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Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy

Author

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  • Alessandro Casasso

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Marta Puleo

    (Department of Economics and Statistics, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Verdi 8, 10124 Torino, Italy)

  • Deborah Panepinto

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Mariachiara Zanetti

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

Abstract

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 el 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Casasso & Marta Puleo & Deborah Panepinto & Mariachiara Zanetti, 2021. "Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:7979-:d:595862
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Edoardo Ruffino & Bruno Piga & Alessandro Casasso & Rajandrea Sethi, 2022. "Heat Pumps, Wood Biomass and Fossil Fuel Solutions in the Renovation of Buildings: A Techno-Economic Analysis Applied to Piedmont Region (NW Italy)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Marco Cavana & Pierluigi Leone, 2022. "Smart Gas Network with Linepack Managing to Increase Biomethane Injection at the Distribution Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Piotr Sulewski & Wiktor Ignaciuk & Magdalena Szymańska & Adam Wąs, 2023. "Development of the Biomethane Market in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-34, February.
    4. Yemei Li & Yuanyuan Ren & Jiayuan Ji & Yu-You Li & Takuro Kobayashi, 2023. "Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors for Municipal Wastewater Treatment, Sewage Sludge Digestion and Biogas Upgrading: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-17, October.

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