Assogasmetano, Assopetroli-Assoenergia e Federmetano they ask the government for targeted interventions for a decrease in the retail prices of methane for motor vehicles, warning that “in the event that the requests presented are again ignored in the next useful measure, the sector will go on strike 4, 5 and 6 May 2022“. During a press conference, the associations indicated «first of all a reduction in VAT from 22% al 5%already granted for civil and industrial uses, to which is added the extension of the tax credit for road hauliers also to the CNG “.
The request for support to the sector
The associations, which represent the owners of natural gas distributors for transport, have asked for “support from institutions to counter the surge in the price of natural gas, which has hit the sector for months and worsened after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine ». The methane supply chain for transport, they emphasized, has about 20 thousand employees in Italy, over 1,500 points of sale, 1.1 million low-middle-income families, road hauliers and local public transport companies that have chosen methane for their mobility. , as well as 30% of biomethane already distributed on the network for automotive use. The measures requested, concluded the associations, are “indispensable in the face of the negative impact that the current crisis is having on the pursuit of the objectives that the sector has set itself, relating to the increase in the methane fleet, to further development the network of refueling stations, the spread of self-service and the upgrading of the infrastructures for liquefied methane (LNG) in southern Italy “.
Merigo (Assogasmetano): forgotten automotive methane sector
“It is difficult to understand the reasons why our sector has been systematically forgotten in the support initiatives that, instead, have been adopted for other fuels,” he said. the president of Assogasmetano, Flavio Merigo. “The energy strategy of our country, as in other states, cannot ignore the use of methane – he explained – both in the liquid and gaseous phase, which moreover represents a strategic bridge towards the production and massive use of biomethane, one of the renewable sources that Italy is in dire need of to ensure economic, technical, energy and environmental sustainability in line with the requirements of the circular economy. There has been a lot of talk in recent months – he concluded – about the need for decarbonisation of the transport sector, but little emphasis has been given to the fact that biomethane-powered vehicles are not only true Zevs (“zero emission vehicles”), but even , depending on the production matrix of biomethane, Nev (“negative emission vehicle”) which risk having no future if the methane sector for transport were to disappear, due to energy and environmental myopia or, worse, anachronistic or ideological choices “.
Assopetroli-Assoenergia: default risk
“The distribution of methane for automotive is in danger of default,” said the president of Assopetroli-Assoenergia, Andrea Rossetti. «We ask the government for a very urgent intervention – he explained – for protection as done against expensive gasoline. The price of gas is out of control. Consumers and distributors are exhausted, while the government has been earning extra VAT for months due to the increase in prices. These are resources that must be returned immediately to consumers in the form of a VAT cut, or any other type of calmiere “. «At risk – Rossetti warned – there is an entire supply chain that is the pillar of low-emission mobility. Years of public-private investments risk going up in smoke: gas car makers, distribution sector, road haulage, final consumers ». “European energy security and the achievement of the environmental and climate targets of the Green New Deal depend on the ability to safeguard these investments. The government cannot remain indifferent, ”he concluded.
Federmetano: unsustainable situation
In the automotive methane sector, «the situation is now unsustainable for operators and users. The sequence of decrees put in place to deal with the increase in energy prices has so far seen us excluded, although since October we have been reiterating to the institutions the exceptional difficulty in which we find ourselves operating or no longer operating “. Thus the president of Federmetano, Dante Natali. «Today – he continued – natural gas is the only one of the fuels used in the country that does not receive any form of protection and safeguarding. Yet methane is the only one to boast a replacement of the fossil component with one of organic origin, therefore 100% renewable, in a percentage that is already significant today. Replacement that could be total in a few years “. «We trust in the intervention of the government to avoid the economic failure of a sector and the ecological one of the country. Otherwise we will continue to do everything in our power in favor of Italian excellence and the right of our users to move responsibly », she explained.