Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy
The management of livestock manures and slurries noticeably improved since the massive introduction of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Italy and other European Union (EU) countries. However, these plants heavily rely on incentives, and the recent switch of European biogas policies from electricit...
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doaj-add59a8e1fce456299a8cf191bf4f1ce2021-07-23T14:08:22ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502021-07-01137979797910.3390/su13147979Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, ItalyAlessandro Casasso0Marta Puleo1Deborah Panepinto2Mariachiara Zanetti3Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Economics and Statistics, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Verdi 8, 10124 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ItalyThe management of livestock manures and slurries noticeably improved since the massive introduction of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Italy and other European Union (EU) countries. However, these plants heavily rely on incentives, and the recent switch of European biogas policies from electricity to biomethane potentially threatens the economic viability of manure AD. In this study, three retrofit options are analyzed for an installation in Piedmont (NW Italy) that is currently producing 999 kW<sub>el</sub> through combined heat and power (CHP). The techno-economic feasibility and the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget is analyzed for each solution. Results show that exploiting current incentives on electricity is vital to fund the retrofit of CHP plants to biomethane. Energy crop and electricity prices, the sale price of biomethane certificates after the end of incentives, and biogas productivity are the critical parameters for the economic profitability of manure AD plants, along with the possibility to deliver biomethane directly to the pipeline grid. This study provides insight to the reconversion of manure AD plants, addressing issues that affect hundreds of installations in Italy and other EU countries.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7979biogasanaerobic digestionmanuregreenhouse gasbiomethaneenergy crops |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Alessandro Casasso Marta Puleo Deborah Panepinto Mariachiara Zanetti |
spellingShingle |
Alessandro Casasso Marta Puleo Deborah Panepinto Mariachiara Zanetti Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy Sustainability biogas anaerobic digestion manure greenhouse gas biomethane energy crops |
author_facet |
Alessandro Casasso Marta Puleo Deborah Panepinto Mariachiara Zanetti |
author_sort |
Alessandro Casasso |
title |
Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy |
title_short |
Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy |
title_full |
Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy |
title_fullStr |
Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy |
title_sort |
economic viability and greenhouse gas (ghg) budget of the biomethane retrofit of manure-operated biogas plants: a case study from piedmont, italy |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
The management of livestock manures and slurries noticeably improved since the massive introduction of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Italy and other European Union (EU) countries. However, these plants heavily rely on incentives, and the recent switch of European biogas policies from electricity to biomethane potentially threatens the economic viability of manure AD. In this study, three retrofit options are analyzed for an installation in Piedmont (NW Italy) that is currently producing 999 kW<sub>el</sub> through combined heat and power (CHP). The techno-economic feasibility and the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget is analyzed for each solution. Results show that exploiting current incentives on electricity is vital to fund the retrofit of CHP plants to biomethane. Energy crop and electricity prices, the sale price of biomethane certificates after the end of incentives, and biogas productivity are the critical parameters for the economic profitability of manure AD plants, along with the possibility to deliver biomethane directly to the pipeline grid. This study provides insight to the reconversion of manure AD plants, addressing issues that affect hundreds of installations in Italy and other EU countries. |
topic |
biogas anaerobic digestion manure greenhouse gas biomethane energy crops |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7979 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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