Search

The paper explores the potential of the main state economic incentive (Conto Termico) designed to promote the use of renewable energy sources for heating and cooling purposes in residential buildings, aiming to reduce primary air emissions from residential biomass combustion (RBC). For this purpose, an emission reduction scenario involving the technological transition of biomass residential heating appliances was implemented in the lowland small‐medium municipalities of the Lombardy region in Italy, where households are connected to the natural gas grid but RBC is often practiced for economic reasons, contributing to severe air pollution problems related especially to particulate matter (PM) emissions. This technological turnover scenario (i.e. all biomass appliances in the area replaced by state‐of‐the‐art pellet appliances) resulted in a significant reduction of particulate matter emissions, while having only a minimal impact on NOx emissions. The incentivized cost for technological turnover (€15/kgPM10 avoided) was in line with the social costs associated with health impacts related to PM10 in a rural setting such as the study area. Given the one‐off investment support provided by a recently adopted national decree (DM 15/09/2022), biomethane emerges as a promising renewable energy alternative to decrease PM and NOx emissions from RBC in Lombardy region, characterized by an extensive natural gas distribution network and potential waste feedstock for biomethane production. Despite the still elevated production costs, an analysis restricted to the incentivized segment reveals that supporting biomethane production through investment incentives is more cost‐effective (€8/kgPM10 avoided) than promoting technological turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Po Valley in Italy is characterized by severe air pollution problems in terms of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The study focuses on small mountain municipalities in this territory that are not connected to the natural gas grid and F-climate zones that are eligible for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies. The sustainability of the main two residential heating fuel alternatives in the area (i.e., biomass and LPG) is investigated in terms of primary PM and NOx emissions by studying two emission reductions scenarios where the heating demand currently provided by solid biomass combustion is hypothesized to be covered with advanced wood pellet appliances or by LPG. The associated equivalent CO2 emissions are also calculated. The study concluded that the turnover of biomass appliances reduces significantly the PM emissions but may not be an effective way to reduce NOx emissions in the area. Gaseous fuel (e.g., LPG) combustion may bring more benefits in this respect. Both wood pellets and LPG cause fossil CO2 emissions to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Measurement campaigns for airborne particles along a pedestrian route in the city center of Milan were performed by means of a portable instrument consisting of an optical particle counter [...]

The status of particulate matter (PM) emission reduction methodologies applicable to non-industrial pellet boilers (<500 kW) are summarized and the potentiality of PM emission reduction from these appliances as well as the related challenges are reported. The primary and secondary control methods are presented by indicating the particulate matter removal mechanisms involved and the abatement performances observed. Primary control measures based on boiler design, air-staging, optimized process control and fuel-quality-enhancement are found to be successfully applied for PM reduction from pellet boilers but may not be sufficient to comply with more and more stringent emission regulations without combination with secondary measures. It emerges that promising results have been obtained for some secondary methods (e.g., metal mesh filters, electrostatic precipitation, wet scrubbers, open-cell ceramic filters) in terms of abatement performance but many operational issues (e.g., deterioration of performances with ageing, high maintenance need, unsustainable pressure drops, eventual waste streams etc.) are still to be minimized for these systems to constitute a feasible solution to PM control especially in smaller appliances for residential heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing awareness amongst the general public about exposure to atmospheric pollution while travelling in urban areas especially when taking active travelling modes such as walking and cycling. This study presents a comparative investigation of ultrafine particles (UFP), PM10, PM2.5, PM1 exposure levels associated with four transport modes (i.e., walking, cycling, car, and subway) in the city of Milan measured by means of portable instruments. Significant differences in particle exposure between transport modes were found. The subway mode was characterized by the highest PM mass concentrations: PM10, PM2.5, PM1 subway levels were respectively about 2-4-3 times higher than those of the car and open air active modes (i.e. cycling and walking). Conversely, these latter modes displayed the highest UFP levels about 2 to 3 times higher than the subway and car modes, highlighting the influence of direct traffic emissions. The car mode (closed windows, air conditioning and air recirculation on) reported the lowest PM and UFP concentration levels. In particular, the open-air/car average concentration ratio varied from about 2 for UFP up to 4 for PM1 and 6 for PM10 and PM2.5, showing differences that increase with increasing particle size. This work points out that active mode travelling in Milan city centre in summertime results in higher exposure levels than the car mode. Walkers' and cyclists' exposure levels is expected to be even higher during wintertime, due to the higher ambient PM and UFP concentration. Intervent ions intended to re-design the urban mobility should therefore include dedicated routes in order to limit their exposure to PM and UFP by increasing their distance from road traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, results on the potential toxicity of ultrafine particles (UFPs d<100nm) emitted by the combustion of logwood and pellet (hardwood and softwood) are reported. The data were collected during the TOBICUP (TOxicity of BIomass COmbustion generated Ultrafine Particles) project, carried out by a team composed of interdisciplinary research groups. The genotoxic evaluation was performed on A549 cells (human lung carcinomacells) using UFPs whose chemical composition was assessed by a suite of analytical techniques. Comet assay and γ-H2AX evaluation show a significant DNA damage after 24h treatment. The interpretation of the results is based on the correlation among toxicological results, chemical-physical properties of UFPs, and the type and efficiency conditions in residential pellet or logwood stoves., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)