Energy potential from residual biomass towards meeting the EU renewable energy and climate targets. The Italian case

The aim of this paper has been the assessment of the available residual biomass, particularly lignocellulosic, in the Italian territory, to evaluate the potential for bioenergy, particularly for electricity and heat generation. The greenhouse gas savings according to the European target and indicators have been estimated on the national scale. Particularly, the total final energy which could be generated from 22,208,455 t/y of residual biomass assessed in Italy, is equal to 4.57 Mtoe, nearly 2.7% of the gross Italian energy consumption in 2013 and the total savings of GHG emissions coming from this bioenergy generation, are close to 52 Mt CO2eq for the entire Italian territory per year. The conclusions underline that an appropriate bioenergy policy can help decarbonise the economy, enhance the reliability of the energy supply and additionally it can revitalise rural areas.