Modelling air quality impact of a biomass energy power plant in a mountain valley in Central Italy

In this study, we investigate the potential impact on local air quality of a biomass power plant, which is planned for installation near LʹAquila, a city of 70,000 people located in a mountain valley in Central Italy. The assessment is carried out by applying a one year simulation with the CALPUFF model, following the recommendations of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Meteorological input is produced with CALMET model, fed with both MM5 meteorological fields at 3 km resolution and wind observations from a surface weather station. We estimate small (<0.5 μg m−3) annual average increments to SO2, NO2 and PM10 ambient levels over the domain of interest, but significant (up to 50% for NO2) enhancements and several violations (up to 141 for NO2) of hourly limits for human protection within 1.5 km from the source. These results anticipate a larger negative effect on local air quality than those published by the building firm of the plant. We also suggest that a minimum distance of 5 km from the nearest residential area would represent a significant decrease of population exposure.