Sustainability Assessment of a Self-Consumption Wood-Energy Chain on Small Scale for Heat Generation in Central Italy

Energies

Stefano Verani⁴  Giulio Sperandio¹  Rodolfo Picchio²  Enrico Marchi³  Corrado Costa¹ 

[1] Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CRA), Unità di ricerca per l’ingegneria agraria, Via della Pascolare, 16, 00016 Monterotondo, Italy; E-Mails:;Department of Science and Technology for Agriculture, Forest, Nature and Energy (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo De Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy;Department of Agriculture, Food and Forest Systems, Florence University, Via San Bonaventura, 13 50145 Florence, Italy; E-Mail:;Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CRA), Unità di ricerca per le produzioni legnose fuori foresta, Via valle della quistione, 27, 00166 Rome, Italy; E-Mail:

关键词: short rotation coppice;    micro-chain;    production costs;    economic sustainability;    energy budget;    net present value;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en8065182

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The sustainability of a small-scale self-consumption wood-energy chain for heat generation in central Italy was analyzed from a technical, economic and energetic point of view. A micro-chain was developed within the CRA-ING farm at Monterotondo (Rome, Italy): The purpose of this system was to produce biomass for supplying a heating plant within the CRA-ING property as a substitute for diesel fuel. A poplar short rotation coppice, established with clones AF2, AF6 and Monviso, fed the micro-chain. The rotation was biennial. The average plantation production (Mg_d.m.·ha⁻¹·year⁻¹) was 10.2, with a maximum of 13.53 for the twin-rows AF2 and a minimum of 8.00 for the single-row Monviso. The economic assessment was based on the Net Present Value (NPV) method and the equivalent annuity cost, and found an average saving of 15.60 €·GJ⁻¹ of heat generated by the wood chips heating system in comparison with the diesel heating system over a 10 year lifetime of the thermal power plant. The energy assessment of the poplar plantation, carried out using the Gross Energy Requirements method, reported an energy output/input ratio of 12.3. The energy output/input ratio of the whole micro-chain was 4.5.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.