CASALE MONFERRATO. “With the solar and wind energy program launched in 2010/2013, today we could have reduced methane gas consumption by 20 billion cubic meters a year, reducing gas imports from Russia by 70 percent”. This is a bitter consideration by the national president of Legambiente Stefano Ciafani on the sidelines of the conference organized the other evening by the local Verdeblù club on “Renewable Energy Communities” at the Leardi institute.
At least 50,000 Megawatts could have been installed between solar and wind power plants, producing electricity to produce which approximately 20 billion cubic meters of gas would be consumed.
Thus Ciafani’s appeal, which Legambiente also addressed to the Government: “Speed up the ecological transition to renewable sources and abolish subsidies for environmentally harmful initiatives”, with reference to coal-fired power plants or the return to nuclear power. “Chernobyl or Fukushima be a warning.” Ciafani’s speech at the evening moderated by Manuele Degiacomi summed up the thoughts of those who intend to change the energy dependence of Monferrato, with open doors to renewable energy.
But what is the path to follow? The answers from Sergio Olivero, president of the Scientific Committee of the CER in Magliano Alpi, the first Italian reality in Cer, and from Chiara Brogi, referent for the Cer «È nostra» in Milan. «Energy communities are associations between citizens, businesses, local authorities that together produce, consume and manage electricity from renewable sources with one or more energy production plants. They produce for their needs and the surplus goes online to help families “in energy poverty”.
It was explained how a Cer is created, also with legal and regulatory passages. “And there are about 2 billion and 200 million from PNRR funds for Cer in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants”. Not “future”, but already “present” with examples in various Italian municipalities and the projection of graphs on the hours of the day with the greatest energy production. “Choices about a future that uses renewable energy – explained Andrea Crocetta of Legambiente Piemonte and Valle D’Aosta – but that also introduces a different culture, the citizen no longer as a consumer of energy produced by others, but attentive to saving because he is “producer””.
Vittorio Giordano local representative of Legambiente insists on photovoltaic panels on public buildings and reminds the PAES of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan signed by the Municipality in 2016 to reduce Co2 by at least 20 percent. “It was forgotten in some drawer of the Town Hall.” Noted by many is the absence of the administration and the subsidiary Energica.