Federmethane:“Six million electric vehicles?We need 20 nuclear power plants"

"Instead, the network of our 'organic' raw materials is already there and it works"

BOLOGNA – To make Europe and Italy more 'green' more biomethane should be used (the network is already there) because they won't be enough electric cars. If we really wanted to reach the targeted six million zero-emission electric vehicles at a national level (by 2030), “20 nuclear power plants should be installed in Italy, to avoid not being able to manage the required energy peaks:It doesn't seem like a reasonable goal to us."It is the choir that accompanies the works of Federmetano, the National Federation of Natural Gas Distributors and Transporters, to which the Deputy Minister of Transport, Galeazzo Bignami, participate by sending a video message.Just at the moment when the price of methane becomes competitive again, indeed convenient, after the difficult period experienced by the sector, due first to the pandemic and then to the energy crisis, the association discusses the state of the art and prospects on the occasion of the tenth edition of the "Mutamenti in corso" event, dedicated to automotive members, on stage today in the Emilian capital.

Dante Natali, engineer from Bologna, president of Federmetano, speaks in the room but seems to speak directly to the Government and Europe:“In Italy, biomethane is doing very well, in terms of diffusion, with penetration percentages in our sector that have reached 50%.In this sense, we have already achieved the same results that the EU has set for 2030, therefore seven years in advance.What matters to us - Natali points out - is bring to everyone's attention the critical issues of the electric option:we are not against it, but in the transport sector there can and should be room for all solutions".

The results to be achieved, moreover, are very ambitious, with -50% of CO2 emissions in the energy sector dear to Brussels.In the midst of this “Copernican revolution” it is necessary for electric to be supported by other technologies, according to Federmetano:“Methane, biomethane and liquid methane are able to cover all phases of individual transport, over short distances, including heavy transport on major European routes.With the electric traction, However, at the moment all this is not possible.And - continues the engineer in the room and on the sidelines of today's work - we don't even know whether or not technology will cover the gap in the future. Actually giving up an opportunity like the one linked to methane, therefore, seems like a big foolish thing to us“.

In reality, Natali explains well, the pressure is aimed more at Brussels than at Rome:“The dialogue with the Government today is much better than that which developed with previous executives, because we notice a different awareness on the use of all available energy sources.The European problem, however, is more serious, given that the EU Parliament has voted to achieve 'green' results using only two technologies:electricity, in fact, and hydrogen”.

The federation's estimates illustrated in Bologna, "optimistic", speak of a percentage of registrations that gradually grows over the years, but in any case "before 2046 we cannot imagine having at least six million electric vehicles in Italy, as they say“, clarifies Natali.

Confirm and certify the trend Marco Mele, economist, sole director of Methane Cylinder Fund Services:“From our internal studies, which compared electric cars with hydrogen ones and with those characterized by the hydrogen-methane mix, it emerges - explains Mele at the conference - that electric cars have limits related to climate change. When it is very cold or very hot, in fact, the capacity of electric batteries is reduced. And let's not forget the pollution linked to the production and management of electric cars, first and foremost disposal of batteries at the end of their life, but not only. Batteries of this type are mainly produced using cobalt, which is not a very rich element in nature:its extraction takes place in countries such as China, first of all, with the effect of increasing costs for the countries interested in importing".

Furthermore, i heavy electric vehicles, to function effectively, the expert points out, “dthey should increase the number of batteries on board or their range, but then in this way the total weight of the individual truck would also increase, with other efficiency repercussions. Our methane cylinders, on the other hand, which are loaded within 3-5 minutes, guarantee an autonomy of 500-600 kilometres.The performances are therefore much better than the 'electric' ones, therefore. Electricity is needed and will be part of the energy transition process, but common sense is also needed".Also because, recalls Mele, "let's not forget that, in the conversion, many jobs in the endothermic sector remain at risk, induced including from mechanics downwards.We cannot afford to lose them."

For his part Giuseppe Fedele, vice-president of Federmetano, partner and founder of several companies active throughout the natural methane gas supply chain, has been dealing with biomethane and methane-hydrogen mixtures, hydromethane, for 10 years and today highlights:“Unfortunately, in Italy and Europe the ecological transition has been identified with electrification alone.The objective instead, and I say this also in my capacity as a convinced environmentalist, is to decarbonize.We cannot achieve such a goal with a single system, but with all the available ones:the electric for small urban mobility, the other systems with greater autonomy in other contexts that require it. In Italy we are very rich in biomethane, we are one of the countries that has the most in Europe and in the world, but we must continue to promote it.This could mean saving the automotive sector, an important chapter of our economy, but also decarbonising."

The point is that, while other countries have yet to get there, Italy already has the necessary infrastructure for the distribution of biomethane: “We already have 'plan B', therefore, the moment we realized that electric alone is not enough. Plan B is an existing network of 1,500 distributors, of many mechanical workshops:we must save them - encourages Fedele - instead of putting them at risk.We have an advantage in Europe on the objectives of decarbonisation, but we risk losing it if we do not know how to realize it.In this period we have presented more studies to the Minister of Transport, demonstrating that if we wanted to reach the pre-established six million zero-emission electric vehicles, we would have to install 20 nuclear power plants in Italy to manage the energy peaks required.It is not a reasonable objective,” concludes Fedele.