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Biomass is increasingly used for energy generation since it represents a useful alternative to fossil fuel in order to face the pollutions and the global warming problem. It can be exploited for heating purposes and for supplying domestic hot water. The most common applications encompass wood and pellet boilers. The economic aspect is becoming an important issue in order to achieve the ambitious targets set by the European Directives on Renewable Sources. Thus, the present paper deals with the economic feasibility of biomass boiler plants with specific regard to an existing residential building. An Italian case study is further investigated, focusing the attention on European and national regulations on energy efficiency and considering the recent public incentives and supporting measures. The main thermoclimatic parameters—that is, heating degree days (HDDs), building thermal insulation and thermal needs—are taken into account. Moreover, the following economic indicators are calculated: cumulative cash flow, discounted cumulative cash flow, payback period (PP), net present value (NPV), Internal rate of return (IRR), discounted payback period (DPP), and profit index (PI).

The need to address climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions attaches great importance to research aimed at using renewable energy. Geothermal energy is an interesting alternative concerning the production of energy for air conditioning of buildings (heating and cooling), through the use of geothermal heat pumps. In this work a model has been developed in order to simulate an air conditioning system with geothermal heat pump. A ground source heat pump (GSHP) uses the shallow ground as a source of heat, thus taking advantage of its seasonally moderate temperatures. GSHP must be coupled with geothermal exchangers. The model leads to design optimization of geothermal heat exchangers and to verify the operation of the geothermal plant.

Biomass is one of the most easily available Renewable Energy Sources (RES) which can be converted into some useful forms of energy through different processes; among them the gasification technology is a particularly efficient method. Each biomass, has to be analyzed in order to find out if it is suitable for a specific conversion. 6622 Sonia Castellucci et al. In this work some typical biomass of Mediterranean Area, with specific regard to residual ones, are analyzed according to the European Standards, in order to determinate the following properties: C/N ratio, calorific value, ash content and moisture. The aim of this paper is to classify biomass in order to evaluate either of biomass, or a mixture of them, using gasification processes. Among the studied biomass hazelnut shells are the most suitable to gasification process: C/N ratio is 121.76, moisture on wet basis is 6.04%, ash content is 1.72%, and Low Calorific Value (LCV) is 18,83 MJ/kg.