What impact will the soaring energy price have on Italy's path towards the ecological transition? And what are the technical innovations that can help us overcome the difficulties? We asked Gilberto Dialuce, president of the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development (ENEA). Here is the interview he gave to FIRSTonline.
President Dialuce, 2022 promises to be a crucial year for the Italian ecological transition. An ambitious plan weighed on, however, by the fibrillation of the energy market. What is his opinion?
«We are in a very complex moment due to the addition of a set of elements: from the strong recovery of energy demand in Europe, but also in Asia, to the tensions on foreign gas supply volumes, which has had repercussions on the European market and gas and electricity prices. Prices that have reached extremely high levels: more than double the previous historical highs».
Is Aeneas keeping the situation under observation?
«Our December quarterly analysis of the Italian energy system shows that in the third quarter of the year there were peaks in wholesale prices of 430% for gas and 194% for electricity compared to the same period of 2020. And it is only thanks to the exceptional interventions decided by the Government that these increases have only partially reached the bills of final consumers. This is why the "fibrillations", as you call them, are a critical issue of great importance on the path of ecological transition".
The government supports the validity of gas as a source necessary to accompany the transition to renewables. It's really like this?
«Our analyzes show that the greater use of coal in recent months in various European countries, including Italy, following the increase in gas costs, has caused a sharp increase in climate-altering gas emissions, highlighting the lower impact of the latter as a source of transition. But it is clear that it must be a passage, as rapid as possible, which will have to accompany the transition according to the resolution of the problem of energy storage, while maintaining the adequacy of the electricity system".
Do we need more innovation?
"Yes. In this context, research and innovation can make a major contribution to supporting and accelerating the growth of renewable energy sources, increasing their yield and optimizing their benefits".
What are you engaged in?
«We are working with national and European projects on the development of new technologies for thermodynamic solar, high-yield photovoltaics, innovative batteries, agrivoltaics, energy from the sea and green hydrogen with a 14 million Hydrogen Valley project of Euro. Without forgetting the development of energy communities and efficiency, which play a strategic role in containing consumption and therefore facilitating the achievement of such ambitious objectives".
Enea is also involved in the implementation of the Superbonus 110%. There have been political discussions on the decision to extend its validity, above all due to the increase in the prices of some necessary materials. Parliament finally decided to keep the incentive, albeit with some changes. What did you think? And what effects will we have in the long run?
«We are a highly specialized research body that provides objective data on the effectiveness of the various incentive measures for energy efficiency, on which politics can base its choices. As a national agency for energy efficiency, we can say that the 110% Superbonus has produced some significant effects, shifting citizens' attention towards structural interventions for the entire building and no longer just for the individual home, in order to achieve significant savings. It is true that this is an expensive measure, but it is also a radical measure that produces long-lasting results. Furthermore, it is positive that the government has decided to adopt a decree law against fraud, with respect to which ENEA will ensure controls throughout the national territory".
In your organization there is a Department that deals with nuclear fusion and safety. But Italy must stay out of any hypothesis of use of the nuclear or not?
«Also in this case, ours is an exclusively technical approach, but it is important to underline that in the field of fusion our country is doing a lot, with repercussions at a scientific level, of innovation and competitiveness of companies of great importance».
Can you give us some examples?
«Only for ITER, the large experimental project under construction in France, Italian industries have won over 1,4 billion orders. We have researchers and technologists whose professionalism is internationally recognized and we are working with ENI and a group of universities and research institutions on the Italian project DTT to create a national infrastructure of excellence that allows for the testing of fusion reactor plant solutions. All this with the aim of being able to produce safe, sustainable energy in large quantities to meet the needs of a rapidly growing world population".
Even through new technologies?
«In the nuclear field we are also exploring new veins, for example for new generation reactors, which are expected to be built abroad and, in the health field, for the production of radiopharmaceuticals in Italy, with great benefits at national level, and of machines for advanced oncological therapies».
Finally, the fight against climate change. For Europe it has two fundamental dates: 2030 and 2050. Do you think we will make it?
«The fight against climate change is fundamental and an extraordinary effort is needed, also through measures that allow us to accelerate towards the objectives set. I think it is essential to structure a different mix of energy sources, to accelerate production from renewable sources. In this the Decree simplifications, which drastically reduces the authorization process for new plants, is an effective measure. I am also thinking of sustainable mobility, but above all we need to act on individual behavior and on energy use models which can make a very important contribution. And I also believe, as the Minister of Ecological Transition has argued, that it is necessary to focus on a set of innovative technological solutions, with great attention to opportunities, but also to critical issues, especially social ones, in order to have a just and inclusive transition".
