Italy is the country that has explored more than any other in the post-war years gas wells. The search for hydrocarbons in the Po Valley it was one of the great intuitions of Enrico Mattei who knew how to fully exploit its potential. Strengthened by this more than ten years of experience, Italy today has the technical skills to work globally against methane dispersions in the air. The founder ofEni he would have come to terms with it, more or less like whoever is at the helm of the company today.
All projects Cop28 in Dubai the topic has been much discussed and the recent announcement of the non-profit organization Environmental Defense Fund Edfe with Google for the satellite launch MethaneSat has reinvigorated the debate on the technologies to be used. Italy can recover all the gas that would otherwise be wasted, both for the national, European and global markets, was the conclusion at the conference entitled "Methane emissions at COP28, outcomes and prospects for Italy" organized online by Friends of the Earth in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund Europe (Edfe).
They attended the meeting Monica Tommasi, President of Friends of the Earth, Vania Gava, deputy minister of the environment, Francesco Corvaro, envoy of the Italian government for the climate, Kitti Nyitrai, Head of Green Transition Unit of the European Commission, Manfredi Caltagirone, Head of Imeo – Unep, Flavia Sollazzo, Edfe manager.
Energy: who is working towards the 2035 objectives?
The priority is the mitigation of emissions by 2025 to proceed towards a reduction of 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035. Methane is now identified as the second largest cause of global warming. After COP 28 something is moving on this front. The EU, USA and other countries are defining regulatory standards and requirements while membership of the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), of which Italy was one of the first signatories, is expanding.
At this online address (here the link) of Friends of the Earth there is a guide to explore the path ahead. Gas is needed for the energy transition, its disappearance in the coming years has become a syndrome for thousands of environmentalists. “This decade will be crucial to achieve the strategic objective of decarbonisation and to do so we must seize the most accessible opportunities,” said Flavia Sollazzo. Long-term operations involve governments and production companies. We have understood that the latter counts more than the former. Solutions are indicated in the Integrated National Plan for Energy and the Italian Climate (Pniec) and Deputy Minister Gava spoke of Italian collaborations with gas-producing economies. The government's Mattei Plan was mentioned a lot during the meeting, with a good degree of confidence in its implementation.
The president of Friends of the Earth also argued that "the Plan demonstrates the government's intentions, at a time when interest in reducing emissions from African producing, user and exporting countries is growing". It's just the probability of success Is it overrated? Is anyone who doesn't appreciate the role of gas out of touch with reality?
