Il 2020 doveva essere l'anno in cui l'UE avrebbe lanciato il suo ambizioso piano per affrontare la crisi climatica. Tuttavia, le azioni di molti dei suoi stati membri mostrano un modello di ipocrisia climatica.In Italia vedi il fossile gas che vuole 60 anni di gas ed il Sole 24 Ore che ne prende le difese non parlando mai di R.gas da pompaggi e di Ridrogeno da pompaggi e dal mare.Poi in Italia non si va a vedere se le centrali gas inquinano come il carbone e allora scattano le denuncie europee.Mentre l'Europa sta cercando di realizzare una transizione energetica con centinaia di miliardi di euro spesi per l'ambizioso Green Deal, tutti gli Stati membri europei con normative fiscali e vantaggi fiscali stanno mantenendo il loro settore fossile. La Polonia continua a pompare denaro nelle miniere di carbone; Le agevolazioni fiscali italiane per l'uso del diesel ammontano a oltre cinque miliardi di euro e il governo greco continua a pagare il settore fossile per trasportare carichi di petrolio e diesel dalla terraferma alle isole turistiche per mantenere il funzionamento in alta stagione.Quando abbiamo calcolato le esenzioni fiscali per il settore fossile, l'industria automobilistica, aeronautica e marittima e i certificati gratuiti che le aziende ricevono dal governo per emettere CO2, abbiamo scoperto che i paesi europei sovvenzionano il settore fossile di oltre 137 miliardi di euro all'anno. Prima e dopo Covid-19, questo non mostra alcun segno di cambiamento; anzi.È stato sostenuto che "dietro ogni agevolazione fiscale e sussidio per i combustibili fossili c'è una lobby". Allineati con il Green Deal europeo sono potenti gruppi di pressione che cercano di mantenere lo status quo. Ma perché i leader europei mantengono questo piano pericoloso e sabotano la propria politica di protezione del clima? Indagare sull'Europa ha esplorato questa domanda nelle discussioni con ministri, commissari, parlamentari, lobbisti e scienziati e si è imbattuto in un groviglio quasi inestricabile di dipendenze storicamente sviluppate, opportunismo politico e una fondamentale fraintendimento della legislazione europea.Nel nostro calcolo per la mappa di cui sopra, abbiamo incluso sussidi diretti, sgravi fiscali ed esenzioni fiscali, investimenti in infrastrutture per il settore fossile e assegnazione gratuita dei diritti di emissione. Abbiamo utilizzato fonti e relazioni governative dell'OCSE e organizzazioni come la Climate Action Network e gruppi di riflessione come l'Istituto tedesco per l'ecologia applicata. Per ogni sovvenzione, abbiamo utilizzato gli ultimi dati disponibili degli anni 2016-2019. In totale, i 27 paesi dell'UE più Norvegia, Svizzera e Regno Unito sovvenzionano l'industria fossile con almeno 137 miliardi di euro all'anno. Per 19 di questi 30 paesi, erano disponibili solo i dati sui permessi di emissione gratuiti, e anche quello solo per gli stati dell'OCSE. Ciò copre solo una parte del sostegno ai combustibili fossili. In Italia diamo 19 miliardi annui ai fossili. Italia Agevolazioni fiscali per la spedizione 460,90 Agevolazioni fiscali sul carburante marittimo 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Agevolazioni fiscali per l'industria ad alta intensità energetica 580.00 Mancante 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Agevolazioni fiscali per i veicoli con motore a combustione 1200.00 Agevolazioni fiscali per le auto a uso professionale 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Agevolazioni fiscali per l'aviazione 1800.00 Esenzione dall'accisa sul carburante per la navigazione aerea 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Sussidi per il consumo di energia in agricoltura, silvicoltura e pesca 913.00 Sussidi nell'uso dell'energia in agricoltura 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Sovvenzioni all'uso domestico di combustibili fossili 586,70 Agevolazioni fiscali per le famiglie consumano combustibili fossili fino a 3kw 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Agevolazioni / rimborsi fiscali per benzina / diesel 6.165,70 Agevolazioni fiscali per diesel / benzina Riduzione fiscale del carburante per taxi Addestrare agevolazioni fiscali sul carburante Agevolazioni fiscali per il trasporto di diesel 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Altro 4.854,60 Intitolato "Altro" nei dati italiani 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Altro 12.60 GPL (Liquified Petroleum Gas) per fabbriche, agevolazioni fiscali sul carburante 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Sussidi relativi all'esplorazione / estrazione di combustibili fossili 126.50 R&S per petrolio e gas 2019 Ministero dell'Ambiente italiano IE Italia Sistema di scambio di quote di emissioni dell'UE 1.603,97 Indennità assegnate liberamente (tutti gli impianti fissi) 2019 Commissione europea IE Il dibattito sul futuro italiano ha gia' proposte precise date al Governo.Ma a Milano si ragiona per sviluppare il PIL,mentre a Roma