Development perspectives for biogas production from agricultural waste in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Nord-East of Italy)

The latest directives of the Energy and Environment Policy of the European Union (EU) established a new framework for renewable sources (Directive EC 28/2009; European Commission, 2009). The Italian Energy Action Plan of 2010 set a target of at least 17% of total energy generated from renewable sources by 2020. In this context biogas from waste and biomass is a potential energy source that can be used for the production of heat, electricity and fuel. The objective of this work was to determine the potential energy production from anaerobic digestion of animal wastes and agricultural residues in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Nord-East Italy). For an assessment of biogas as an energy source, based on direct conversion by agricultural farms, it is important to establish the amount of the waste. In this study, biogas amount which can be obtained was calculated for all municipalities in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (North-East of Italy) by using the number of livestock animals, the cereal area for agricultural residues and also considering various criteria such as the rate of dry matter and availability. The calculated regional biogas potential is about 187 (N)Gm3 when using animal waste, straw and corn stalk. The potential of biogas energy equivalent of Friuli Venezia Giulia is about 3 600 TJ (LHV) may be able to replace 2.6% of final energy consumption in Friuli Venezia Giulia (3 339 ktoe) and about 10% of the final electricity consumption (864 ktoe) considering an electrical efficiency of 30% with the biogas engine.