Could firewood and wood chips take full advantage of local forest use for energy purpose? A case study in northern italy

In the last years the demand of wood solid biofuels, as firewood and wood chips, has grown in Italy. In the face of a growing evidence, questions on resource availability, economic feasibility and social suitability are required. In northern Italy, even if mountains area present high availability of wood biomass from forest, firewood and wood chips demands are satisfied more by long distance transporting than by local supply. One area was selected in order to draw attention to the set of circumstances that defined current use of wood biomass for energy purpose. Consequently some strategies were defined to improve local supply of firewood and wood chips chains. By considering forest logistic, economic supply costs and social suitability, feasibility of energy use of forest biomass in mountainous district has been discussed in order to define the possible role that firewood and wood chips could have at local level.