Assessment of environmental impact of biomass power plants to increase the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies.

Objective: The objectives of the European Union (EU) policy agenda are to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and to decrease the dependence of EU member countries from fossil fuel sources. In order to achieve these policy objectives, in the last decades the number of biomass power plants has increased throughout the EU. This study analyzed the environmental impacts of the bioenergy systems at global and local level to support communication and information strategies to increase social acceptance and to reduce conflicts between stakeholders.