Umbria is also under attack:the denunciation of the associations against wind energy speculation

«Green Umbria is under attack».Thus Roberto Malini, co-president of the international human rights organization EveryOne Group, supported by the environmentalist association Italia Nostra, launches his appeal to the Government and local institutions to curb the wind speculation that is about to hit the Region.Specifically, there are six projects launched in Umbria, which include the installation of 60 wind turbines in naturalistic areas «characterized by delicate natural environments and enchanting landscapes».The blades that will be used are the same ones featured in the similar projects based in Sardinia and Tuscany The Independent he has already spoken several times:structures of approximately 200 meters with reinforced concrete bases «as large as half a football field», which would «a devastating impact on territories characterized by important avifaunal qualities".

The project to build wind farms in Umbria involves construction, as reported Our Italy, Of six different systems.On one of these, called "Monte Burano", Gianfranco Angeli, legal representative of Italia Nostra Foligno, has released a series of observations, published on the website of the Ministry of the Environment on 21 August:only the “Monte Burano” park envisages the construction of an industrial plant with a total area equal to over 42,000 square meters «with temporary works and bases which, having to be built on the mountain ridges, will involve the leveling of the land for 4,000 m2 per tower», corresponding to a square of over 60 meters per tower, in short «more than half a football field» in size».To create the complex, over 9,600 linear meters of roads will also have to be built "with a width of 5 meters on the straights, increased in the curves up to 6.5 metres", which will cover an area of ​​approximately 48,000 square meters.To these will also be added "a further 22,000 m2 of transhipment areas and even further other areas not quantified in the Report" intended for the execution of the works.In short, the “Monte Burano” project alone will cover a total area of over 110,000 square meters of mountain land.

The co-president of EveryOne Group Roberto Malini defined the construction of the six plants as «a violent imposition» which would take on the facets of a real «speculation without rules».Indeed, if you pay attention to the anemological study (i.e. the analyzes relating to the wind) of the project “Monte Burano” emerges, as highlighted by Gianfranco Angeli, as it is «lacking in concreteness, having the proponent admitted “the lack of data measured on site”»:the wind analyzes are in fact all based on abstract data, and to date the Company has yet to obtain "the necessary permits for the installation of a forthcoming anemetric tower in order to confirm the values".In short, in the Municipality of Foligno there is a plan to build a plant that uses wind energy to produce energy, but it is not yet known how much wind there is in all respects.Yet “Monte Burano” is only one of the six parks that are intended to be built in Umbria:there is also "Phobos", which would be located in the municipalities of Orvieto and Castel Giorgio with 7 wind turbines of 170 meters each in an area "where not a breath of wind blows";follows “Mount Busseto”, which would reside in Nocera Umbra and Valtopina, and would have 10 wind turbines of 200 meters each;is also in the pipeline”Gualdo Tadino”, near the municipality of the same name and Nocera Umbra itself, again with 10 200 meter wind turbines;then it's level"Eco-sustainable energy” in Serravalle di Chienti, Foligno and Nocera Umbra with approximately 10/12 wind turbines;the most populous would finally be “LuckyWind” in Trevi, Sellano and Foligno with 12 wind turbines.All for a total of around 60 wind turbines.

What many define as "wind speculation" is not only affecting the Umbrian region.Similar projects are also under construction in Tuscany (in Mugello), and in Sardinia, and all have been contested by citizens, local administrations and environmentalist associations.In Sardinia, specifically, the population has been fighting against the speculation of wind multinationals for months:in July, at port of Oristano a permanent garrison began, soon the object of clearing by the police.Previously, in the Cagliari hinterland, some citizens started the “Revolt of the Olives”, a spontaneous popular uprising that responds to the forced expropriations of farmers' land (where the wind farms are to be built) by planting olive trees and other plant species.Meanwhile, it's officially match there collection of signatures to stop wind and photovoltaic farm projects on the island in the absence of an adequate regional energy plan, which in a matter of days exceeded 10,000 signatures.

[by Dario Lucisano]