The exploitation of biomass for building space heating in Greece: Energy, environmental and economic considerations

Michopoulos, A.; Skoulou, V.; Voulgari, V.; Tsikaloudaki, A.; Kyriakis, N. A.

Abstract

The exploitation of forest and agricultural biomass residues for energy production may offer significant advantages to the energy policy of the relevant country, but it strongly depends on a number of financial, technological and political factors. The work in hand focuses on the investigation of the energy, environmental and financial benefits, resulting from the exploitation of forest and agricultural biomass residues, fully substituting the conventional fuel (diesel oil) for building space heating in Greece. For this investigation, the energy needs of a representative building are determined using the EnergyPlus software, assuming that the building is located across the various climate zones of Greece. Based on the resulting thermal energy needs, the primary energy consumption and the corresponding emissions are determined, while an elementary fiscal analysis is also performed. The results show that significant financial benefits for the end-user are associated with the substitution examined, even though increased emissions and primary energy consumption have been derived.

Citation

Michopoulos, A., Skoulou, V., Voulgari, V., Tsikaloudaki, A., & Kyriakis, N. A. (2014). The exploitation of biomass for building space heating in Greece: Energy, environmental and economic considerations. Energy Conversion and Management, 78, 276-285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.10.055

• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Nov 21, 2013
• Publication Date: 2014-02
• Deposit Date: Feb 25, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 25, 2016
• Journal: Energy conversion and management
• Print ISSN: 0196-8904
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 78
• Pages: 276-285
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.10.055
• Keywords: Residual biomass; Combustion; Emissions; Energy consumption; Residential buildings
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/411424
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890413006900
• Additional Information: This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published in Energy conversion and management, 2013, v.78.