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Improving Sustainability of Energy Conversion from Biomass Resources: the case of Bari Airport CHP (Combined Heat and Power) Fuelled with Bioenergy from Short Chain
Published:
14 March 2014
by MDPI
in 1st International e-Conference on Energies
session Present Trends in Energy Conversion from Renewable Sources
Abstract: Harnessing biomass-derived energy can improve environmental and economic sustainability of a Combined Heat and Power production. The paper presents a new decision making policy and its application in meeting the energy up-grading needs of the Bari airport (300 kWe), based on an economic-environmental analysis related to the use of different bioenergy from short chain (<70 km). The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate how a "Zero Kilometer Energy" design model in a CHP plant represents a more sustainable alternative to the same conventional energy systems, regarding to the impact on the local socio-economic system. The study has been carried out in order to promote a synergistic and sustainable relationship between a territory and the infrastructures that service it, in terms of energy supply chain. For this purpose, three different bioenergy production systems (biomass from wood waste, vegetable oil / biodiesel and biogas from food waste) harnessing local agro-energy resources in Apulian region (Italy) were analyzed. The analysis has been integrated by a DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) Method, identifying the economic feasibility to make an informed choice. Finally the theoretical paybacks under different governmental incentive schemes, from 2012 to 2015, have been calculated along with estimated carbon savings to highlight the energy market trends for the different biomass resources.
Keywords: bioenergy, zero kilometer energy, biomass, economic sustainability, airport building
Comments on this paper
Giovanni Angrisani
17 March 2014
Comment
Very interesting and original paper with a significative comparison of different biomass energy for a cogeneration system serving an airport.
Daniele Bruschi
17 March 2014
Economic analysis
I really liked the economic analysis, it is very clear and exhaustive.
Daniele Carbone
31 March 2014
Solar energy introduction
Very interesting study. I was wandering how the introduction of solar energy could change your model. I guess the integration between available resources, hystorical productions and socioeconomics is not always possible. Solar energy could supply that missing energy needs that is required in particular cases, where territorial features can't satisfy your model's requirements.
31 March 2014
Thanks for your comment, Daniele!
The proposed model allows flexibility in the choice of renewable sources to be exploited. In many cases, such as an airport, integrated PV or solar thermodynamics does not have a high energy density and it cannot cover all the energy needs. Nevertheless it can be used as an additional source. The aim of our model is to improve the efficiency of the whole socio-economic system, considering energy as a driver of sustainable development and therefore a means of unused resources exploitation. Following this goal, bioenergy has been identified as the most suitable energy supply chain in this study.
The proposed model allows flexibility in the choice of renewable sources to be exploited. In many cases, such as an airport, integrated PV or solar thermodynamics does not have a high energy density and it cannot cover all the energy needs. Nevertheless it can be used as an additional source. The aim of our model is to improve the efficiency of the whole socio-economic system, considering energy as a driver of sustainable development and therefore a means of unused resources exploitation. Following this goal, bioenergy has been identified as the most suitable energy supply chain in this study.
