Wood is the first among renewable energies (33% in Italy and 40% in the world) and the second source of heating for Italian families. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised interest in wood and pellet heating systems but, even in this case, Italy could do more. The reason? With a forest heritage that touches 40% of the total area of the country, and which continues to grow, we are able to “use only 20-30% of the annual growth of our forests, which is why we must adopt sustainable forest management that is also in able to respond to the impact of climate change, managing the territory and storing CO2 to prevent it from being dispersed into the atmosphere and helping to increase the greenhouse effect “, explains Gianni Tarello, Coordinator of the Forestry Sector of the Agri-food Cooperative Alliance”.
At the Verona Fair with “Progetto Fuoco”, the most important world event dedicated to biomass heating, the national and international innovations of a sector of the industry that of the wood-energy chain were exhibited, which in Italy boasts a turnover 4 billion, with 14,000 companies employing 72,000 employees, of which 43,000 are direct and 29,000 linked to related industries; considered an excellence of Made in Italy, with 70% of pellet appliances. Raul Barbieri, the general manager of Piemmeti who promoted the event, “the recent surge in the price of gas in the bill, which does not seem destined to fall, at least in the short term, has made it clear that a real energy transition has a duty to be sustainable. only from an environmental point of view, but also from a social and economic point of view ».
A situation that «is generating a strong awareness on the part of consumers. The market is intercepting this recovery, offering solutions that increase the efficiency of the plants and develop their digitization ». Annalisa Paniz, general director of the Italian agroforestry energy association stresses the need to focus on “incentives for technological turnover, certified biofuels, greater involvement of designers and installers-maintainers and a further commitment in terms of education and awareness of citizens and users final “.
From the point of view of the organizers of “Progetto Fuoco”, renewable energies today represent the right answer against the climate crisis, expensive energy, speculation and dependence on foreign supplies. It remains to understand what to do with the Italian forest. For Tarello, in fact, careful management is needed given that “we only use 20-30% of the annual growth of our forests, whose average annual increase is estimated at approximately 37.9 million cubic meters, currently obtaining only 14 million cubic meters of timber “.