si ragiona in termini di egoismi lobbistici connessi ai politici che non hanno la vision di Degasperi che fece decollare persino l'Eni che oggi non sa piu' decollare.L'Italia per anni non ha visto l'inquinamento delle centrali gas che secondo dati mondiali inquinano come il carbone.Poi dobbiamo levarci dalla testa,la manovra in corso dei fossili per produrre idrogeno da reforming metano fossile,quando noi abbiamo la tecnologia di produrre H green da mare e pompaggi.Se Eni e Snam sono indietro in tecnologia,l'Italia non deve fare errori di puntare su superate tecnologie e per questo vanno discusse in pubblico e non in una stanza del MISE per fare un favore a Confindustria fossile obsoleta.E' ora di discutere seriamente di chimica verde dato che i tedeschi la vogliono ed il loro Governo la finanzia,mentre noi abbiamo un Bonomi fossile che non vuole tecnologie chimiche verdi da elettrico. Natural gas production is at an all-time high in the United States. So why are some parts of the country experiencing gas shortages?Caffese: The fundamental reason is that certain areas, like New York New England,Salento-Italy have enough pipeline capacity. Why? Because people are resistant to building infrastructure in places where they feel personally affected by it. At the same time, there is an ideological resistance to more gas pipelines from some environmental groups that say, "not a drop more fossil fuel." These groups actively contribute to resistance on local projects.It’s very short-sighted to see an infrastructure investment as a step backward, simply because it’s related to a fossil fuel. It’s a manifestation of the knee-jerk reaction people have toward all fossil fuel industries – treating them the same, when, in fact, on a global basis, the best possible thing we can do for the environment, public health and the climate is to move away from coal and toward natural gas as quickly as possible.Many people are opposed to natural gas pipelines because burning natural gas emits carbon dioxide. But then the question is, what are the alternatives? In the Northeast, about 20 percent of households still use heating oil for heating, even though natural gas is more affordable than heating oil and emits significantly less carbon dioxide when burned. There is an incentive to convert from heating oil to natural gas, but it will not happen without new pipelines.Natural gas: Not an endpoint, a waypoint.Some people say that instead of spending $50 billion on a new gas pipeline as TAP in South Eu contre PHS 45 bil $ to 3.000 TWh., it would be better to invest in cleaner, renewable sources of energy. The reaction against the natural gas infrastructure, because it represents the perpetuation of fossil fuels, is a mischaracterization. Natural gas is the perfect complement and backup for renewable wind and solar systems. However, natural gas is not the endpoint, it’s a waypoint. As time goes on we’ll need to move away from natural gas to even cleaner fuels as they become available.:Looking to the future, you could design natural gas pipelines that also carry carbon-free hydrogen fuel or carbon-neutral biogas made from food waste. About 30 to 40 percent of our food in the U.S. is wasted, mostly at the consumer end. What fraction of that do we actually use for biogas? Not very much.We’re building up renewables as fast as we can, but we have to look at all the ways that energy is being used, and what’s the cleanest thing we can do in the short and long term. Whether in the European recovery plan or the just transition fund, we now have a common tool which has just been adopted by the European Parliament – the EU sustainable finance taxonomy, which is intended to distinguish investments enabling the green transition from those that don’t. I am in favour of applying it in this case.The taxonomy classifies technologies in three categories: 1) “green” technologies such as renewable energies, 2) those “enabling” the transition, such as glass for building insulation, and 3) so-called “transition” technologies.Gas falls under the third category. And the question we should be asking ourselves is this: under what conditions can gas be considered as helping the transition when it replaces coal, while ensuring supply security?This is a difficult question because we must avoid a “lock-in effect” with natural gas over the long run. Even though natural gas allows CO2 savings in the short term, it remains a polluting fossil fuel, and becomes a trap in the long term: if you look over several decades, which is the usual lifespan of these types of projects, gas prevents the transition to low-carbon energies such as renewables.Finding a balance between these two must be at the heart of our thinking when deciding the rules of the game under the European recovery plan and the just transition fund.And here, the green finance taxonomy will be fundamental in guiding our decisions. Because it allows breaking away from the black-and-white