Environmental balance study for the construction of a biomass plant in a small town in Piedmont (Northern Italy)

In consideration of local critical aspects in opposition to overall environmental benefits (decrease of GHG generation), the aim of this work is to verify the local acceptability from the point of view of air quality of the territory in question for a biomass plant. The plant to be realized in a small town located in Piedmont, Northern Italy, will be constructed to produce electricity and heat. In order to verify the aspect of compatibility we performed an evaluation of the emissive flow modification that in the hypothesis of the biomass plant activation should be introduced in the municipal area. The evaluation has been conducted by using mass and energy balances as a tool. © 2011 WIT Press.