenergy: (B) Biogas from food waste, (O) Vegetable Oil/Biodiesel and (W) Wood chips from pruning of olive trees. In order to describe the scenarios in the discussion, an alphanumeric code has been adopted (X
Conclusions
In this paper, a new model to support the decision making during the process of planning a bioenergy supply chain has been presented. The results can be summarized as follows:
- •
The case study of Bari airport (Italy) has been executed to introduce and evaluate sustainability level improvements of the supply chain different stages: the biomass supply, the operating cash flows, the governmental incentive schemes and territorial impacts.
- •
Defining the question of an optimal and sustainable energy
Acknowledgments
This research was partially supported by “Progetto Avvio alla Ricerca 2012” a research grant funded by Sapienza University of Rome (n. 000328_2012_NASTASI), Principal Investigator: Benedetto Nastasi, titled: “Bioenergy: relation between the development of system solutions and incentive schemes”.
References (32)
- et al.
Indicators for assessing socioeconomic sustainability of bioenergy systems: a short list of practical measures
Ecol Indic
(2013) - et al.
Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems
Ecol Indic
(2011) - et al.
Life cycle assessment of different bioenergy production systems including perennial and annual crops
Biomass Bioenergy
(2011) - et al.
Life cycle assessment of bioenergy systems: state of the art and future challenges
Bioresour Technol
(2011) - et al.
Applying consequential LCA to support energy policy: land use change effects of bioenergy production
Sci Total Environ
(2014) - et al.
Energy- and greenhouse gas-based LCA of biofuel and bioenergy systems: key issues, ranges and recommendations
Resour Conservation Recycl
(2009) - et al.
A systematic review of bioenergy life cycle assessments
Appl Energy
(2013) - et al.
Utilisation options of renewable resources: a life cycle assessment of selected products
J Clean Prod
(2008) - et al.
A screening LCA of short rotation coppice willow (salix sp.) feedstock production system for small-scale electricity generation
Biosyst Eng
(2009) - et al.
Performance analysis of a small-scale combined heat and power system using agricultural biomass residues: the SMARt-CHP demonstration project
Energy
(2014)