Venice 2024 – 10th International Symposium on Energy from Biomass and Waste --- November 25-27, 2024 --- Venice, Italy

June 05, 2024

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The production of energy from alternative sources and its impact on climate change are among the main strategic tools implicated in the sustainable development of society, particularly in this period where geopolitics and dependence on energy have become such an important issue.

Numerous types of biomass and wastes contribute towards the production of energy and reduction in the use of fossil fuels by means of biological, chemical and thermal processes. Existing biomass and waste to energy technologies are currently undergoing rapid development. Despite growing interest in use of these technologies, however, implementation in many countries remains limited.

The aim of the Venice Symposium is to focus on advances made in the application of technologies for energy recovery from biomass and waste and to encourage discussion in these fields.

The Symposium is organised by IWWG–International Waste Working Group with the scientific involvement of the Universities of Hamburg (DE), Kyoto (JP), Padova (IT), Queensland (AU), Rostock (DE), Tongji (CN), Zhejiang (CN) and Sultan Qaboos University (OM).

The programme of the previous edition included more than 160 scientific presentations organised in 3 parallel tracks of oral sessions, workshops and poster sessions, as well as daily social events and plentiful networking opportunities.

Alternative energy from waste and biomass
List of Topics

1. FEEDSTOCKS
Amounts, quality, properties, monitoring, source segregation, sorting and collecting systems, energy potential evaluation, etc.

Municipal Solid Waste (Putrescible Organic Fractions, Paper and cardboard, Plastics, Food waste, Unsorted waste, Gardening, etc.)
Special waste (Tyres, Automotive Shredded Residues, High calorific C&D waste, Residues from Circular Economy)
Healthcare waste
Organic Industrial and hazardous waste
Residual oils (Lubricants, Cooking oils, Concentrated oils form bilge waters, etc.)
Sludges (Sewage sludge, Kraft mill pulp sludge, etc.)
Waste biomass (Agriculture and horticultural residues, Manure, wastes from Beverage and Food industries, Winery industries waste, Meet and Fish industries, etc.)
Harvested Biomass (Wood from forests, agriculture crops, by-products from wood and agriculture, algae, seaweeds, vegetable oils, etc.)
Others (Insects, larvae, etc.)

2. CONVERSION PROCESSES
Features, operation, technologies, efficiencies, emissions control, residues management, siting of plants, decentralisation, appropriate solutions for Developing Countries, etc.

Mechanical treatment (Shredding, Sorting, Pelletising, etc.)
Anaerobic digestion (hydrolysis, acidogenic fermentation, biohydrogen production, acetogenesis, methanogenesis)
Biodrying for Solid Recovered Fuels (SRF) production
Biorefinery unit operations (Distillation, Transesterification, Fermentation, Hydrogenation, etc.)
Microbial fuel cell
Chemical Treatment (conversion of plastics to fuels, Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC), Hydrogenation, etc.)
Thermochemical treatment (Combustion, Pyrolysis, Gasification, etc.)
Low temperature thermochemical processes (Torrefaction, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Hydrothermal Carbonization)
Integrated conversion processes

3. ENERGY OUTPUTS
Quality, purification, handling, storage, transport features, quality and energy valorisation

Liquid fuels: ethanol, biodiesel, methanol, vegetable oil, pyrolysis oil, tars etc.
Gaseous fuels: biogas (CH₄ and CO₂), producer gas (CO, H₂, CH₄, CO₂ , H₂), syngas (CO, H₂), substitute natural gas (CH₄)
Solid fuels: charcoal, torrefied biomass, RDF/SRF, etc.
Heat (steam production, district utilisation, industrial use, etc.)
Electricity (On site production, Electrofuels from renewable sources, etc.)
Mobility fuels (gasoline, diesel, maritime fuels, SAF-sustainable aviation fuels)

4. POLICIES, STRATEGIES, REGULATIONS
Regional, National and international approaches, EU Strategies and directives, role of research, etc.

Legal and administrative liabilities
Role of alternative energy generation in Circular Economy strategies
End of waste issues for alternative energy generation and use

5. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
Role of alternative energy from waste and biomass

CO₂capture Storage Utilisation
CO₂ credits
Carbon balance
Reduction of GHG
Energy saving etc.

6. ECONOMIC ASPECTS
Virtuous relationships between economy, scientific research and technologies, case studies etc.

Capital and operational costs,
Revenues, taxation and excise duties
Financing opportunities
Sales e-trading, business analytics
Economic Perspectives in Developing countries

7. DECISION TOOLS
Sustainability achievement, cost-benefit assessment, alternative scenarios, evaluation grid, etc.

Environmental impact assessment
Sustainability achievement
Material and substance flow analysis
Energy flow analysis,
LCA-Life cycle analysis
Risk assessment, etc.

8. COMMUNICATION: WASTE TO ENERGY AND SOCIETY
Role of communication, How to communicate, Public involvement, etc.

Public perception in different national contexts
Waste to energy in the media
Waste to energy and social movements/ Local oppositions
Communication tools
Information campaigns
Mediation and consensus/ Education/ Case studies

9. OTHER RELEVANT ISSUES
Problems definition, Critical aspects, Solutions, Case studies, etc.

Digitalization and automation (AI-Artificial Intelligence), ML-Machine Learning, IoT -Internet of Things, Big Data, cloud and edge computing, robotic process automation, logistics, etc.)
Architecture of biomass/waste-to-energy plants (volumetric footprint as a design tool for functional land planning, designing criteria, etc.)
Ecotoxicological aspects and health issues (Occupational health, Emissions and human exposure, Epidemiological studies, etc.)
Environmental impacts (emissions, odours, etc.) READ MORE