Quoting Carlin Petrini, he defines it as a “community democracy”. This is the model of Egea, a producer of energy from renewable sources based in Alba. Pier Paolo Carini is the CEO of the company which should close 2022 with a turnover of around two billion.
Engineer, how does Egea work?
«We are a local producer. We build biomethane, photovoltaic and water systems. We have associated about 200 local authorities and about a hundred companies. Our proposal is to create a network for the production of energy together with the protagonists of the territory by deciding all together “.
Is the North West an area favorable to the energy business?
«Our sector in full transformation. Now also at the center of public discourse due to rising energy prices and the Russian gas issue. We have decided to dedicate ourselves to the production of small quantities of energy thanks to dozens of plants spread throughout the area. And this is possible thanks to a continuous dialogue with mayors, farmers, inhabitants of the countryside ».
What are the areas of intervention?
“We are focusing a lot on biomethane production plants that work using farm excrement. Unlike biogas, once produced, biomethane can be fed directly into the network ».
Purists would argue that methane, however produced, is a fossil fuel.
«The answer is simple: the CO2 in the methane we produce is the same as present in the excrement of animals. We do not add any, we reuse, with a transformation process, the one already present in the environment two years earlier ».
The construction of such plants has often created problems of relations with the residents. How do you overcome this problem?
«First of all, we do not impose choices on the territory. We build them together with the protagonists of the social life of the campaigns. If, after the discussion phase, you don’t like our proposal, we present it to others. Secondly, the characteristic of the Piedmont region helps us ».
What features?
«I would say distrust. Because those who are suspicious at the beginning are more willing to change their minds if they are convinced. Not infrequently it happens that this kind of conversion is contagious. And then the climate of recent months has made people more willing to take new paths for the production of energy. We are in a period of emergency ».
In short, the energy crisis is also having positive consequences …
“It certainly had the merit of putting the issue of renewable and low-impact sources at the center of attention. For years we have produced energy without worrying too much about the costs of raw materials and the consequences on the environment. It is right that these are items on the agenda now ».