Sustainable Energy in
Liguria

Vernazza Cinque Terre, Liguria

Natural environment

The arch of the region, facing the Ligurian Sea, is divided by the Gulf of Genoa into the Riviera di Ponente (west to Ventimiglia) and the Riviera di Levante (east to La Spezia). Provinces and main cities are all located along the coast but for the rest of the territory Liguria is a mountainous and hilly region, which includes part of the Maritime Alps and the Ligurian Apennines, whose spurs plunge almost everywhere into the sea forming a narrow coastline of landscapes of great beauty.

       Map of Liguria

Woodlands cover 70% of the territory (Liguria is one of the most densely wooded region in Italy) and the vegetation of the area is distinctly Mediterranean up to a height of 500 m, beyond lies the chestnut belt. From a botanical point of view, the famous Portofino promontory is particularly interesting: here Mediterranean and middle European-mountain vegetation grows in close proximity and 700 different species of plants have been listed. Another typically Ligurian environment is the Cinque Terre where vines are grown on artificial terracing, a typical method of cultivation. This terminal strip of the Riviera di Levante is a site belonging to the UNESCO World Natural Heritage and still today represents a beautiful example of intact landscape together with several picturesque and renowed towns like Lerici, Porto Venere, Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure, and Sanremo.

Portofino

Liguria's geographical position, mild climate and pleasant landscapes have made it a successful pole of attraction for seaside tourism since the middle of last century and despite their famous limited size and their crowds during summer those of Liguria are some of the most beautiful beaches and bays in Italy: 300 km long coastlines many of them awarded with the "Blue Flag". Delicious cuisine (seafood and pesto), breathtaking views, small picturesque towns, natural parks and Mediterranean fish species to discover is what awaits for you here.

Climate

The southerly exposition, the mountains protecting against continental influxes and the long stretch of sea contribute to the particularly mild Mediterranean climate of most of Liguria. On the southern side the climate shows limited variations in temperature, mild winters (7-10°C) and cool ventilated summers (23°-24°C) but in the higher inlands the climate becomes increasingly continental. The precipitations are more abundant in autumn and winter, increasing from west to east.

Population

Compared to other Italian regions Liguria is high densely populated but the population is constantly decreasing because of its very low birth rate (Liguria has the oldest population in Italy). 90% of the Ligurian inhabitants live in the coastal towns and are distributed for 56% in the province of Genoa and quite homogenously in the other provinces (Imperia 13%, Savona 17%, La Spezia 14%). In recent decades there has been  a general trend to move from main cities to small municipalities and a continuous infra-regional migration towards the coasts, where the service industries in particular (tourism, transport for instance) has provided scope for increased earnings.

History and culture

Vernazza Cinque Terre, Liguria

The independent Ligurian people settled in the isolated coastline of the region as early as 5th century BC and during the centuries Liguria was occupied by the Romans, the Lombards and the Franks. During the middle ages the city of Genoa soon had control over the entire region and from the 12th to the 14th century it became the most powerful maritime republic in the Mediterranean, living a  period of  extraordinary political and commercial success. Genoa competed against Pisa and Venice and it was during one of these wars that Marco Polo was captured and dictated his adventures while in a Genoese prison. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the region in 1796 and afterwards Liguria was given to the House of Savoy and Sardinia which, thanks to patriots like the Genoese Garibaldi, unified Italy under the Italian Risorgimento. In the framework of the "Expo '92 Genova", the celebration of the 500 years of the discovery of America from the Genoese Cristoforo Colombo, the City of Genoa employed the famous architect Renzo Piano to restyle the historic center (the widest in Europe) and the ancient seaport, inaugurating the famous touristic area called Porto Antico which includes also the Aquarium of Genoa, the 2nd largest aquarium in the world from 1992. The city of Genoa hosts some of the most important shows and events in the word like the "Salone Nautico" and "Euroflora" and in 2004 has been appointed European Capital of Culture.

Economy and Policy

With Piedmont and Lombardy, Liguria is a pole of the industrial triangle which led expansion of the whole Italian economy after the war. Nowadays Liguria maintains a flourishing shipbuilding sector (Liguria faces with international competition in the construction of large vessels) and the Port of Genoa is the first of Italy both in the commercial and the touristic sector. Agriculture has increased its specialization pattern in high-quality products (wine, olive oil and flowers, representing 75% of the turnover) but fishing is a minor activity. Service sector is the highly developed and employs 2/3 of the active population in maritime commerce and tourism, contributing for 6% to regional PIL.

Since 2003 Liguria Region manages its environmental and energetic policies through a regional energy policy implementation plan which is determined in accordance with the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol and the regional planning in the field of air pollution,  use of local renewable sources and energy efficiency in public buildings, aimed to identify necessary measures to achieve them.

Regional energy and GHG observatory

Since 1999 Liguria Region runs the Air emission inventory, a regional information system whose aim is to provide data on the pressure on sources of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere, both determined by human activities and natural sources. The information system allows the inventory to map the spatial disaggregation of information at the municipal and sub-municipal level and it allows in particular to know the pressure exerted by the diffuse GHG emission sources (small industries, heating, air traffic base) and linear/nodal (motorways and main roads, emissions from the main nodes of communication, ports and airports) on portions of territory of 1 square km.

The results are used in the planning and policies at Regional level on energy and climate change. The inventory, managed by the Atmospheric pollution protection service and sustainable energy  development department of the Region in collaboration with ARE Liguria and ARPAL (technical partners) and the support of the Province of Genoa and other local authorities (partners for data providing), collected data for the years 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2005 and provides insight into how the picture of the regional emissions has changed over the years.

