Optimization of a Co-generative Biomass Plant Location Using Open Source GIS Techniques. Technical, Economical and Environmental Validation Methodology

6noThe principal aim of this research activity is to identify, inside the administra-tive territory of the Carnia Mountain Community, Friuli Venezia Giulia Re-gion, Italy, the optimal location of a new co-generative biomass plant, starting from georeferenced parameters obtained through an integrated analysis based on open source GIS (Geographical Information System) and DBMS applica-tions. The parameters used for this analysis are related to naturally available biomass estimation, public and private users distribution, already existing and planned thermal plants, wood industrial activities locations and electrical and road infrastructures. All these georeferenced data have been homogenized and processed together in order to obtain the energetic demand and offer maps. The authors present a methodological approach to verify and validate the GIS based optimal solution, taking into account the thermal requirements of the residential, commercial and industrial settlements potentially connect-able inside the cogeneration plant catchment area. It expects to realize the technical, economic and environmental feasibility related to the different proposed plant solutions (the generation plant of heat and electricity and dis-trict heating network), thus allowing to compare the proposed solution with the traditional plants powered by fossil fuels.reservedmixedTommasi, Agostino; Cefalo, Raffaela; Grazioli, Aldo; Pozzetto, Dario; Serrano, Yaneth M. Alvaro; Zuliani, MichelTommasi, Agostino; Cefalo, Raffaela; Grazioli, Aldo; Pozzetto, Dario; Serrano, Yaneth M. Alvaro; Zuliani, Miche

Planning woody biomass logistics for energy production: A strategic decision model

One of the key factors on which the sustainable development of modern society should be based is the possibility to take advantage of renewable energies. Biomass resources are one of the most common and widespread resources in the world. Their use to produce energy has many advantages, such as the reduction of greenhouse emissions. This paper describes a GIS-based Environmental Decision Support System (EDSS) to define planning and management strategies for the optimal logistics for energy production from woody biomass, such as forest biomass, agricultural scraps and industrial and urban untreated wood residues. The EDSS is characterized by three main levels: the GIS, the database, and the optimization. The optimization module is divided in three sub-modules to face different kinds of decision problems: strategic planning, tactical planning, and operational management. The aim of this article is to describe the strategic planning level in detail. The decision variables are represented by plant capacity and harvested biomass in a specific forest parcel for each slope class, while the objective function is the sum of the costs related to plant installation and maintenance, biomass transportation and collection, minus the benefits coming from the energy sales at the current market price, including the renewable energy certificates. Moreover, the optimization problem is structured through a set of parameters and equations that are able to encompass different energy conversion technologies (pyrolysis, gasification or combustion) in the system. A case study on the Liguria Region (Savona Province) is presented and results are discusse

Forest biomass sustainable use for energy production: A dynamic optimization problem

The use of forest biomass for energy production requires a careful attention to the sustainable silvicultural practices that can guarantee the satisfaction of the environmental constraints, the control of the forest growth, the carbon stock, and the CO 2 emissions. This is a complex task because of the different environmental and economic issues (related to the characteristics of the territory, the energy demand, the forest biomass potential production, and the techniques for forest utilization) to be taken into account. Environmental Decision Support Systems (EDSS) are considered as valuable tools for the planning and management of renewable resources use for energy production. In this paper, an EDSS for the tactical planning of forest biomass use (i.e., for the planning over a medium-short term horizon, within a discrete-time setting and the assumption that the plant capacity and the sizing of all facilities are known) is proposed. In particular, attention is focused on a dynamic decision model. An optimal control problem, whose control variables are represented by the biomass quantity to be harvested, is formalized and solved through mathematical programming techniques. The novelties of the proposed EDSS regard the dynamical formalization of an optimal control problem for a sustainable use of the forest resources for energy production, the possibility of including different forest growth models (embedded as constraints in the optimization problem) and a carbon sequestration model as a function of the control and state variables, an accurate definition of forest felling and processing, primary transportation, and transportation costs, a constraint that limits the yearly harvesting to the biomass mean annual increment (calculated as function of the average age and of the control variables). The EDSS has been tested within the Val Bormida mountain community (Savona District, Liguria Region, Italy)

An environmental decision support system for an efficient monitoring and planning of woody biomass for energy production, with remote sensing aid

The proposed paper describes the architecture of a GIS-based Environmental Decision Support System (EDSS) that integrates software tools and sensors, such as: remote sensing for environmental monitoring and support to mathematical models, optimization models (for planning plant size, kind, and biomass harvesting), dynamic forest growth models, and models for carbon dioxide balance calculation. The proposed EDSS is innovative as regards the current literature because it will be a tool for operational monitoring, cost minimization and efficient planning intervention, in accordance with natural and anthropogenic events that occur on the sites. The features of the EDSS and of the user-friendly interface are showed in connection with a case study