Bioenergy: the decisive role of communication

There is increasing talk of informed consumers, who with their choices and expectations can contribute significantly to a global project for sustainable development. To achieve this it is necessary to disseminate adequately the knowledge gained, which does not always reach civil society at large because of the complexity of scientific, technical and juridical language. The recent decree for the development of biomethane could be in this sense a first testing ground

During the most recent edition of the environmental award “Il Monito del Giardino” an interesting report was given by engineer Angela Morelli, on the faculty of St. Martin’s University of London, who has for years studied and taught a subject known as information design. It is a branch of the communication sciences, and revolves around the planning of information, or better still, of comprehension. 

One aspect, perhaps the main one, professor Morelli has devoted much of her energy to, is rendering some of the many results of scientific research accessible to the public at large and thus more useful. Formulas and numbers contain infinite information with a great persuasion potential which, if made clear, could positively influence the choices of many people and so bring more or less important social and environmental benefits.  

For instance, it is well known that water is a precious and limited resource. However we ignore to what extent it is actually limited, and what the possible solutions to avoid wasting it are. To plan information means to make people understand that if per capita consumption of water is of about 137 liters a day for domestic needs, one cup of coffee “contains”, without our knowing it, about 130 liters of water used during its production cycle. This seems paradoxical, but in fact most of the water we need is used not to quench our thirst, but to feed us. It has been calculated that the processing of the food consumed daily, almost 30% of which is wasted, requires an average of 3,500 liters of water for one person. These figures which vary according to diet, so according to the countries being considered the figures show that, Italy is third, following Japan and Mexico, in the ranking of “viral consumption” of water, with about 6,300 liters per capita a day. Thanks to scientific analysis we can now access a large database containing information about water footprints of many products, both industrial and agricultural. We know for example that the harvest of one kg of apples requires 500 liters of water, while for the same amount of beef the figure rises to 15,000 liters. Being able to communicate this information might make us distracted consumers feel responsible, by persuading us to plan our nutrition habits also on the basis of the planet's needs. Another strong point of information design is the involvement of people obtained by emphasizing the possibility of tackling complex problems by adopting “light” solutions, that is, daily choices, not drastic sacrifices induced by catastrophe or by a sense of guilt.

These reflections prove very useful in setting into perspective some key issues regarding bioenergies. In fact for bioenergies to be further developed a wide and shared consensus must be reached in society. This consensus must be built patiently by creating authoritative sources of information that may filter scientific data and transmit it in a clear way to the rest of society. It is regrettable that still today we witness displays of skepticism - the less authoritative the more extreme they are -  over climate change and its connection to the use of fossil fuels. Unfortunately this type of resistance can have a strong effect on the collective imagination, it uses a direct language that stimulates what technically is defined as “fast thinking”, or more commonly, the gut feeling of people. For example it has been claimed that bioenergies put the production of food at risk, carry exorbitant costs paid for by the general public, do not reduce CO2 emissions, etc. A great deal of reliable information proves these accusations to be false, this is information that stimulates “slow thinking”, and requires more concentration, analytical thinking, in other words: effort. For this reason, and many studies demonstrate this, most decisions made on a daily basis are motivated by fast thinking, or, by instinct. This explains the widespread NIMBY attitude towards plans for food plants fueled by renewable sources of energy and the many committees that oppose these projects.

It is thus necessary to find ways of translating scientific evidence into messages that can be absorbed immediately because they relate to concrete issues and everyday situations. It may seem strange, but this complicated transition is being carried out successfully in rural sectors. In fact many farmers see in the technologies for biomass energy conversion a precious opportunity to increase the profits of their businesses by taking advantage of the subsidies for the improvement of environmental performance. Farmers know that only a small part of the profits make from selling their food products goes to them, and they are not surprised by the figures released by ISMEA and Unioncamere according to which for every 100 euros spent on food only less that 2% (1.8 euros) goes to them. Farmers also know that for years now the amount of land employed for cultivation has been decreasing constantly because of the reduction of farming in general, so they are not surprised to learn that according to INEA, ISPRA and ISTAT more than 5 million hectares of land have been abandoned over the past 20 years. Also for these reasons over a period of five years more than 1,000 agricultural enterprises have built anaerobic digestion plants to produce biogas for generating electric and thermal energy at the same time, generating also additional income and a sense of confidence in the future. As of this year it is also possible to provide further stimulus to the sector with the upgrading of biogas to biomethane. On 17 December 2013 the Official Gazette published  the long awaited decree containing incentives for the “Immission of Biomethane in the Natural Gas Grid ” signed by the Ministry for Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment.

The decree defines and regulates the incentives for the production of biomethane for automotive purposes, cogeneration plants and household natural gas distribution networks.

As is often the case the document is not easy to read, and in order to make it clear and facilitate the interpretation of the regulations the The Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies has entrusted ENAMA with the task of producing a guide that is already available in a digital edition that can be consulted and downloaded for free from the organization's website. The guide is divided in two sections; the first is an introduction which analyzes data concerning the diffusion of methane in Italy, the potential for development of biomethane of agricultural origin, technologies for the upgrading of biogas to biomethane, the infrastructure system and the norms that regulate transport and the gas distribution grid; the second section is a detailed analysis of the decree and provides useful indications on the different options for accessing incentives. The booklet is an effective guide, and also provides bibliographic references, a glossary and an appendix containing the full text of the Decree. The provision will be a testing ground not only for the capacity of the national system to purposely use the incentives, but also for the definition of criteria and methods of communication that will allow the interested public to understand the operation and its utility. ENAMA's effort for the dissemination and the principles of information design will be decisive.