The general Pasquale Preziosa, former Chief of Staff of the Air Force, detailed, in an editorial in the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, a complete and exhaustive analysis on the Italian energy problem in the European context in the light of the "dead line“, Indicated by the process already initiated to achieve climate neutrality in 2050.
Europe, writes Preziosa, has already traced the tracks on which to move in the future with some strategic indications that could transform the Union into a modern green and digital economy.
In 2050, there will be no net greenhouse gas emissions and economic growth will have to be decoupled from the use of resources.
The new economy will have to be of a circular and clean type with reduced pollution and sustainable projects.
Climate neutrality in 2050 will have to be achieved with investments in environmentally friendly technologies, with cleaner and healthier forms of transport, with the decarbonisation of the energy sector, sustainable agriculture and with greater energy efficiency of buildings.
At the base of the European and therefore Italian strategy there is the great problem of climate change whose consequences could be disastrous for humanity, in this regard the Eurotower has created a Division dedicated to climate change.
In the next thirty years, however, the transformation of European and Italian society will have to rely not only on international cooperation but also on competitiveness between nations.
Among the factors of competitiveness is the cost of energy that if out of market (high) discourages some new and important valuable investments related to the production of: carbon fiber (50KWh per kilo) which is the material needed to build the least energy-consuming means of transport, Hydrogen which is the fuel of the future ( 40KWh per kilo), green steel (eg) notoriously energy-intensive.
The problem of energy production and cost concerns the transitional period up to the consolidation of the new technological processes for clean nuclear power at Caradache in France, also planned for 2050 or for the future hydrogen economy.
Moreover, the implementation of the Recovery funds for Italy it will fall precisely in the transitional period for energy where the cost of KWh can make the difference for the industrial investment plans.
Unfortunately, even today, the cost of industrial energy in Italy is higher than the rest of Europe (Eurostat) and the investments necessary for the decarbonisation of the current production processes and the expansion of renewable energy sources do not suggest any reduction in the cost of industrial energy.
Not only that, in Italy also the development of alternative energy plants encounters not only regulatory but also socio-environmental obstacles.
The presence wind power in the area, for example, it has opened the energy social environmental debate in many municipalities with many open disputes due to the noise pollution produced by wind turbines.
In addition, theISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) reports that the regulatory framework in many Italian regions it is "rather confused and not at all timely in transposing the European directives”In order to be able to issue clear and unambiguous guidelines for sector investments.
At present, many European countries and some Italian regions use the new generation waste-to-energy with smoke emissions far below national regulations with important advantages on the environmental impact of waste and on the cost of energy, others are prejudicial against plants of waste-to-energy with damage to development processes linked to the cost of energy.
The negative effects of this inconsistency will be affected by the economic development of the territory, which will not be able to absorb the energy-intensive industrial processes of greater technological value and the employment levels of the workforce.
The problem of the cost of energy will strongly affect the future of our country and of new investments related to Recovery Fund.
Therefore, a new political and social vision will be needed of the energy sector which, respecting the new energy trajectory indicated by the European Union, can give the guidelines that allow the development of the projects of the Recovery Fund with higher production efficiency by reducing current environmental risk levels.
It will have to be identified a new integrated regional and national strategy for the production of electricity that brings together the European regulations for the GreenEconomy with new generation alternative and non-alternative energy sources and make investments in the area competitive by minimizing the production and sales costs of KWh.
The strategy can be completed with educational processes in the social field that can raise both the general awareness of the need for electricity for the life of society and its future development, and the knowledge of the absence of non-polluting energy production processes in absolute.
The future is a challenge to be won both for the climatic part and for the economic aspects of the nation. The challenge is not of an ideological type but of a competitive type between nations based onhigh knowledge intensity problems and technologies.
