The Italian Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (Pniec) will make more sense if it also concerns agriculture. As long as agricultural production is supported by impactful energy supply chains, talking about green agri-food will be little more than a misunderstanding. Every year farms buy and use tons of traditional fuels. For a long time they have been helped by tax incentives to contain production costs.
Green farmers, however, are increasingly seen and the good performances of organic exports they are a reassuring sign. But it has been understood that a technological and financial boost is also needed to grow more. Energy feeds the entire supply chain up to the conservation of the products destined for distribution. So, Elettricità Futura -which in Confindustria brings together renewable companies- and Confagricoltura, have decided to get together. They have signed a strategic agreement to have more photovoltaics in the countryside, above all. Then also biomass, biogas and more to generate clean electricity.
Together they accept the challenge of the Pniec, but try to substantiate it with applications and operational interventions. Politics registers these good practices. An Enea study had established that only with the white certificate system €8 billion can be saved a year of fossil fuel imports and 55 million tons of CO2. Now we can aspire to something more and also with the help of Europe.
The first step of the agreement between the two organizations is the creation of a Coordination Committee for an annual program within the "Agrovoltaic" Plan. The installation of photovoltaic panels in farms would mark the turning point, causing the average annual energy expenditure of individual agricultural operators to decrease in favor of renewables. Agro-energy is the obligatory path for Confagricoltura who intends to pursue it to the end. “We are for the sustainability of agricultural production It is an important element of competitiveness for our companies, taking into account the strong commitments to which agriculture is called by the Green Deal” says Massimiliano Giansanti, president of Confagricoltura.
The 2030 goals, with decarbonisation, expose the agricultural world to various risks. The resources to be put in place are considerable and studying solutions is an industrial added value. A bit like in the days of the fertilizer business with the big chemical companies in the field. Agostino Re Rebaudengo, President of Elettricità Futura made it clear when signing the agreement with Confagricoltura: "The decarbonisation objectives of the Green Deal to 2030 can only be achieved through a constructive dialogue without prejudice between all the subjects involved, both on the corporate side and on the institutional side. The signed Protocol demonstrates how the business world as a whole is ready to take up the challenge of the energy transition". Obviously, a good understanding between such representative subjects is not enough. We need the necessary help of laws and measures in support. It is to be assumed that the government will be kept informed of the development of the agreement.
