A DISPERSION AND EXTERNALITIES MODEL SUPPORTING ENERGY SYSTEM PLANNING: DEVELOPMENT AND CASE STUDY

High pollution levels in urban areas represent a hazard for human health. Energy conversion activities are one of the main sources of gaseous pollutants. At the local scale, starting from the planning stage, stakeholders need efficient indicators of the potential effects of an energy scenario on human health and the environment. In this sense, the use of modelling tools estimating health impacts and costs of air pollution is recognized as a useful support to planning and management processes. In this paper, an update of the development of the DIATI Dispersion and Externalities Model (DIDEM) is presented. The DIDEM model simulates the impacts of air pollution following the methodology of the impact pathway approach, through the calculation of externalities. This tool implements check and correction procedures on input data, data formatting, management and post-processing of pollutant dispersion simulation and calculation of pollutant-induced health effects and costs. DIDEM model was tested in a study of the district heating (DH) network of Turin, Italy. In this case study, two scenarios (present and future) were evaluated in terms of difference of health damage costs. The second stage of the study, consisting in the evaluation of a future extension of the DH system, is reported in this paper. The results show that changes in the management of energy conversion and distribution might affect the incidence and costs of health impacts over the studied area. A discussion on the use of externalities as an efficient and clear indicator for supporting energy planning is finally reported.