“Italy is among the most virtuous European countries on energy efficiency: our system of white certificates is always the subject of interest from other countries, even if more needs to be done. The guidelines for companies must be updated and also for condominiums this activity can also be a driving force to reduce the seismic risk of the building heritage". Word of Alessandro Ortis, who was President of the Energy Authority from 2003 to 2011, precisely in the years in which the system of white certificates, the one which provides that the distributors of electricity and natural gas annually reach certain quantitative objectives of primary energy savings, was introduced into Italian legislation.
12 years have passed and in the meantime Italy has insisted on energy efficiency. With what results?
“Both the global economic crisis and the irreversible risks of climate change are laying new foundations of awareness in many countries on the importance of "making" energy efficiency and saving. Italy is trying to do its part and already today has one of the most virtuous levels of energy intensity, i.e. the ratio between units of energy and units of GDP, 18% lower than the EU average (the higher the value, the higher the consumption and the relative cost of converting energy into GDP, ed). In recent times, the transposition of the Energy Efficiency Directive and the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency have provided a first structured framework useful for removing the barriers that delay the diffusion of energy efficiency, both at national and local level ”.
How did our European partners behave instead?
“As regards the European scenario, I could answer with the data, which are improving, from the western side of the EU but I think it is more interesting to shift attention towards the east, recalling a document from the Secretariat of the Energy Community which offers a complete overview of all the tools offered by the EU to support the adoption of "good practices" for energy efficiency. The first results also seem encouraging in the Balkans. For example, Serbia has adopted a Regulation, oriented towards energy efficiency, which has led to the replacement of a large part of the public lighting and the upgrading of public buildings systems. Albania, Kosovo and Ukraine have passed some laws on the energy efficiency of buildings which include the launch of "certifications", compliance with minimum energy performance standards, the promotion of redevelopment and maintenance building interventions and much more, naturally with a positive drag opportunities for investment and employment".
Energy efficiency is first of all evaluated on the economic savings that it allows households, businesses and the public administration to achieve. Is it possible to evaluate how much it has made it possible to recover in terms of costs in recent years?
“In less than 10 years, Italian families have invested almost 28 billion euros to reduce waste and make their homes more efficient, carrying out 2,5 million energy requalification interventions between 2007 and 2015. Overall in the period 2005 -2015, energy efficiency measures have saved almost 10 Mtoe (million tons of oil equivalent) a year, avoiding 26 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 3 billion euros of expenses to import fossil fuels . It should also be remembered that the 4 billion euros invested in 2013 for energy requalification in buildings generated employment for 60.000 people”.
Is there still a large margin to recover?
“We have an indicative national energy saving target determined according to the implementation methodology of Directive 2012/27/EU: it consists of a reduction in primary energy consumption from 20 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe/year) by 2020, equal to 15,5 Mtoe/year of final energy. In particular, the "white certificates" mechanism must guarantee the achievement of energy savings of no less than 60% of the cumulative national energy savings target. It should be noted that the cost/effectiveness of "white certificates" is seven times lower than that of tax deductions of 55/65%. The remaining volume of energy savings is entrusted to the incentive measures in force".
The system of white certificates, he said, needs to be updated. How, in your opinion?
“For the industrial sector, the current incentive systems are based on procedures that can necessarily be complex, therefore the new guidelines are eagerly awaited. One of these could be the one suggested by the Scientific Committee of Smart Energy Expo to switch from incentive systems based on subsidies granted to objects (plants) to subsidies granted on the basis of the results achieved, regardless of the methods (management or investment) used to achieve them. The objective is to promote the reduction of energy intensity (energy/added value ratio) of companies, rewarding both planning activities and those implementing energy efficiency interventions”.
How is the Government moving from this point of view?
“It will be interesting to see how companies will be able to exploit the industry 4.0 plan, now under discussion with the Budget Law. Within it there are possibilities of strong depreciation at the level of instruments aimed at the competitiveness of companies. Among these, I hope there are also hardware or software systems for the analysis, measurement and improvement of energy consumption management. Among the many examples of opportunities that can be pursued in the energy efficiency sector, I want to point out one, perhaps undervalued: the support of paths that can lead companies to ISO50001 certification, i.e. to adopt an appropriate and effective system for optimal management of energy consumption ”.
Households, on the other hand, benefit from the tax deduction system for interventions related to energy efficiency.
“In reality, even with regard to tax deductions, it would be necessary to make a quantum leap in the type of interventions to be encouraged. In Italy there are about 6 million condominiums or buildings for residential use that are not made up of single dwellings; almost 70% of these were built before 1976, the year in which the first regulation on energy efficiency in buildings was issued. Activating this sector of intervention is of crucial importance not only for the energy and environmental effects but because it could be the driving force to intervene also to reduce the seismic risk of the building heritage. Of course, these are interventions that require investments of significant amounts and technologically qualified, to promote them a regulatory intervention is essential aimed at overcoming some obstacles to the development of demand, not only through an increase in the deductible quota for these types of investment, but also through new mechanisms that allow the transfer of the tax credit also for incompetent subjects".
Energy efficiency is not measured only in terms of savings on bills. But also, for example, improvement for the environment and a sustainable environment. However, this is an issue in which it is necessary to move towards a global sharing of objectives and the world, especially after the US elections and the victory of Donald Trump who could withdraw from the Paris Cop21 agreement, seems to be heading towards growing uncertainties. What are we risking? And if energy efficiency is a "cultural revolution", are we close to a turning point or still far away?
“First of all we need to reduce the scope of that agreement, regardless of US accession. Indeed, I would be cautious about the possibility that the agreements reached at the Paris Conference adequately respond to the need to limit climate-altering gas emissions. The COP-21 in Paris has indeed made it possible to reach a global agreement, but at the price of a radical change from the point of view of the negotiating method: in fact, compared to a mechanism similar to the Kyoto Protocol, based on the distribution of a global objective through an binding multilateral agreement, the one in Paris is based on unilateral voluntary contributions by each country. Therefore, one cannot reasonably hope that the Paris agreement will have a decisive outcome with respect to the objective of containing the global temperature within 2°C”.
What role can Europe play in this delicate process?
“Europe is once again a candidate to be the leader in policies to combat climate change, however European policies present problems that undermine the effectiveness of the expected objectives. According to the current accounting of emissions, Europe is in fact achieving all the reduction objectives on paper, but these data only consider the emissions generated in the European territory, neglecting those originating in different territories for the sole purpose of producing goods and services exported in Europe. The replacement of European productions with imports from emerging countries has led, in addition to the well-known loss of employment and production activities, to a strong increase in world emissions due to the lower energy and environmental efficiency of the countries where these productions are located".
So how to do it?
“The strategy that can allow Europe to reconcile the environmental objectives, which cannot be renounced, with that of maintaining a solid manufacturing industry must be based above all on the possibility of making the greater environmental quality of its production recognizable through the traceability of emissions. This model, even in the absence of global agreements, would have the advantage of being attractive both for other developed countries and for emerging economies which could be pushed, even for the sole purpose of being more competitive on the European market, to adopt similar traceability mechanisms emissions induced by exported goods and services. Perhaps the new US administration could more easily converge on market mechanisms of this type”.
