Who is rowing against the Eni and Versalis project to capture carbon
Capturing and storing carbon dioxide: Draghi's words, Eni's project and institutional resistance. The speech by Gianni Bessi, regional councilor of the Democratic Party in Emilia-Romagna
Sooner or later, once all the unrealizable hypotheses have been pruned, at least for the moment, it was necessary to arrive at a synthesis of 'what to do' to begin the path of decarbonisation. Mario Draghi, with his usual realism, stated at Cop26 in Glasgow that renewables have limits and that we must invest in carbon capture technologies . This certainly does not please environmentalists and, in truth, it is an admission that the tools to combat climate change are neither so many nor sufficiently technologically advanced.
Finally, however, the Prime Minister has indicated a path that is, it is worth remembering, the same one that the EU had hypothesized through the Vice-President of the European Commission with delegation to the Green Deal Frans Timmermans: the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS ). There are already plans to go in this direction, but at the moment they are at a standstill because public opinion, science and environmental movements are divided on this point, between enthusiasts and, indeed, skeptics.
However, Mario Draghi's strong exhortation needs a quick response and, to follow, concrete steps. And the concrete steps can only be those already planned and ready for immediate construction. In this list there is obviously Eni 's carbon dioxide capture and storage plant , which in fact we imagine to be satisfied with the prime minister's words: the company has a strategic plan to be implemented in Ravenna to reduce 'hard to abate' emissions. of CO2 produced by Versalis, the chemical company of the group and one of the world players in the sector. Today we are in the phase of the pilot project that Eni intends to carry out: the project is completed with storage in the exhausted wells of the Adriatic and with the possibility of using the stored CO2 for industrial purposes. It is a project perfectly consistent with the criteria of the circular economy.
As an observer, I register some resistance in the parliament or in the ministries involved in this “Made in Italy” project. Although the project is strategic and has what it takes to become an 'environmental business card' not only for the Emilia-Romagna industrial system but for the entire system of the Italian hard-to-abbot that we could then replicate worldwide.
What is missing? A stance not only at the G20 or in Glasgow but at the national level to overcome fears and even fears on the part of all. Yes, of all. For example, what would be urgently needed is the construction in Italy of a certain regulatory framework that takes into account the European directives.
We are rightly in a hurry to affect climate change and therefore we must proceed with the tools, all the tools, that we have at our disposal. Without waiting for the silver bullet that will solve everything in one go.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/chi-rema-contro-sul-progetto-di-eni-e-versalis-per-catturare-il-carbonio/ on Wed, 03 Nov 2021 08:32:01 +0000.