Waste management modeling by MARKAL model: A case study for Basilicata Region

Air pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems which affe cts likewise urban, industrial and rural areas. Environmental planners, reg ulators and decision makers need reliable, scientifically based tools to fi nd out strategies for controlling air pollution in a cost-effective way, ta king into account the whole productive system. In this framework the basic elements of energy-environmental planning have to be extended to include al so waste processing technologies amongst the usually considered pollution s ources. Bottom-up optimizing models, based on linear programming techniques and customized for specific cases, represent a powerful tool in energy-env ironmental management. This paper focuses on the integrated modeling of mat erial flows and energy system performed on a local scale case study (Basili cata Region Southern Italy) using the linear programming model IEA-MARKAL. We have evaluated the feasibility of the model in representing the waste ma nagement system to estimate the environmental impact of the waste processin g technologies in the context of the whole productive system. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to emphasize the connections between tariffs , waste disposal technologies assessment and atmospheric emissions.