1 Reduction of emissions into the atmosphere

The higher environmental benefit due to the use of biomasses for energy production purposes is connected with the substitution of fossil sources with renewable sources. This is rendered both by the reduction in the use of these sources (that are exhausted because of their nature) and by the decrease in the polluting emissions that are produced from the combustion. The combustion of petroliferous products emits into the atmosphere carbon dioxide that was stored in the vegetable textiles billions of years ago, with an immediate reflex action in terms of an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases and other pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, sulphur, etc. The combustion of biomasses also generates polluting emissions but they are less dangerous and in smaller quantities com­pared with the emissions produced by the combustion of fossil fuels. The use of biomasses for energy production purposes represents an instrument to cushion the climate changes and, more generally, to reduce the environmental impacts that are linked to the use of fossil sources.