Background The initial idea for the “WARM-WOOD” project came from a report which showed the remarkable potential for using wood as a source of energy in many mountain areas of the Appennines. Objectives WARM-WOOD aimed to show that the Apennine woodlands, which have been largely abandoned for many years, is a feasible source of biomass. It also aimed to raise awareness about biomass while underlining its substantial economical and environmental benefits. The project planned to show the technical and commercial viability of the use of biomass for the cogeneration of heat and electricity in a medium-size heat distribution network located in a mountain rural area of Vidiciatico, near Bologna. It also aimed to reduce CO2 emissions. WARM-WOOD was intended to act as a model for similar areas in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, where the use of wood for this purpose has only been used on a limited scale. Results WARM-WOOD was the first biomass small-size heating system introduced to the Apennine region. Overall, the project achieved its set of planned objectives even though the biomass was used only for generation of heat and not for co-generation of heat and electricity as originally foreseen. WARM-WOOD produced 3,500 tonnes of wood, the equivalent of a saving of 617 tonnes of oil-based fuel and an annual reduction of CO2 emission of about 2,277 tonnes. During the length of the project, the plant has been operating in tests and measurements for a total of approximately 4,800 hours, achieving and verifying the desired thermal power of up to 5MW, with an average efficiency of more than 76%. A survey monitoring campaign of atmospheric pollutant levels showed that the particulate matters PM10 and PM2,5 were always below the ruled limits of a 50 µg/m3. The other standard air pollutants – carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and nitrogen oxide – values were in line with the usual standard figures for rural areas. In addition to the reduction of CO2 emissions and pollutant emissions, the project’s environmental benefits included forest maintenance (wood collection by tree cutting) and the improvement of the landscape change (reduced erosion, hydro geological risk). Although the expected result to achieve financial savings of 12,000 euros/year per test user was not met, the average saving for each user was however 3130 euros/year and the maximum saving was 32.414 euros/year as a year testing showed. The average value could, however, be increased up to 4,500 euros/year per user. The saving has been estimated to be 20% of the costs of the use of traditional oil-based fuel heating plants. The project demonstrated the economical feasibility of a mixed (public-private) company, implementing and handling a heat medium size (4 MW) distribution system within a limited mountain rural area, once a cheap biomass and a critical density mass of customers are guaranteed. However, further investments will have to be made, notably for a smaller biomass heating plant (350 kW) to cover the periods of low-demand. With regard to its objective to provide a reference model for future decisions concerning biomass utilisation in the production of electricity and heat, the project raised the interest of the Emilia Romagna Region which, in the frame of its Regional Energy Plan, may provide funding for similar initiatives in mountain and hilly areas with the WARM-WOOD project as reference model.