Sustainability impact assessment for local energy supplies' development – The case of the alpine area of Lake Como, Italy

The development of distributed energy systems has important environmental, social and economic implications. Local decision-making processes must be guided by a careful evaluation of the sustainability of production chains and alternative choices. The aim of this study is to explore if and how an integrated assessment can quantify the extent to which bioenergy supply chain development contributes to rural development and energy policy objectives. We applied a Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) for local bioenergy development in the alpine area of Lake Como (Italy). We modeled the local bioenergy chain in 2008 and eleven scenarios considering different biomass utilizations, mechanization levels, combustion technologies, and subsidies schemes at 2020. We calculated economic, social and environmental indicators. We interpret and discuss the scenario analysis in order to support the bioenergy planning under the light of its implications for the different policy aims and concerns. - Highlights: • SIA has been applied to bioenergy development to support multi-sectorial policy aims. • Production of wood chips for CHP plants resulted in the best economic performance. • Expansion of the local forest-energy sector can positively affect employment levels. • Higher efficiency plants would aid to avoid the increased pressure on the environment. • Non homogeneous data and their availability are the main limitations of the study.