The law recalls the strength of history, the content already looks to the future. There are the prohibitions, the urban ones, the only ones that can still stop the disfigurement of Sardinia planned in the dark workshops of high finance, but there are also strategic plans to build the energy independence of the Island. A regulatory mix that moves on two pillars: the first is the one that assigns to Sardinia the primary competence on the "government of the territory" with a strategic "urban" planning guaranteed by art.3. letter "f" of the Autonomous Statute; the second is art.4 of the "Sardinian constitution" that assigns to the Region, letter "e", a de facto primary competence on internal issues of the Island regarding the "production and distribution" of electricity on Sardinian soil.
Urban planning, the primacy
The “Pratobello”, the popular initiative bill that caused the total of signatures to explode, 210,729, has put a full stop on the “urban planning” issue by providing for an absolute ban on energy speculation in those areas that are already subject to landscape, environmental and archaeological constraints. Constraints that until now have been “non-urban planning” and which are therefore surmountable by that cursed clause of the “pre-eminence-supremacy” of “renewables” established by the Draghi Governments onwards, just to checkmate the landscape of the Island. The Constitutional Court, also last June 7, reiterated that Sardinia maintains the urban planning “primacy” also in the matter of “renewables”, since that rule is of constitutional rank and cannot be compressed or suppressed in favor of energy speculation.
Not just bans
"Pratobello", however, is not just prohibitions. On the contrary. In the heart of the proposed law, in fact, there is an energy strategy capable of changing the "electric" history of the Island once and for all, abandoning forever the dependence on both fossil fuels and the speculative plans of fixers and speculators of renewables. A fixed point of the law dedicated to the "Pratobello riots" is hydrogen, the energy of the future, the only one with zero emissions. We are talking about the most abundant element in the "observable" universe, it is calculated that it constitutes 75% of it. An unexplored potential capable of causing all the strong powers of energy to "fail" at any moment, from oil companies to the lords of incentives, an infinite "deposit" on which the most morbid "attentions" of the petro-dollars are concentrated, ready to block in any way the global replacement of consolidated businesses both with regards to fossil energy and mega-speculation in energy.
Hydrogen, a regulatory challenge
The first cornerstone of Pratobello is in Article 4, which deals with "Derogations from public interventions". The popular initiative law, in fact, provides for public intervention on the entire management of the "Hydrogen" chapter, removing it from the speculation of foreign and oil multinationals. In the legislative text, in fact, exceptions to the bans are provided exclusively "for scientific and technological research plants, proposed by public entities or companies with a public majority, possibly in a temporary business association or through corporate participations with private individuals, with proven production and technological experience at an international level, selected through a public evidence procedure, based on the regulations in force on public procurement and services, for the production of hydrogen and the consequent generation of electricity through a technologically innovative plant fueled by hydrogen, subject to verification of the subjection to an Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed plants".
Roadmap for the future
In practice, the law requires Sardinia to abandon the role of “follower” and take on that of “trailblazer” by drawing a road map capable of passing directly from the old coal-fired power plants, those of Portovesme and Porto Torres, and the “oil” one of Saras, all power plants that the State has knowingly forced the Island to build, to latest-generation hydrogen power plants. The “Pratobello” therefore traces the technological and procedural solutions through international tenders that the Region can call autonomously, having the statutory “power” to do so, given that the State itself had recognized it when it came to building the combined cycle power plant of Carbosulcis in the nineties.
Hydrogen power plants
The power plant would therefore be powered by hydrogen produced through renewable energy already installed on the Island, which is about to exceed 3,000 megawatts of power, and with those that will be decided in the public sphere with the "renewable" management of all the covered surfaces of the Sardinian territory. In this scenario, Germany, to speak of a nation that seeks to overcome energy dependence, is about to implement a plan conceptually equal to the one indicated by Pratobello. In recent days, the German government has announced the preparation of three different tenders, for the construction of new “hydrogen ready” power plants, and for the conversion of some existing plants, for a total of 12.5 GW of capacity, by the end of this year or, at the latest, by the beginning of 2025. The Berlin government has also announced that it has allocated the “hydrogen” plan with 16 billion euros, to complete the phase-out from coal and at the same time overcome the historical dependence on natural gas of Russian origin, focusing on hydrogen. The new power plants, according to the tenders announced, will be awarded on the basis of the technological capacity to be started up immediately with hydrogen and in any case no later than 2032.
Path to follow
A “technical-administrative-financial” path that could also constitute a powerful shortcut for Sardinia, hooking up to the assessments that Europe will put in place to favor the German plan. The main international subjects have already leaked their position: we are “ready” to do our part in the dialogue with the Government and we intend to participate in the tenders, if the conditions are favorable. The production of hydrogen and the consequent power supply of latest-generation power plants are the cornerstone of energy independence indicated by the “Pratobello”, the law indicates specific solutions also for the production of renewable energy by putting a stop to speculation and planning interventions that aim at the most advanced solutions in the world.
Roads and railways
Article six of the popular initiative law states: "Linear renewable energy plans. 1. In order to promote a modern and effective process of valorization of renewable energy, the Sardinian Region, in implementation of art. 3 letter "f" and article 4, letter "e", of the Autonomous Statute of Sardinia, Constitutional Law no. 3 of 26 February 1948, promotes energy production plans through the preparation of projects for the valorization of linear infrastructures, such as roads, railways, cycle paths and similar infrastructures. 2. The Sardinian Region, in agreement with the public entities that own and/or are concessionaires of linear infrastructure networks referred to in paragraph 1, develops projects for the energy valorization of areas adjacent to and pertaining to road, railway and cycle paths, with particular reference to areas of centre lines, platforms and sidewalks. 3. The Regional Council, within 60 days of the entry into force of this law, shall draw up a plan that identifies the main linear infrastructures and plans the procedures for implementing linear renewable energy projects. 4. In relation to paragraph 3, the Regional Council shall identify methods of involving public and private entities in the implementation of the projects referred to in paragraph 1» .
Keeping up with the first
Also in this case, the “Pratobello” traces the most innovative solutions capable of generating “renewable energy”, capable of respecting the environment and landscapes, making the use of existing infrastructures strategic, from road to rail, strengthening and improving them, in order to make them “smart” and “green” with an innovative and technological effort capable of recovering, to the point of eliminating it, the energy infrastructure gap. The Swiss Confederation is doing this by planning the “pannelling” of the Swiss railway networks, with advanced technology capable of applying latest-generation high-energy “silicon” astride the tracks, just as Korea is doing for covered cycle paths, or France is experimenting with “solar asphalt” capable of producing “photovoltaic” energy from French roads. Finally, in the most advanced countries, large road companies are implementing strategic plans to produce energy from green roads with photovoltaic panels in the centre lines and on the side guardrails.
The potential
Last detail Sardinia has over 9 thousand km of roads, 3 thousand state roads and 6 thousand regional and provincial roads. The railway network exceeds 1,000 km, 476 km constitute the main network of ordinary gauge. Before scarring the Island with shovels and "endless grills" it is better to become a "trailblazer", with Sardinia free from the energy noose of foreign and oil multinationals.
