2018/0203/I
EC/EFTA
IT Italien
  • S50E - Umweltschutzmassnahmen
2018-08-10
2018-05-17
N00E - Solid biomass for combustion

Technical regulation on the solid biomass provided for in the Chapter on renewable energy sources in the draft Environmental Energy Plan for the Piedmont Region

The Chapter of the draft Environmental Energy Plan for the Piedmont Region on renewable energy sources (Chapter on renewable energy sources (RES), pages 51-130), focuses on the promotion of these sources for sustainability purposes, which inevitably requires a careful analysis of their impact on atmospheric emissions.

With particular regard to the use of solid biomass, the guidelines in the plan are based on projections relating to the generation of electricity from solid biomass only where it occurs in cogenerating mode, for ‘reasons linked to the imperative to withdraw from the infringement procedure on fine particles by 2030’ (see page 79).

As regards the use of biomass for heating purposes and in view of the impact of emissions originating from solid biomass combustion, the plan highlights the pressing need to improve air quality at regional level, particularly with regard to particulate emissions, and to address the emergency in Piedmont and the other regions in the Po Basin, harmonising the decisions made in the Energy Plan with those set out in the Regional Air Quality Plan.

In order to reduce pollutant emissions and in line with the Programme agreement for the coordinated and joint adoption of air quality improvement measures in the Po Basin, signed on 9 June 2017 by the Minister for the Environment and the Presidents of the Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto regions, the draft plan provides guidelines for new and existing plants, as well as guidelines for setting up a local supply chain for biomass, which takes on the characteristics of a genuinely renewable source when it is consumed in close proximity to where it is produced. Regarding this last point, the plan contains a specific guideline to promote the classification process for the forestry resource used, both in terms of the short supply chain (the biomass must come from within a 50 km radius of the place of use) and the moisture content, and therefore the low heat value of the fuel. To that end, the draft plan specifies that ‘from 1 January 2020, firewood sales shall be duly traced in accordance with the procedures which are to be defined in implementation of the Regional Forestry Plan, and that the amount imported from foreign countries shall be progressively reduced’, on the basis of projections which are given in a specific table (page 106).