In a few days, in Pisa, it will hold a meeting consecrated to the renewable energies sector into our Country, in which various subjects, usually having difficulties of holding a profitable dialogue, will be confronted on it.
In Italy the renewable energies represent a challenge with many facets. Of the latter we'll highlight three.
The first one is the prospective linking the renewable energies to the research, both scientific and technological. The fragmentation and the low Research & Development investment - only 1,1% of the GDP - and the obstacles for the SME of acceding to the innovation, are serious problems. The researchers, however, through their projects, are often involved in the environmental protection and in the sustainability. Also the science world has a good head for the sustainable development. A peculiarity to be exploited encouraging the resources investment towards the renewable energies is at stake.

The second one regards the industrial development of the renewable. The technologies linked to the Green Power are very light and easy to distribute. These characteristics make them particularly coherent with the Italian entrepreneurial scenario, characterized by Small and Medium Enterprises. The trouble of this situation is the difficult access to the innovation and to the dimensions of this entrepreneurial model. The Politics must solve these problems, sustaining the sector-based information and arranging the normative and incentive instruments in order to develop organic and distributed divisions that achieve a network fit for the exploitation of the renewable as an incentive for the industrial and the economic development.
The third one is related to the energy generation. It seems that, in Italy, the enterprises producing energy confront rarely themselves with the renewable energies. In fact, the small ones have scale-problems nowadays. While, the big ones look for productive assets that still have the fossil energies as denominator. In other words, it seems that the renewable is viewed only as a "duty" rather than an opportunity. Moreover, the issue concerning the energetic efficiency of all the "spinneret"- from the generation to the final destination - seems tackled with insufficient attention. An interesting question is to see if, into these groups, it will be given space to the new generation of managers having a formation on the sustainable development issues.

In conclusion, in Italy, there are many virtuous examples related to the renewable sector. However, these are isolated and sporadic. Another positive step further will be took if , during the Pisa meeting, will arrive signals of responsibility and will of coherent actions.
Nobody must forget however that, in the face of the serious health problems of the planet, the challenge on the energy is become principal. The time factor is become an undelayable constraint forcing everybody to take decisions rapidly. Any rejection, delay or postponement on this front compels, in the short term, to two options: delivering a destroyed biosphere to the new generations - not only to the future ones - or giving a new chance to the nuclear energy, with the consequences of the case.

Elio Pacilio
Green Cross Italia Vice - President

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