The University of Perugia

The University of Perugia

The greenhouse effect is now acknowledged as the primary cause of climate change, and is therefore one of the main concerns for our and, the future, generation. Different approaches have been meted by different countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but there is no agreement on how to mitigate the consequences of climate changes. Governments and industry need competent advisors who have a multidisciplinary background including physics of the atmosphere, economics of energy sources, engineering of power plants and energy systems, chemical engineering of capture and removal systems.

The University of Perugia has organised for a few years a Master in Technologies for Greenhouse Gases Mitigation and has introduced in the main courses of studies the subject of climate change and technologies for GHG mitigation since 1997.

The location

Perugia is a small town with a population of 150,000 inhabitants located in central Italy, 150 km southeast of Florence and 170 km northeast of Rome in Umbria – the Green Heart of Italy. Its university was founded in 1308 and will celebrate its 700th anniversary in 2008. Perugia is a lively town with a student population exceeding 30,000 people, making it one of the most attractive university towns in Italy. It can be reached by plane (nearby airports are Florence, Rome and Ancona), train and car.

Research

The research activities in the field of carbon capture and removal were started in 1997. The research team working in this field has published several papers on the modelling of carbon removal technologies, fuel decarbonisation and power plants integrating mitigation technologies. The department of Industrial Engineering is also active in research activities in the fields of renewable energy sources, hydrogen production, advanced high efficiency power plants and fuel cells. The fuel cell laboratory of the Department is the only academic laboratory in Italy with high temperature (MCFC and SOFC) testing capabilities.

The Enerpol Lab is dedicated to the research in pyrolysis of biomass and a pilot plant with a microturbine of 80 kW is currently being built at the University of Perugia. The pilot plant is the only power plants using biomass slow pyrolysis of this size in the world. The department is also active in the EU zero emission platform.

Technology Transfer

From the research activities described above, two spin-off companies were founded in 2005. The first company (Tecnologie per la riduzione delle emissioni engineering, www.tre-eng.com) is dedicated to high level consulting in the field of greenhouse gases mitigation technologies, and offers a wide range of services including CO2 allowances trading, assistance to companies in developing a carbon strategy and participation to Clean Development Mechanism / Joint Implementation projects. The company is also developing with an Italian utility a new voluntary carbon offset programme aimed at inviting companies and private citizens to contribute to GHG mitigation projects.

The second company (Biomasse e Nuove Tecnologie, www.bio-net.it) is aimed at the development and commercialisation of the pyrolysis technology for small and micro size power plants (<500 kW), but can also provide other biomass and renewable technologies in cooperation with other companies.

W: www.masterghg.unipg.it