Eight Hera plants have greenhouse gas emission permits. These plants are located in various areas: Hera Bologna (5 plants), Hera Ferrara (1 plant) Hera Imola-Faenza (1 plant), Hera Ravenna (1 plant, managed by Ecologia Ambiente). With the exception of the plant managed by Ecologia Ambiente, these plants are practically all methane gas-fuelled and provide urban district heating. In some cases, this service combines with electricity production (co-generation plants). Elsewhere, this service combines only with heat production.
Hera aims to extend district heating since this is a service which reduces pollution (it replaces small home or condominium boilers, some still running on gas-oil or fuel oil). However, gradual extension of this service, which requires increased thermal energy production levels, led also to measures being taken against the most highly developed district heating grid service plants (above all, Ferrara).
These measures were based on mechanisms of calculation of emission quota allocation on the part of the national allocation plan (PNA - Piano Nazionale di Allocazione) during the first year of functioning of the Emission Trading regulations. In 2005, according to these measures there was a level of 7% CO2 emissions in excess of PNA allocations. Hera believes this difference does not worsen environmental performance (real calculation should also take into account emissions prevented following elimination of small home and condominium heating installations). During 2006, it is hoped that the excess will be extensively offset by acknowledgement of extensions, considered "new entries" for the Emission Trading system.
In December 1997, in the Japanese city of Kyoto an international agreement on the environment, termed Kyoto Protocol, was signed by more than 160 countries during the Third Session of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The protocol took effect on 16 February 2005. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% within the signatory countries between 2008 and 2012. The Italian government has enacted the European directive which implements a scheme for emission trading (trading of permitted greenhouse gas emission quotas) in compliance with the protocol. Since 2005, the industrial sectors involved in application of the directive have required authorisation to emit greenhouse gas. Among these sectors, for plants of a size in excess of set parameters, we find the thermoelectric, refining, glass, cement, steel, brick and paper sectors.
Although waste-to-energy plants are currently excluded from the European directive on greenhouse gas emissions, Hera believed emission levels should be monitored. Calculation meant considering, on the one hand, direct emissions (i.e. emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen protoxide derived from the combustion process) and, on the other, prevented emissions, ascribed to production of electricity and thermal energy via recovery from the combustion process.