"Italy has assumed a new centrality, and has a new opportunity, due to the geopolitical balance and the fact that climate change and technological development lead to the exploitation of the sun. The fact that in the South there are 1400 hours of sunshine a year, compared to 1100 of the North, makes the difference. The South has a lot of potential for wind energy. The North has always led the South, but now it can be overturned rest of Europe". The Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, said this at the FestivalEuromediterraneo 2024 in Naples.
"We are also central to hydrogen - added Pichetto -.
Europe has an estimate of 20 million tons of hydrogen to be used by 2030. Of these, 4 or 5 should come from Italy and North Africa. We put them in the pipes together with algas, and we send them to Bavaria. This is why our country is busy building the Adriatic backbone. At the moment we have a pipeline that can transport 125 million cubic meters a day, we have to add about forty. the gas doesn't pass. And until I'm sure of the backbone, I can't be sure of building the regasification terminals in Porto Empedocle and Gioia Tauro".
The minister said that "the Mattei Plan is starting to be in the interest of Europe" and cited Eni, "which integrates our interest with that of Africa. Investing in biofuel plantations means creating thousands of agricultural companies in African countries, which produce and give employment. They are development opportunities for those territories, which also make a contribution to resolving the immigration issue".