GECO - Sustainability virtual italian fair
Renewable energy is the way to go, there is no doubt about it. But from which sources can we hope to extract sustainable energy for all of our activities? Biomass is an extremely interesting option for many industries. We talked about it with Antonio di Cosimo, president of EBS, the Italian Solid Biomass Energy Association.
Solid bio-masses are a renewable and storable energy source, which can guarantee constant operation for more than 8,000 hours a year. Thanks to these characteristics, their contribution will become fundamental not only in the ongoing decarbonisation of the national electricity grid, but also in mitigating energy dependence on foreign countries and reducing the costs of energy bills for individual households. The use of solid biomass for energy production also satisfies the principle of circular economy: from the maintenance of forests and the reuse of agricultural and agro-industrial by-products, everything that cannot be reused in any other way is harnessed and, at the same time, hydrogeological instability and wildfires are prevented.
However, the industry, whose main operators are represented in Italy by the EBS Association, is at the centre of a paradox: the contribution of solid biomass is counted towards the achievement of the Pniec (National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2030) targets but the renewal of the incentives to promote energy produced from solid biomass is not. This situation threatens the continued operation of plants that face the approaching end of said incentives in 2023: the incentive for the production of renewable energy applies to plants that have been in operation or repowered since January 1st 2008 for the first fifteen years of operation.
The solid biomass industry accounts for 40% of the entire bioenergy segment, which as a whole represents around 17% of RES energy production in Italy, as confirmed by the 2019 GSE report. It is complicated to predict how much it will increase as this depends on a variety of factors. In recent years, electricity production in our segment has remained unchanged because no new medium- to large-scale plants have been built due to the stagnation of the incentive system. Electricity production in recent years (2019/2020) has been over 3,000 GWh per year. If the current incentive system were to remain in place, it is possible to foresee a medium-high growth in biomass plants; on the other hand, if the contributions needed to operate plants such as ours were to disappear, it would be even more difficult to meet the 2030 targets.
In terms of circular economy, the environmental, social, and economic benefits resulting from the use of solid biomass extend to the whole country, especially in rural, mountain and inland areas. The activity of solid biomass energy production plants provides a constant and profitable means of recovering waste materials from key segments such as the Italian agri-food industry, positioning itself as the last step in the chain of use of the products of such industries. By paying for waste products from the maintenance of forests and the agricultural industry, we support the development of the entire associated supply chain, which employs more than 5,000 workers. Circularity also includes the reuse of ash. From an environmental point of view, if it is not properly disposed of in controlled plants, biomass fuel could turn into a fire hazard or be subject to spontaneous fermentation, resulting in higher and harmful emissions of CO2 and PM 2.5 into the atmosphere.
The EBS Association unites the main producers of electricity from solid biomass in Italy, with plants larger than 5 MW distributed throughout the country. The Association safeguards the development of all its member companies, represents the industry in institutional arenas, advocating its requests and encouraging study and research for the development of the industry and related technologies.
We decided to support GECO Expo because we share the project's positioning that hinges on the concept of sustainability and we are particularly close to some of its thematic areas, such as renewable energy and circular economy. We believe it is an excellent opportunity to compare notes with other players and experts in these areas, increasing awareness of the good and useful things that each of us can bring to the development of the country.
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Published on 08-05-2022