The emission observatory is periodically updated and in the next future the 2008 data will be available for publication. Data synthesis and release is free and is downloadable from the web site: www.ambienteinliguria.it. The inventory observes energy consumption, energy production, air quality and GHG emissions, in detail the model allows to estimate emissions from aviation (in particular from the stages of landing, taxiing and take-off of different types of aircraft), ship traffic (steps approaching, stopping and starting from the ports of different types of boats) and vegetation (volatile organic compounds produced by various plant species and forest fires) focusing on greenhouse gases addressed by the Kyoto Protocol (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O) and other principal pollutants (Benzene, ammonia, IPA, metals and particulate).

The Regional Energy Plan (PEAR) was approved by the Regional Council in Resolution No. 43, December 2, 2003 and  the main purpose of the Plan is to produce from renewable sources at least 7% of energy consumed in Liguria within 2010, stabilizing the emissions of climate-altering gases to 1990 levels  (this means a decrease of 19%) and encouraging energy conservation.  PEAR provides a detailed energy picture of the Liguria Region and contains indicators on energy efficiency, annual CO₂ emissions from the burning of fossil fuels (from 1990 to 1998), energy technologies for combustion, tools for an effective energy policy, socio-economic data and a final report about the potential of renewable sources by provinces and municipalities of Liguria (biomass, wind, municipal solid waste, sun) and the rational use of energy in the building sector.

Thanks to its efforts the Region has reached many of the objective of the PEAR: more than 79 MW are produced through Hydropower plants, 7.30 come from PV plants, 10.25 from biogas and more than 47 from wind turbines. Following this success, with resolution No. 3 of 3 February 2009 the Regional Council approved the proposal to update the target of PEAR Wind Energy forecasting an increase of the installed capacity from 8 to 120 megawatts ( for this purpose, the Energy plan contains the scheme of sites potentially suitable for the installation of wind generation and maps areas not suitable for the placement of wind turbines) and according to the regional strategies and priorities has entrusted the Energy Service to prepare the new Energy Plan (Regional law n.22/2007 states the Plan has to be updated every five years).

More information: www.ambienteinliguria.it

Covenant of Mayors

The was one of the first cities in Italy to submit its Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) in accordance with the Covenant of Mayors initiative of the European Commission, whereby each city makes a voluntary and unilateral commitment to reduce its CO₂ emissions beyond the target of 20% by 2020.

The Action Plan, prepared in collaboration with ARE Liguria (the Liguria Regional Energy Agency) and the CRUIE (Research Centre in Town planning and Ecological Engineering) of the University of Genoa, is the operational tool of the city defining the government's energy policies for the coming 10 years, with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions and constitutes the firm and binding commitment of the Municipality to create a city that fulfils five strategic programs of the local council: new methods of government, the liveable city, the creative city, the accessible city, and the sustainable city.

The Covenant of Mayors fits into a boarder European strategy ("20-20-20" European Climate Action-Energy Package and Agenda 21) in the framework of the Intelligent Energy Europe program and Genoa registered its adhesion to the CoM on 10 February 2009. The Municipality of Genoa is committed to achieve the target of 23,7% of reduction of CO₂ emissions of 2005 throughout focused measures in several sectors/fields of action in which the signatory governing bodies have specific competences: territory planning, local transport, public and private buildings, renewable energy sources (RES) and innovative technologies. Until 2010 around 40 Ligurian municipalities have signed the CoM.

Interaction with other initiatives at the Regional, National or European level:

Liguria Region is involved in environmental and energetic projects at national and European level and successfully cooperates with many international initiatives as the Covenant of Mayors and the European Energy Award.

European Energy Award - eea®

The European Energy Award - eea® is a certification and quality management system for cities and municipalities that are making a significant contribution to a sustainable future by using energy efficiently and increasing the use of renewable energies. EEA® consists of three main elements: establishment of a total quality management system (TQM) for the communal energy-related areas (quantitative analysis of energy consumption indicators and qualitative analysis on municipal planning and public services), certification and labeling (municipality assessment, external audit and two-level award for energy-related achievements) and establishment of a network within the municipalities through increased co-operation and communication.

In 2004 Liguria Region decided to take part in the European project "Eurena", whose aim was the extension of the successfully implemented European Energy Award programmes in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Ireland, the Basque region/Spain, Liguria/Italy, Slovakia and Lithuania. For this purpose, country-specific adaptations of the eea® tools and  certification procedures were set to make the eea® process more suitable to Mediterranean countries.

The Regional Energy Agency of Liguria (ARE Liguria) is involved in the eea® process and its dissemination since 2004 and is the Regional trustee authority which licenses the European Energy Award, moreover ARE Liguria provides advisors, auditors and support to municipalities that start the certification process. Between 2006 to 2009 10 municipalities have completed the energy audit and 5 have obtained the eea® certification (Celle, Montoggio, Albenga, Ne and Ospedaletti).

In 2010 eea® was recognized as an effective tool for the Sustainable Energy Action Plan of the Covenant of Mayors and in 2011 8 new Ligurian municipalities have been involved in the certification process in the framework of a Mediterranean eea® implementation project called MEDEEA.

Regional Energy and GHG Observatory

Mission: The project's aim is to establish the pressure of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere per territory portions, both determined by human activities (diffuse emission sources: small industries, heating, air traffic base and linear/nodal: motorways and main roads, emissions from the main nodes of communication, ports and airports) and from natural sources. The database allows the use and extraction of hourly data in an immediate and simplified way and the consultation of daily indicators that are collected by provincial operations centers (COP) registered by the locations of measurement of both public and private networks. The Air inventory stores data for 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2005 (2008 data will be available in the next future) providing insights of the emission situation changes all over the region therefore it is an important tool for energetic and environmental planning on energy and climate change. Website: www.ambienteinliguria.it