(by Enrica Cataldo, AIDR member) In his speech to the Senate asking for trust in the new government, Prime Minister Draghi drew up a real long-term economic policy manifesto based on the driving force for investments, on the production of energy from renewable sources , high speed, electric mobility, the production and distribution of hydrogen, which cannot ignore the European funds of the Recovery Fund and which must provide for a strengthening, in strategic terms, of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the direction of objectives indicated.
A country, therefore, the one designed by the PNRR not only more modern, inclusive and digital, but above all more sustainable. In such a logic, the competences relating to the green economy, with the Draghi Government, fall under the newborn Ministry of Ecological Transition which in fact merged, together with the competences of the Department of the Environment, the "energy" ones of the MISE.
The second mission of the Plan called "Green revolution and ecological transition" is organized into four components that concern the major themes of sustainable agriculture, the circular economy, the energy transition, sustainable mobility, water resources and pollution.
The investments in which the four components of the mission materialize are distributed over different project lines for a total amount of resources equal to 68,9 billion euros.
A huge slice of the resources of the Recovery Plan is therefore destined to the macro area of green, a large basket which includes the decarbonisation of the former Ilva, renewables, the extension of the super bonus, hydrogen, cycle paths, reforestation, the cycle of waste and the never-so-current theme of sustainable mobility.
The investment actions of the mission will be accompanied by specific reforms aimed at favoring the energy transition and ecological change, among which the definition of a national strategy on circular economy emerges.
The "Renewable energy, hydrogen and sustainable mobility" component is one of the most important of the entire Plan not only of the second mission, due to its strategic role within the objective of environmental sustainability, as it intervenes, first of all, on production and the distribution of energy, favoring the use of renewable sources and providing the necessary infrastructures for their integration into the national electricity system and for the exploitation of liquid hydrogen. The component also intervenes with an action to decarbonise transport and green public mobility solutions aimed at offering a significant contribution in reducing pollution.
In the so-called Italian way for hydrogen, an almost obligatory road in the light of international developments and the EU objectives for hydrogen, the Plan intends to focus primarily on the production of hydrogen from renewables located in disused industrial areas with the specific objective of converting abandoned industrial areas to test the production of hydrogen in the industry, transforming them into new Hydrogen Valley.
The Recovery Plan also includes ad hoc project lines to create an industrial pole of electrolysers and for the development of a hydrogen supply chain as part of the European strategy to reduce emissions. The radar is focused in particular on the decarbonization project of the former Ilva di Taranto and on the production of green steel in Italy.
The Plan intends to support actions to improve knowledge of the hydrogen carrier in all its phases from production to storage, thanks to the creation of refueling stations, to distribution, as well as its use in the national railway network. Green hydrogen technological development interventions are also planned to make gas turbines an integral part of the future energy mix.
The mission also proposes to increase the share of energy produced from renewable sources in line with European objectives, stimulating the development of an industrial chain, through investments of 8,6 billion euros.
The increase in production from renewable sources will be achieved to an important extent through the development of offshore wind and photovoltaic parks. In detail, grants are envisaged to support the development of floating photovoltaic and offshore wind projects, as well as adequate financial support.
In combination with the wind farms, floating photovoltaic systems will be designed and installed, thus increasing the total energy production. This intervention benefits from complementary resources of € 300 million from PON projects.
To these investments are added the interventions to support the industrial chain in the technological sectors related to renewables and the strengthening and digitalization of the electricity grid infrastructures aimed at installing integrated fast charging poles for electric vehicles, since in order to achieve the European objectives in terms of decarbonisation, it is expected that by 2030 we can count on a fleet of around 6 million electric vehicles.
The reforms envisaged in the Plan include the simplification of the authorization procedures for onshore and offshore renewable plants and the definition of the new legal framework to support production from innovative renewable sources, a new regulation for the release of biogas and the alignment of legislation. national and regional on the reduction of atmospheric pollutant emissions and the related monitoring system.
Despite the cautious enthusiasm of environmentalists and the alarms raised by science, we are faced with a historic agreement that could not be reached, which made it possible to allocate approximately 30% of the Union's resources to climate measures and in favor of a Green New Deal.
The climate road map remains an open proposal to carry out the ambitious European project of becoming the first climate neutral region in the world and to direct the funding of the National Recovery Plan in the direction of an ecological, climatic and socially sustainable transition as desired as it is necessary because "The climate can no longer wait".