IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i14p7979-d595862.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7979/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7979/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ingrao, Carlo & Bacenetti, Jacopo & Adamczyk, Janusz & Ferrante, Valentina & Messineo, Antonio & Huisingh, Donald, 2019. "Investigating energy and environmental issues of agro-biogas derived energy systems: A comprehensive review of Life Cycle Assessments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 296-307.
    2. Alessandro Casasso & Pietro Capodaglio & Fulvio Simonetto & Rajandrea Sethi, 2019. "Environmental and Economic Benefits from the Phase-out of Residential Oil Heating: A Study from the Aosta Valley Region (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Hakawati, Rawan & Smyth, Beatrice M. & McCullough, Geoffrey & De Rosa, Fabio & Rooney, David, 2017. "What is the most energy efficient route for biogas utilization: Heat, electricity or transport?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1076-1087.
    4. Scarlat, Nicolae & Dallemand, Jean-François & Fahl, Fernando, 2018. "Biogas: Developments and perspectives in Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PA), pages 457-472.
    5. Bartoli, Andrea & Hamelin, Lorie & Rozakis, Stelios & Borzęcka, Magdalena & Brandão, Miguel, 2019. "Coupling economic and GHG emission accounting models to evaluate the sustainability of biogas policies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 133-148.
    6. Abbasi, Tasneem & Tauseef, S.M. & Abbasi, S.A., 2012. "Anaerobic digestion for global warming control and energy generation—An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 3228-3242.
    7. Adams, P.W.R. & Mezzullo, W.G. & McManus, M.C., 2015. "Biomass sustainability criteria: Greenhouse gas accounting issues for biogas and biomethane facilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 95-109.
    8. Elena Cristina Rada & Marco Ragazzi & Paolo Stefani & Marco Schiavon & Vincenzo Torretta, 2015. "Modelling the Potential Biogas Productivity Range from a MSW Landfill for Its Sustainable Exploitation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Scarlat, Nicolae & Fahl, Fernando & Dallemand, Jean-François & Monforti, Fabio & Motola, Vicenzo, 2018. "A spatial analysis of biogas potential from manure in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 915-930.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elena Tamburini & Mattias Gaglio & Giuseppe Castaldelli & Elisa Anna Fano, 2020. "Is Bioenergy Truly Sustainable When Land-Use-Change (LUC) Emissions Are Accounted for? The Case-Study of Biogas from Agricultural Biomass in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Susanne Theuerl & Christiane Herrmann & Monika Heiermann & Philipp Grundmann & Niels Landwehr & Ulrich Kreidenweis & Annette Prochnow, 2019. "The Future Agricultural Biogas Plant in Germany: A Vision," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, January.
    3. Xue, Shengrong & Song, Jinghui & Wang, Xiaojiao & Shang, Zezhou & Sheng, Chenjing & Li, Chongyuan & Zhu, Yufan & Liu, Jingyu, 2020. "A systematic comparison of biogas development and related policies between China and Europe and corresponding insights," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Bedoić, Robert & Dorotić, Hrvoje & Schneider, Daniel Rolph & Čuček, Lidija & Ćosić, Boris & Pukšec, Tomislav & Duić, Neven, 2021. "Synergy between feedstock gate fee and power-to-gas: An energy and economic analysis of renewable methane production in a biogas plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 12-23.
    5. Alberto Benato & Alarico Macor, 2019. "Italian Biogas Plants: Trend, Subsidies, Cost, Biogas Composition and Engine Emissions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-31, March.
    6. Roozbeh Feiz & Jonas Ammenberg & Annika Björn & Yufang Guo & Magnus Karlsson & Yonghui Liu & Yuxian Liu & Laura Shizue Moriga Masuda & Alex Enrich-Prast & Harald Rohracher & Kristina Trygg & Sepehr Sh, 2019. "Biogas Potential for Improved Sustainability in Guangzhou, China—A Study Focusing on Food Waste on Xiaoguwei Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-25, March.
    7. Khoshgoftar Manesh, M.H. & Rezazadeh, A. & Kabiri, S., 2020. "A feasibility study on the potential, economic, and environmental advantages of biogas production from poultry manure in Iran," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 87-106.
    8. Rawan Hakawati & Beatrice Smyth & Helen Daly & Geoffrey McCullough & David Rooney, 2019. "Is the Fischer-Tropsch Conversion of Biogas-Derived Syngas to Liquid Fuels Feasible at Atmospheric Pressure?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-28, March.
    9. Bhatnagar, N. & Ryan, D. & Murphy, R. & Enright, A.M., 2022. "A comprehensive review of green policy, anaerobic digestion of animal manure and chicken litter feedstock potential – Global and Irish perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    10. Jiapei Wei & Gefu Liang & James Alex & Tongchao Zhang & Chunbo Ma, 2020. "Research Progress of Energy Utilization of Agricultural Waste in China: Bibliometric Analysis by Citespace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, January.
    11. Xueqing Yang & Yang Liu & Mei Wang & Alberto Bezama & Daniela Thrän, 2021. "Identifying the Necessities of Regional-Based Analysis to Study Germany’s Biogas Production Development under Energy Transition," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Erika Winquist & Michiel Van Galen & Simon Zielonka & Pasi Rikkonen & Diti Oudendag & Lijun Zhou & Auke Greijdanus, 2021. "Expert Views on the Future Development of Biogas Business Branch in Germany, The Netherlands, and Finland until 2030," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
    13. Schlund, David & Schönfisch, Max, 2021. "Analysing the impact of a renewable hydrogen quota on the European electricity and natural gas markets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    14. O'Connor, S. & Ehimen, E. & Pillai, S.C. & Black, A. & Tormey, D. & Bartlett, J., 2021. "Biogas production from small-scale anaerobic digestion plants on European farms," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    15. D'Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Gastaldi, Massimo & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2020. "RES-T trajectories and an integrated SWOT-AHP analysis for biomethane. Policy implications to support a green revolution in European transport," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Long, Aoife & Murphy, Jerry D., 2019. "Can green gas certificates allow for the accurate quantification of the energy supply and sustainability of biomethane from a range of sources for renewable heat and or transport?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    17. Andrea Baccioli & Lorenzo Ferrari & Romain Guiller & Oumayma Yousfi & Francesco Vizza & Umberto Desideri, 2019. "Feasibility Analysis of Bio-Methane Production in a Biogas Plant: A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Hamelin, Lorie & Møller, Henrik Bjarne & Jørgensen, Uffe, 2021. "Harnessing the full potential of biomethane towards tomorrow's bioeconomy: A national case study coupling sustainable agricultural intensification, emerging biogas technologies and energy system analy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    19. Giovanni Ferrari & Andrea Pezzuolo & Abdul-Sattar Nizami & Francesco Marinello, 2020. "Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in Biomass for Bioenergy Research," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-21, July.
    20. Gustafsson, M. & Anderberg, S., 2021. "Dimensions and characteristics of biogas policies – Modelling the European policy landscape," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:7979-:d:595862. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.