Assessment of environmental impact from renewable and non-renewable energy sources

The scientific studies show that the greatest amount of CO2 emissions, in the European Union, results from the production of electricity and heat (for example, the production of coal-based energy in the EU Member States generates an amount of approximately one billion tons of CO2 emissions, that is about 1/4 of total CO2 emissions in the EU). The waste sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accountable for approximately one twentieth of the global greenhouse budget. This contribution consists of CH4 emission from waste anaerobic decomposition and CO2 from thermal treatments. This study presents some district heating preliminary considerations through thermo-chemical conversion of renewable and non-renewable sources. Three locations are virtually analyzed, two counties from Romania and one from Italy. A comparison is made between using different potential types of fuel: wood, coal, MSW, residual municipal solid waste (RMSW), bio-dried waste (BD) and solid-recovered fuel (SRF). The lower heating values (LHVs) of the two types of studied lignite (coal from Romania and Italy) are higher in comparison with the LHV of MSW, similar to the ones of RMSW and BD waste, but lower to the ones of SRF and wood, with some exceptions. Data suitable for preliminary global environmental balances and local impact considerations from atmospheric emissions were carried out for the quantity of primary fuel as presented. Results demonstrate that, even from the preliminary considerations, the environmental performances of district heating are strongly affected by the choice of the fuel.