Biomethane, farmers-industries agreement

An agreement on the development of biomethane was signed in Rome on 19 April at the headquarters of Confagricoltura, in the spirit of supporting the objectives contained in the decree (issued on 2 March 2018) which promotes its dissemination. The agreement was signed by New Holland Agriculture, Snam, Cib (Italian biomethane Consortium), Confagricoltura, Eni, Fpt Industrial and CNH industrial (Iveco). Thus a three-year agreement is launched for an important collaboration in the field of sustainable mobility, with initiatives and projects on biomethane. The development of biomethane is linked to the particular “cleanliness” of the fuel. Biomethane vehicles produce almost the same CO₂ emissions as an electric vehicle powered by energy from renewable sources, while there is an 80-90% reduction compared to traditional fuels. New Holland has already produced a tractor that produces zero CO₂ emissions. The biogas and biomethane supply chain will have to work to increase competitiveness and increase the already high capacity to create new jobs, as it is one of the sectors with the highest employment intensity in renewable energy. Italy has an industrial chain of natural gas in the transport sector which is leading both from a technological and an environmental point of view, recognized worldwide and which can leverage the most extensive and widespread transport network in Europe, over 32 thousand kilometres long. Our country is the leading European market for the consumption of automotive methane with about 1.1 billion cubic metres consumed, one million vehicles in circulation and over 1,300 distribution stations.