OPEN ACCESS
In spite of being a process that exploits a renewable source of energy, the combustion of wood-based biomass contributes to deteriorate outdoor and indoor air quality. Critical situations for human exposure may occur in mountainous areas, where wood-based biomass is usually abundant and the complex morphology may favour the stagnation of air pollutants in valleys. Replacing wood/pellet stoves with centralised systems would reduce the impact, but the construction of district heating systems may not be convenient in areas with low density of houses. A possible solution could rely on direct electrical heating (DEH) systems, preferably fed by thermochemical processes that help achieve environmen- tal goals for the local community, like the reduction of waste landfilling and the valorisation of the energy content of waste. This paper aims at presenting a comparison between the impacts expected by household wood/pellet stoves and by a modern waste-to-energy (WtE) plant, in terms of emissions of air pollutants into the atmosphere, when replacing wood stoves with a DEH system fed by the electric energy generated by the WtE plant. The comparison shows that the replacement of household stoves with an equivalent DEH system would be beneficial in terms of impacts on the local air quality. Such an approach could be considered to reduce the health impacts from biomass burning in critical areas like the Alpine region.
biomass burning, dispersion, electrical radiators, environmental sustainability, gasification, road transport, waste management
[1] Tomasi, E., Antonacci, G., Giovannini, L., Zardi, D. & Ragazzi, M., Atmospheric dis- persion modelling with AERMOD for comparative impact assessment of different pollutant emission sources in an alpine valley. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 198, WIT Press: Southampton and boston, pp. 431–442, 2015. https:// doi.org/10.2495/air150371
[2] Li, Y., Campana, M., Reimann, S., Schaub, D., Stemmler, K., Staehelin, J. & Peter, T., Hydrocarbon concentrations at the Alpine mountain sites Jungfraujoch and Arosa. Atmospheric Environment, 39(6), pp. 1113–1127, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. atmosenv.2004.09.084
[3] Gerber, J.D. & bandi Tanner, M., The role of Alpine development regimes in the devel- opment of second homes: Preliminary lessons from Switzerland. Land Use Policy, 77, pp. 859–870, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.017
[4] Zoderer, b.M., Tasser, E., Erb, K.H., Lupo Stanghellini, P.S. & Tappeiner, U., Iden- tifying and mapping the tourists’ perception of cultural ecosystem services: A case study from an Alpine region. Land Use Policy, 56, pp. 251–261, 2016. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.05.004
[5] Ranieri, E., Rada, E.C., Ragazzi, M., Masi, S. & Montanaro, C., Critical analysis of the integration of residual municipal solid waste incineration and selective collection in two Italian tourist areas. Waste Management and Resources, 32(6), pp. 551–555, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242x14533605
[6] Laiti, L., Giovannini, L., Zardi, D., belluardo, G. & Moser, D., Estimating hourly beam and diffuse solar radiation in an alpine valley: A critical assessment of decomposition models. Atmosphere, 9(4), p. 117, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9040117
[7] Zardi, D., Mountain meteorology: Valley winds. Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, eds. G. North, J. Pyle & F. Zhang, 2nd edn., Academic Press, pp. 114–134, 2014. https:// doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-382225-3.00240-1
[8] Curci, G., Cinque, G., Tuccella, P., Visconti, G., Verdecchia, M., Iarlori, M. & Rizi, V., Modelling air quality impact of a biomass energy power plant in a mountain val- ley in Central Italy. Atmospheric Environment, 62, pp. 248–255, 2012. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.08.005
[9] Argentini, S., Pietroni, I., Mastrantonio, G., Viola, A.P., Dargaud, G. & Petenko I., Observations of near surface wind speed, temperature and radiative budget at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau during 2005. Antarctic Science, 26(1), pp. 104–112, 2013. https://doi. org/10.1017/s0954102013000382
[10] bertolotti, G., Rada, E.C., Ragazzi, M., Chisté, A. & Gialanella, S., A multi-analytical approach to the use of conifer needles as passive samplers of particulate matter and organic pollutants. Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 14(3), pp. 677–685, 2014. https:// doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2013.10.0308
[11] Hazenkamp-Von Arx, M.E., Schindler, C., Ragettli, M.S., Künzli, N. braun-Fahrländer,
C. & Liu, L.J.S., Impacts of highway traffic exhaust in alpine valleys on the respira- tory health in adults: A cross-sectional study. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 10(1), p. 13, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069x-10-13
[12] Pognant, F., bo, M., Nguyen, C.V., Salizzoni, P. & Clerico, M., Modelling and eval- uation of emission scenarios deriving from wood biomass boilers in alpine valley. Proceedings of HARMO 2017—18th International Conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes, pp. 278–282, 2017.