debate on gas, by defining technological standards that will differentiate between projects that are compatible with carbon neutrality and those which are not.How do you draw a line between the two? The European Investment Bank, for instance, has defined a threshold of 250 gr. of CO2 per KWh beyond which gas projects would no longer be eligible for public funding. Should this threshold also apply in the context of the European recovery fund?For the moment, I‘m waiting to see what the European Commission will put forward in the delegated acts that will be adopted under the taxonomy. The European Parliament will have the opportunity to express its views on the subject in the autumn, and decide whether to back the Commission’s proposal or not.What is certain is that, at the legislative level, the taxonomy must be used to guide public investments, not just financial markets.The EIB has already announced its intention to do so. And I also note that the European Central Bank called on the Commission to establish a “brown” taxonomy to allow the gradual removal of high carbon assets from its balance sheet.As we all know, the world is producing more and more greenhouse gases (GHG), mainly carbon dioxide CO2, and methane CH4, which are released through human activities like deforestation and burning of fossil fuels, though natural processes such as respiration and volcanic eruptions also play a part. So far, land plants and the ocean take up 55% of the extra carbon we have put into the atmosphere while about 45% has stayed in the atmosphere. About 20% will stay in the atmosphere for thousands of years. Electrolysis with anion exchange membranes has clear benefits compared with other electrolytic processes such as conventional alkaline electrolysis using diaphragms (AEL) or the more recent method of proton exchange membrane electrolysis (PEM) which is highly dependent on raw materials such as precious metals. The innovative AEM concept reduces investment costs because the cells used for electrolysis in alkaline conditions do not require precious metals. Therefore, far less expensive materials can be used. Other attributes of this AEM electrolysis platform are high current density, very good efficiency, and high flexibility.Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS)Pumped hydro storage (PHS) stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy and makes use of two vertically separated water reservoirs located at different heights. During off-peak electricity demand, low-cost electricity is used to pump water from the lower to the higher elevated reservoir using a pump and turbine unit which are attached to a reversible electric generator or motor system. During periods of high electricity demand, power is generated by releasing water from the upper reservoir that drives the turbines and is then fed to the grid. Greater than 95% of global energy storage is met by PHS and for years, it has offered a cost-effective way to provide large-scale storage solution and supporting grid balancing services. To achieve greater efficiency, flexibility and faster response times, PHS developers are now using variable speed pump turbines that facilitate better tuning of grid frequency thus contributing to grid stability.80% of the existing over 180 GW of pumped storage capacity is located in Europe, China, Japan and the United States. IHA estimates the total energy stored within the world’s PHS projects to be up to 9,000 GWh. In comparison, the total energy stored within utility scale batteries is estimated at just GWh.While new storage technologies are gaining worldwide attention, PHS is expected to grow to 78 GW of additional capacity to be commissioned by 2030 next five years expected to be in China. with the highest growth in PHS installations over the ADVANTAGES • Established technology deployed at scale • Long project life-time of 60 years that can be extended up to 100 years • Rapid ramping potential • Very low self-discharge DISADVANTAGES • Environmental concerns due to relatively low energy density • High initial investment costs result in no longer return on investment • Depends on availability of water and geographically suitable sites TECHNOLOGICAL & OPERATIONAL INNOVATIONS Pumping water into rock fissures: PHS developers are increasingly looking at using bi-directional injector generator to pump water into rock fissures at high pressures, enabling operation with increased mechanical efficiency and storage of energy in flatter areas where conventional PSH may not be possible Coupling PHS with other storage technologies as future avenue of potential growth: As part of upgrading existing PHS facilities, players are looking at coupling storage solutions such as Li-ion batteries to utilise their short reaction time. This would help in further integration of VRE.-pumped-storage-hydropower-capacity-expand-more-quickly-than-stationary- Fossil gas projects would no longer be eligible...