Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 223 (2016) 857 – 864
2nd International Symposium "NEW METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVES" - Strategic planning, spatial planning, economic programs and decision support tools, through the implementation of Horizon/Europe2020. ISTH2020, Reggio Calabria (Italy), 18-20 May 2016
An assessment of the potential and sustainability of Renewable Energy Sources in Friuli Venezia Giulia Russo Diegoa,*, Pergher Gianfrancob, Chiaravalloti Vincenzoa, Dell’Antonia Danieleb, Cividino Siriob, Vello Michelab,ZucchiattiNicolab, Gubiani Rinob b
a Department of AGRARIA, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Feo di Vito, 89122, Reggio Calabria, Italy University of Udine, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Via delle Scienze 208, Udine 33100, Italy
Abstract In reference to the current energy strategy of the EU, that favours a "neutral" approach to energy source, the aim of the work was to understand which renewable energy sources (RES) and related technologies may best contribute to address the "energy problem", with particular reference to biomass (biofuels, biogas and biomass for combustion), in the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy.The results indicated that Hydropower, Wind power, Solar PV (all roofs), Solar PV (parks), and Biogas could replace 30.6% of current gross energy consumption, with Wood heating contributing to an additional 7.1%. Assuming that Energy saving might still reduce total consumption by 26%, the sum of all RES (transport biofuels excluded) would amount to 50.9% of future gross energy inputs. © 2016 2016The TheAuthors. Authors. Published Elsevier © Published by by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ISTH2020. Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ISTH2020 Keywords:Biomass; Biofuels;Biogas;Combustion; Sustainability.
1. Introduction The current energy strategy of the EU favors a "neutral" approach to technologies, implying that no single technology or energy source is preferred or especially promoted. In fact, according to the Energy Roadmap 2050
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1877-0428 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ISTH2020 doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.293
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(European Commission, 2011), no single technology will be able to deliver the desired amount of change required to facilitate the transition towards a decarbonized economy in 2050; instead, a full portfolio of energy sources and technologies will be needed, and that will probably include solar, wind, and bioenergy (Moneti, Delfanti, Marucci, Bedini, Gambella, Proto &Gallucci, 2015). However, in order to develop R&D projects, it is necessary to understand which renewable energy sources (RES) and related technologies may best contribute to address the "energy problem". This will avoid spending money on useless research and will enable researchers to concentrate their efforts on the most promising technologies (Proto, Zimbalatti, Abenavoli, Bernardi&Benalia, 2014). At this point, it should be recalled that the "energy problem" has arisen because of: x declining fossil fuel sources, coupled with increasing energy demand; this may lead to increasing energy prices, and represent a substantial threat for the economy; x the high dependency of the European economy on imported (fossil fuel) energy; which is another threat for the economy; x greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels, that are affecting the climate, i.e. producing a threat for the environment. In order to effectively respond to such challenges, any RES technology will have to fulfil five basic requirements: be cost-competitive with fossil fuel alternatives; be locally available; be continuously produced and/or storable; have a positive GHG balance; have no adverse effects on the environment and the well-being of society. Cost-competitiveness is, of course, a primary requirement that may be difficult to evaluate in times of quickly changing prices. To the purpose of the present study, current prices in April, 2014, were used. The RES must be locally available in sufficient amounts, if it is to contribute to security of energy supply. If large imports of biomass fuels are necessary to replace imports of fossil fuels, there will be no beneficial effects on the economy, and import dependency will continue. A substantial dependency from imports exists even for solar power and wind power: in fact, most of the production cost is investment, and nearly all basic equipment is produced abroad. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Table 1. Requirements for sustainable production of energy from renewable energy sources (RES). To respond to the overall objectives, a RES should 1 be cost-competitive with fossil fuel alternatives 2 be locally available 3 be continuously produced and/or storable 4 have a positive GHG balance 5 have no adverse effects on the environment and the well-being of society 5.1 biomass production must not be at the expense of important carbon sinks in the vegetation and in the soil 5.2 the production of biomass for energy must not endanger the food supply and local biomass applications (energy supply, medicines, building materials) 5.3 biomass production must not affect protected or vulnerable biodiversity and will, where possible, have to strengthen biodiversity 5.4 in the production and processing of biomass, the soil, and soil quality must be retained or even improved 5.5 in the production and processing of biomass ground and surface water must not be depleted and the water quality must be maintained or improved 5.6 in the production and processing of biomass the air quality must be maintained or improved 5.7 the production of biomass must contribute towards local prosperity 5.8 the production of biomass must contribute towards the social well-being of the employees and the local population
Energy should be continuously produced and/or technologies for storage should be available. Otherwise, we will have to rely on other RES as well, or even on fossil sources. This is a major problem for intermittent sources (wind and solar). Currently, no suitable solutions for electricity storage exist apart from pumping in hydropower plants, which is not sufficient. It should be recognized that no single "smart grid" will ever be smart enough to deal with energy shortages, without a sufficient storing capacity.A positive GHG balance is required to respond to the climate change threat. It should be acknowledged that no single technology may ever be completely "CO2-neutral", since it
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will always require some input of energy in the production process, or in the production and end-of-life disposal of the equipment. In any life cycle assessment (LCA), any input energy should considered as a source of GHG emissions, regardless of whether it derives from a fossil source (with related GHG emissions) or from a RES (because this implies the use of a GHG reduction credit; i.e., the removal from the energy market of some amount of GHG reduction potential, that is not used to replace fossil fuels but is consumed in the process). Because of this, GHG emissions during the production process are related with EROI (Energy ratio Output / Input, or Energy Return Of Investment) according to the formula:
ª § 1 ·º Reductionof GHG emissions(%) 100 «1 ¨ ¸» ¬ © EROI ¹¼
(1)
All GHG sources must be considered (carbon loss from soils and land use change included). The fifth requirement can be further analyzed.To the purpose of the present study, it has been expanded into eight sub-criteria, 5.1 to 5.8 in table 1 (Van Damm, Junginger, Faaija, Jürgens, Best & Fritsche,2008). All of thesewill be considered in the following analysis, and necessary explanations will be given there. 2. Promising RES technologies for Friuli Venezia Giulia Nine groups of renewable energy technologies were considered in the present analysis: 1. Biogas (electricity only) from agriculture (animal wastes, crop residues and maize silage) and urban wastes; 2. Woody biomass for combustion only (firewood in logs, chips and pellet); 3. Giant reed (second-generation) for bio-ethanol; 4. Maize corn (first-generation) for bio-ethanol; 5. Wind power; 6. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) on all roofs; 7. Solar PV - parks 0.5% (i.e., 0.5% of the whole regional area used for PV solar parks); 8. Hydropower (assuming that the production might be increased by 5% by installing new plants, mainly microhydropower