[13] Largeron, Y. & Staquet, C., Persistent inversion dynamics and wintertime PM10 air pol- lution in Alpine valleys. Atmospheric Environment, 135, pp. 92–108, 2016. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.03.045
[14] Paradiž, b., Dilara, P., .Horák, J., De Santi, G., Christoph, E.H. & Umlauf, G., An integrated approach to assess the PCDD/F emissions of the coal fired stoves combining emission measurements and ambient air levels modelling. Chemosphere, 73(1), pp. S94–S100, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.12.039
[15] Schiavon, M., Ragazzi, M., Rada, E.C., Magaril, E. & Torretta, V., Towards a sustain- able management of air quality and human exposure: exemplary case studies. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, vol. 230, WIT Press: Southampton and boston, pp. 489–500, 2018.
[16] Frasca, D., Marcoccia, M., Tofful, L., Simonetti, G., Perrino, C. & Canepari, S., Influ- ence of advanced wood-fired appliances for residential heating on indoor air quality. Chemosphere, 211, pp. 62–71, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.102
[17] Rao, M., D’Elia, I. & Piersanti, A., An uncertainty quantification of PM2.5 emissions from residential wood combustion in Italy. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 9(3), pp. 526–533, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2017.12.002
[18] Zielinska, b. & Samburova, V., Residential and Non-Residential biomass Combustion: Impacts on Air Quality. Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, ed. J.O. Nriagu, Elsevier Science: burlington, pp. 819–827, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444- 52272-6.00368-8
[19] Williams, A., Jones, J.M., Ma, L. & Pourkashanian, M., Pollutants from the combustion of solid biomass fuels. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 38(2), pp. 113–137, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2011.10.001
[20] Mitchell, E.J.S., Coulson, G., butt, E.W., Foster, P.M., Jones, J.M. & Williams, A., Heating with biomass in the United Kingdom: Lessons from New Zealand. Atmospheric Environment, 152, pp. 431–454, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.12.042
[21] Sinha, S.N. & Nag, P.K., Air Pollution From Solid Fuels. Encyclopedia of Environmen- tal Health, ed. J.O. Nriagu, Elsevier Science: burlington, pp. 46–52, 2011. https://doi. org/10.1016/b978-0-444-52272-6.00694-2
[22] Schiavon, M., Torretta, V., Rada, E.C. & Ragazzi, M., State of the art and advances in the impact assessment of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188(1), pp. 1–20, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-5079-0
[23] Giurea, R., Precazzini, I., Ragazzi, M. & Achim, M.I., Criteria for environmental optimization of electrical and thermal energy in agro-tourism. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, vol. 224, WIT Press: Southampton and boston, pp. 317–319, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2495/esus170301
[24] Rada, E.C., Ragazzi, M., Ionescu, G., Merler, G., Moedinger, G., Raboni, M. & Torretta, V., Municipal Solid Waste treatment by integrated solutions: Energy and environmental balances. Energy Procedia, 50, pp. 1037–1044, 2014. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.06.123
[25] Rada, E.C., Ragazzi, M., Torretta, V., Castagna, G., Adami, L. & Cioca, L.I., Circular economy and waste to energy. AIP Conference Proceedings, 1968(1), p. 030050, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5039237
[26] Werner, S., International review of district heating and cooling. Energy, 137, pp. 617–631, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.04.045
[27] Statistiche Istat, National Institute of Statistics (in Italian), http://dati.istat.it/ (accessed 4 February 2019).
[28] European Union, Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control). Official Journal of the European Union, Document 32010L0075.
[29] Google Maps, https://maps.google.com/
[30] European Environment Agency, EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guide- book 2016—Last Update June 2017. Technical report, 2017.
[31] European Union, 2011. Commission Regulation (EU) No 582/2011 of 25 May 2011 implementing and amending Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with respect to emissions from heavy duty vehicles (Euro VI) and amending Annexes I and III to Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Official Journal of the European Union, Document 32011R0582.
[32] COPERT download; EMISIA, https://copert.emisia.com/ (accessed 6 February 2019).