Here are the proposals of parties and coalitions on gas, renewables and nuclear power

21 September 20222 years ago babelfish

Nuclear, renewables and gas price caps: all the proposals of parties and coalitions on the subject of energy in view of 25 September

Energy is the "issue" that worries Italian citizens and voters more than any other. This autumn will be the first, in almost half a century, in which households will suffer restrictions on energy consumption . Independence from Russian gas is still to come, "adding energy savings and new supplies in the second half of 2024 we will be totally independent from the Russian gas supply," said Minister Cingolani. The price cap , for the moment, is still stalled due to the opposition of Germany and the Eastern countries , and therefore the only alternative, immediately, is to save. In the long term it will be necessary to differentiate the sources of energy supply and focus on alternative sources.

The parties and coalitions that will compete on 25 September have prepared alternative and sometimes overlapping recipes. Let's go and discover them.

CENTER RIGHT: NO TO NUCLEAR, YES TO PRICE CAP AND STOP TO DEPENDENCE ON RUSSIA

Chapter number eleven of the center-right program is “The challenge of energy self-sufficiency”. Among the proposals of the conservative coalition we find:

Increase in renewable energy production;
Diversification of energy supplies and implementation of a plan for energy self-sufficiency;
Full use of national resources, also through the reactivation and new construction of natural gas wells with a view to sustainable use of sources;
Promotion of energy efficiency;
Support for price-cap policies at European level;
Recourse to energy production through the creation of latest generation plants without vetoes and preconceptions, also evaluating the use of clean and safe nuclear power.

On this last point, Giorgia Meloni's party is more cautious and limits itself to talking about “latest generation nuclear research”. The League's position that associates the development of nuclear power with that of renewable energy is more frank. “ In conjunction with renewables, plan the development, in the medium-long term, of the latest generation, clean and safe nuclear power ”, reads the program. The Carroccio program talks about measures to support companies that switch to renewables, simplification of the dies, increase of programmable sources (hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass), "also through the creation of energy communities". Furthermore, "accelerate the implementation of the energy release mechanisms (service of collection and purchase of electricity produced by renewable energy plants by the GSE and subsequent sale at controlled rates primarily to industrial customers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and to customers located in the major islands who participate in the interruptibility service) ". The Fratelli d'Italia program proposes the "strengthening, at European level, of the RepowerEu to overcome the energy dependence on Russia" and to diversify the supply from abroad "by focusing on the" Mediterranean corridor "and making Italy the European energy hub ”also by creating new gas pipelines.

CENTER LEFT: NO TO NUCLEAR ENERGY AND "SOCIAL LIGHT"

The first pillar of the Democratic Party program is dedicated The first pillar to sustainable development and transitions, digital and green. “The ecological transition represents a great opportunity to modernize Italy and redirect its development trajectory in a scenario of sustainability – reads the program -. The challenge of the fight against climate change must not be fought in a defensive key ”. The PD finds at least three good reasons to immediately start investing in clean energy:

counteracts climate change by reducing CO2 emissions;
structurally cuts the price of bills for households and businesses and creates new jobs;
it strengthens our national security by reducing dependence on the import of fossil fuels from abroad.

A separate discussion for nuclear power, for which the opposition of progressives remains "because the timing of implementation and existing technologies are not compatible with a significant reduction in emissions by 2030 and do not solve the environmental problems associated with them". Some openings to regasifiers " the use of which appears necessary, but on condition that they constitute bridging solutions , remaining active for a few years, and that they can be demobilized well before 2050, so as not to interrupt the prospect of ecological transition". Energy saving is organized centrally with a "national plan for energy saving and interventions aimed at drastically increasing the share of renewables produced in Italy, also through the development of energy communities, with the aim of installing 85 GW of renewables more by 2030 ". An ambitious goal that could have as a virtuous side effect the "creation of about 500,000 new jobs". Moving from macro to micro, the PD thinks of a "social light" contract to help families with medium and low incomes to cope with the expensive bills. “This is a contract for the supply of energy produced entirely from renewable sources and purchased directly by the public company Acqucquisto Unico. The purchase contract will last for ten years and this will allow to obtain very low electricity prices for the benefit of families: up to a maximum of 1,350 KWh / year per family (equal to 50% of the average consumption), the electricity will be supplied at no cost, while on the part of consumption exceeding the prices will be controlled in any case ".

GREEN AND ITALIAN LEFT: NO TO FOSSILS, DRILLS AND NUCLEAR

Nuclear power is also out of the question for the formation of the Greens and the Italian Left . " The Sun is the largest 'nuclear fusion reactor' already available for renewable energy production and provides fifteen thousand times the energy humanity needs every year." After all, "Renewable Italy" is the first chapter of the coalition of Fratoianni and Bonelli. "Scientific and technological research has developed the technologies necessary to capture solar energy such as photovoltaics, solar thermal and wind power, as well as those to conserve energy in a very efficient way, for example lithium batteries and pumping hydroelectric plants ”, continues the program. The objective is that energy becomes " a common good, detaching itself from the logic of centralized systems in which few produce / distribute and all consume the resource, if they have the opportunity to purchase it". "Energy democracy" does not accept discounts even in the face of an emergency, the transition cannot be stopped and the goal remains "the definitive abandonment of methane gas from the national energy system" and "the exit from gas generation in the electricity system by 2035 ". Add to this:

a plan for the elimination of fossil fuels from homes using renewable energy;
the proposal to accelerate the production of renewable electricity to reach the installation of 15 GW per year;
the exploitation of all existing gas infrastructures;
an environmental tax reform according to the ' polluter pays ' principle;
a firm no to nuclear power and drilling.

THIRD POLE: A THREE-STEP ENERGY PLAN AND YES TO NUCLEAR

The energy policy proposals of the Third Pole of Renzi and Calenda are divided into three steps: short term, medium term and long term. The short-term goal is to achieve independence from Russian gas "which has become a matter of national security". It is therefore proposed to:

complete the construction of two floating regasifiers;
increase national gas production by reactivating and upgrading existing plants;
strengthen the renewable energy strategy;
to promote a price cap for all imported gas in the EU to reduce the cost of electricity.

The medium-term objective is " to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 with renewable sources " by continuing along the "decarbonisation process, with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% compared to the 1990 level, possibly by 2030. For the long term, the goal is "to include nuclear power in the energy mix to achieve" zero emissions "in 2050" because "generating all the electricity needed by 2050 with only variable renewable technologies would require wind and photovoltaic plants , short and long-term storage systems, electricity grids and consequent occupation of land in at least three times the extent of an optimal mix with renewables and nuclear ".

M5S: NO NUCLEAR, DRILLS AND INCINERATORS. YES TO BUILDING AND RENEWABLE BONUSES

Also for the M5S the future is only in renewables. In the chapter "On the side of the environment: for the energy and ecological transition and the protection of biodiversity ", Giuseppe Conte's party lists the following proposals:

“2000 Watt Society: Aiming for a Sustainable Energy Consumption Model to Reduce Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions”;
Superbonus and other structural building bonuses ”to allow“ improving energy saving levels and consequently saving on bills ”;
“A new superbonus energy enterprises” which allows “enterprises to invest at zero cost in energy saving and renewable sources”;
“Bureaucratization to encourage the creation of renewable energy plants”;
“Contrast to the carobollette” through the “revision of the gas price formation system, favoring the detachment from the Dutch market TTF, characterized by speculative phenomena”;
A firm no to "new drilling and new incinerators".

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/ecco-le-proposte-di-partiti-e-coalizioni-su-gas-rinnovabili-e-nucleare/ on Wed, 21 Sep 2022 06:06:15 +0000.