Energy transition, we need everyone's contribution

What if there was a permanent consultative structure, which includes the research centers and the two island universities, to support the regional council in managing the energy transition of Sardinia? This is the proposal that emerged from the two days "Contributions for a roadmap for the energy transition of Sardinia", organized by Sotacarbo, University of Cagliari and Enea. It would be a very precious tool to support those who are about to travel, as explained by the president of Sotacarbo Mario Porcu, “a complex path, far from obvious. A path that requires the involvement of public opinion and the world of industry to make today's choices with which the possibility of reaching or not reaching the 2030 and 2050 targets set at EU level and adopted by the national government is at stake. and by the regional council ".

The meeting was also attended by the regional councilor for the environment, Gianni Lampis who shared these considerations: “For Sardinia - he said - it is important to exploit and put together all the resources and skills at its disposal. Sotacarbo represents an operational arm of the Region, very useful when taking responsibility for defining virtuous paths ".

Marcello Capra, representative of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, with reference to the Energy and Climate Plan (Pniec), focused on the role of research and in particular of the international Mission Innovation program, which will be ratified at COP26, and then underlined the importance of develop a hydrogen industry in abandoned industrial areas, creating real Hydrogen Valley. In his speech, the president Enea Gilberto Dialuce, on the other hand, highlighted the need for investments in renewables, storage technologies and hydrogen but also the strengthening of synergies between private actors and public institutions. But above all the importance of inclusiveness, as well as the readjustment of collective behaviors. The data illustrated by Maurizio Delfanti, CEO of Rse is also interesting: "A study for Sardinia - he illustrated - shows that per capita CO2 emissions are lower than the national average due to a lower heating requirement, an already high electrification and greater use of biomass. Compared to the current situation in Sardinia, he said, the introduction of natural gas is both economically and environmentally better. Electrification in the civil sector is conditioned by the availability and costs of electrical technologies (heat pumps), by the island's reduced heating needs and by the presence of incentive tools that make it possible to overcome the high investment costs.

The second session was entitled "Proposals for a roadmap for climate neutrality", and the president Sotacarbo Mario Porcu and Giorgio Graditi, director of the Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources Department of Enea, outlined the path for the creation of a "Polo of Hydrogen Innovation in Sardinia ". We started from the consideration that the island has limited electrical interconnections, ample availability of sun and wind and a limited diffusion of methane that make the transition to green hydrogen an opportunity. "We have to be honest: the energy transition will cause you to lose many jobs, but it will create many others. But you have to be ready" explains Graditi. Going in this direction, the training of new professionals will certainly have a decisive weight - underlined Fabrizio Pilo, Vice Rector for the Territory and Innovation - schools, universities and research centers play a fundamental role ".

The second day, hosted in the Sotacarbo Research Center in Carbonia, focused on the role of research and industry, characterized by the contribution of representatives of the United States Department of Energy, who explained the Biden administration's program to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and how, in this context, fits the decision taken in recent weeks to extend by three years and expand the existing agreement with Sotacarbo to develop new projects related to hydrogen in the Carbonia Research Center. Paola Massidda illustrated the four projects presented by the Municipality as part of the Just Transition Fund, and recalled that, "in such a critical phase for the territory, research has the duty to indicate to the administrations the right path to lead to the phase- out of coal plants and climate neutrality ". The vision and projects of the University of Cagliari were proposed in the contributions of professors Aldo Muntoni, Alfonso Damiano and Giorgio Cau: “Energy management plays a key role in the energy transition. For a rational management of non-programmable renewable sources it is necessary to integrate renewable production plants with storage systems. And hydrogen is a long-term energy storage medium. A clean and versatile energy vector ".

The administrator of Crs4 Giacomo Cao and the director of Sardegna Ricerche Maria Assunta Serra have the importance of grasping the key message of the conference: the need for the world of island research, universities and institutions, to team up and assist the Region on the issues of energy and transition. "This event on the energy transition must become an annual appointment, which accompanies us on this path, to evaluate its evolution and developments" was the invitation of the rector of the University of Cagliari Francesco Mola to the organizers, underlining the topicality of the theme and the importance of the role of research. Consideration reaffirmed by Professor Pilo, Vice Rector for the Territory and Innovation. The two days ended with a session dedicated to the role of energy efficiency in relation to industry and public buildings and the redevelopment and efficiency project carried out in the Sotacarbo Research Center inside the Serbariu mine.