Network analysis for optimal biomethane plant location through a multidisciplinary approach

Bioenergy production from agricultural biomass is considered a key opportunity for achieving the sustainable development goals set by various international institutions. This sector must combine efficiency and profitability with environmental protection and territorial integration. For this reason, plants location should consider the natural and anthropic characteristics of the areas where they are supposed to operate. In this paper, a multicriteria analysis is introduced for optimal location of biomass plants in a region of Northern Italy. The study was based on a detailed set of 8 constraints and 15 criteria, and eventually identified 93 potential sites for plant location. The distribution of biomass from the territory to the plants was carried out with the specific Location-Allocation algorithm that allowed considering both the attractiveness of the plants and the maximum acceptable power. This result was compared with the current bioenergy production system: three alternative scenarios were developed, considering existing plants and the natural gas distribution network. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted, to study the consequences of various decision-makers decisions. The results showed the possibility of installing between 90 and 199 plants in the different scenarios, resulting in a biomethane production between 246.8·106 Nm3 and 503.6·106 Nm3.