Biomass, in form of residues and waste, can be used to produce energy with low environmental impact. It is important to use the feedstock close to the places where waste are available, and with the shortest conversion pathway, to maximize the process efficiency. In particular waste vegetable oil and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste represent a good source for fuel production in urban areas. Dual fuel engines could be taken into consideration for an efficient management of these wastes. In fact, the dual fuel technology can achieve overall efficiencies typical of diesel engines with a cleaner exhaust emission. In this paper the feasibility of a cogeneration system fuelled with waste vegetable oil and biogas is discussed and the evaluation of performance and emissions is reported on the base of experimental activities on dual fuel heavy duty engine in comparison with diesel and spark ignition engines. The ratio of biogas potential from MSW and biodiesel potential from waste vegetable oil was estimated and it results suitable for dual fuel fuelling. An electric power installation of 70？kW every 10,000 people could be achieved. 1. Introduction The increasing costs and climate changing related to fossil fuels exploitation require a major share of the energy production from alternative sources, in particular from waste or renewable sources. Recently, great attention is given to the use of biomass to produce fuels, especially for transport as alternative to petrol. Biofuels production is a way to use solar energy. However, the low conversion efficiency of the global process can create land competition between food and energy production. From this consideration derives that dedicated energy crops cannot be seen as the solution of the energetic and environmental issues. Biofuels production becomes extremely interesting when obtained from waste or residual of others human activities, but, in this case, the limited feedstock could contribute only with a small impact on the reduction of the fossil fuel demand. Furthermore, the efficient energy use of waste could contribute strongly to control the questions of waste disposal. While, in the case of biofuel production from dedicated energy crops, it is important to support those with the best “biomass to energy” global efficiency, in order to minimize land use competition, [1], for “waste to energy” conversion, it could be important to collect the feedstock near the places where waste is available and achieve the shortest conversion pathway, to maximize the process efficiency. Considering wastes produced
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