The energetic recover of biomass from river maintenance: The rebaf project

This paper exposes the first year of activities regarding an Italian regional project called REBAF (RecuperoEnergeticoBiomasse Alvei Fluviali = Energetic Recover of River Biomasses). The project concerns the modeling, realization and experimental validation of innovative pathways for the exploitation of grass and woodsy biomasses from river maintenance operations. The project is focused on the Secchia river situated in the mid North of Italy. The final goal is to make the river maintenance operations self-sustainability from the economic and environmental point of views. During the first year of the project, the typical biomasses of the Secchia river was recognized and quantified. Poplar was chosen as major representative of the wood biomasses. An evaluation about wood biomass quantity obtainable for every hectare of riverbanks maintenance was made. Several gasification tests of poplar wood chips from river maintenance was done in a small CHP gasifier. The biochar obtained was characterized and it was applied on field to some giant reed plantations in order to evaluate if there will be a productivity increase with biochar as soil amendant. In addition, a model to evaluate the giant reed annual productivity in the Secchia river banks was developed.