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Abstract

The need to update energy policies worldwide in order to deal with climate change effectively is unanimously considered a priority by the scientific and political communities as well as by the general public. It is also unanimously believed that what is needed is an approach integrating energy usage and production. Such an approach requires that Countries speed up the transition towards an economy not any longer based on fossil fuels, but instead on increased demand/supply efficiency and on renewable sources, while aiming at clean technologies and reducing emissions wherever fossil fuels are used. Italian universities and research centres have started specific studies and programmes regarding CO₂ Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Such initiatives have been financed thanks to European and National funding. The latter has financed a vast programme based on a strong synergy between national stakeholders, also via the participation to international initiatives like the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) and the European Technological Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP). The main strength of the Italian system lies in the strong will of the Italian Government to adopt a new energy policy. The second strength is the starring of the main Italian industrial subjects, above all ENEL and ENI, which have started important demonstrative projects (not to mention Techint, Carbosulcis, and others). Another important issue is the large quantity of geophysical data available for many parts of the Italian territory that are strategic for assessing the CO₂ storage capacity. Finally, Italy is of great interest for the scientific community because of the presence (onshore and offshore) of numerous natural sites of CO₂ leaks, thus offering unique opportunities of evaluating its impacts on the natural environment, and of tuning up the monitoring techniques of CO₂ leaks.

Background

The need to update energy policies worldwide in order to deal with climate change effectively is now unanimously considered a priority by the scientific and political communities as well as by people. It is also unanimously believed that what is needed is an approach integrating energy usage and energy production. Such an approach requires that we speed up the transition towards an economy not any longer based on fossil fuels, but instead on an increased demand/supply efficiency and on renewable sources, while aiming at clean technologies and emissions closer and closer to zero wherever fossil fuels are used.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has agreed that the world’s energy demand will rise by 45% between today and 2030 (an average growth rate of 1.8% per year) falling back upon coal for over 1/3 of the total growth. On top of this, 97% of the forecasted emission increment between today and 2030 will be due to non-OECD countries, 3/4 of which will be due to China, India and Middle East Countries¹. Therefore the energy and research policy in this field must take the following factors into account: a) fossil fuel demand will stay very high in the coming decades, above all in the Countries with an Emerging Economy; b) the development and widespread commercial deployment of intrinsically zero emission technologies at a competitive cost will take longer; c) it is necessary to act immediately to reduce the emissions into the atmosphere that fossil fuel usage will still bring about.