Diary of the earthquake: from balsamic vinegar to Parmesan, millions of damages to Made in Italy

DIARY OUT OF THE CHORUS – Interview with Tabarelli (Nomisma Energia): “Fracking? Maybe it was done in Emilia. Do you have excise duties on petrol? It's our tax on ground coffee” – The best balsamic vinegar in the world is produced in the small area between Modena and Reggio Emilia, not to mention Parmigiano Reggiano: Coldiretti estimates the total damage at 500 million.

From balsamic vinegar to Parmesan, millions of damages to made in Italy food

The consortium of traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena estimates that the damage to the sector is several tens of millions of euros. After all, balsamic vinegar costs between 500 and a thousand euros per liter and even a modest damage to vinegar cellars can amount to several thousand euros. The best balsamic vinegar in the world is produced in the small area between Modena and Reggio Emilia, the one in the typical bottle designed by Giugiaro which is exported to all countries.

Even Parmigiano Reggiano, already hit hard by the earthquake of the 20th, suffered further damage from yesterday's earthquake (one million wheels compromised) and Coldiretti provides an email to save it: earthquake@coldiretti.it who can be contacted to send requests, specifying name, address, telephone, product and quantity in which one is interested.

The total bill for damages, by default, is 500 million, from dairies to fruit processing plants, from rural houses, to stables, barns, destroyed machinery and dead animals between the provinces of Modena, Ferrara, Piacenza, Mantua and Bologna but also between Rovigo and Reggio Emilia. 100 meters from the Emotronic biomedical industry in Medolla, in Mauro Galavotti's company, the hay warehouses with photovoltaic system have collapsed, the company centers are damaged and there is a need for containers for people and animals in the barn where there are cows that produce milk for Parmigiano Reggiano. In Mirandola - continues Coldiretti - in Davide Pinchelli's stable which is located 150 meters from the Bbg industry, where unfortunately there have been victims, the company centers have collapsed. In Alessandro Truzzi's breeding farm via Boccalina 4/in Novi di Modena, the sheds of a 550-year-old courtyard collapsed, the barn and warehouses with hay and feed underneath collapsed and it is not known what to feed the animals.

Tabarelli (Nomisma Energia): “Maybe fracking was done in Emilia. Do you have excise duties on petrol? It's our tax on the ground"

“Maybe we did fracking in Emilia or Italy, where we have a lot of gas, but that won't happen. We will continue to leave this new gold rush to the Americans and the British and to import the resources we need”. Thus Davide Tabarelli, president of Nomisma Energia, a great expert on oil and its surroundings.

Professor, are there any drilling or behaviors related to the project for a gas depot in Rivara, in the heart of the area affected by the earthquake, which can to some extent be connected to the earthquake in Emilia?
Rivara's project was rejected by the Region and the research being conducted by Erg Rivara Storage (Ers), a joint venture owned 85% by the Independent Resources group and 15% by the Erg dei Garrone group, cannot be all origin of nothing. And then I am convinced that no gas storage center will come to life in those areas.
Is fracking, that particular technique used to squeeze the gas dispersed in the rocks, practiced in the region?
No, unfortunately fracking is not used in our country. It is a technique that will bring wealth to the United States, where there are large uninhabited territories and many experiments in this area. Today, gas reserves in the world are estimated for another 50 years. Thanks to fracking we could even quadruple them, reaching up to 200 years. Paradoxically, it would be fortunate to discover that earthquakes have such easily identifiable reasons, we could prevent and avoid them, but this is not the case.
What do you think of the government's decision to increase the excise duty on petrol by 2 cents, to help the areas affected by the earthquake?

It is an expected measure and it does not surprise me, given that every emergency from the 60s onwards, from Belice to Vajont, is dealt with in this way. It's the modern grist tax. Fortunately, this increase comes after a 12 cent drop in prices in recent weeks. The problem, however, is that we are living in a phase of constant uncertainty and consumption is falling. Diesel and gasoline volumes could fall 10%, above and beyond expected revenues. I also hope that this intervention avoids the VAT increase scheduled for October. In fact, another 2 points would translate into a further increase of around 3,6 cents.

Even the Banca Popolare dell'Emilia in the midst of the earthquake

Banks at stake, in the Emilia earthquake. In particular Banca Popolare dell'Emilia-Romagna, based in Modena, announces that it has suspended operations in 20 branches, about ten of which, however, will be able to resume activity in a few days. Four temporary structures (containers and "autobanca"), two mobile units (campers equipped with branch operations) made available to the affected areas. Loans in the perimeter of the crater by the group amount to approximately 500 million (approximately 1% of total loans).

Errani appointed commissioner, proposes to avoid the commissioner

The president of the Emilia-Romagna Region Vasco Errani, appointed extraordinary commissioner for the reconstruction, proposes to face the emergency without a "commissariat". Basically the Governor of Emilia-Romagna hopes that the area will be able to react at all levels and that the public administration as a whole participates, as it is doing today, in the reconstruction. For Errani, "the precious work of the Municipalities, the Provinces, the Region" is fundamental.

Read the first three parts of the Earthquake Diary: 1 - 2 - 3