Renewable energies
Renewable energies
Nature and progress go hand in hand to give new life to the Earth thanks to the development of renewable energy.
About renewable energy
Green Energy: The present and future of electricity
Renewable energies are energy sources that naturally regenerate over time and do not run out. They are the most important part of the transition to an energy system that moves away from fossil fuels, thus countering global warming. And they are clean energies that safeguard human health and the environment.
The main sources of renewable energy are:
- solar energy;
- wind energy;
- hydropower;
- geothermal energy;
- biomass energy;
- marine energy.
All countries in the world share the same need to produce increasingly more renewable energy and to abandon conventional sources. According to data from the latest International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report, in 2022 as much as 83 percent of all electricity capacity added lo was from renewable sources. While in 2021, according to a report published by the independent climate think tank Ember, renewables generated 38 percent of the world's electricity.
Renewables are destined to become the most advantageous source of electricity for the planet and for economic development. Because renewable energy, when produced thanks to an integrated vision that spans the entire value chain – from the production site to the suppliers – and with a commitment to mitigating the impacts on local areas and communities, ends up being truly, totally sustainable. Creating shared value, a circular economy approach and commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are the ways renewables reinforce their answer to the one important question: what will be the energy of the future?
Strong points of renewable energy
Nature and innovation for sustainable development
Producing renewable energy is good for the environment, the economy and for people.
Inexhaustible
Renewable resources are always available in nature.
Respect for the environment
Producing energy from renewable resources drastically reduces CO2 emissions.
Versatile
Thanks to various technologies, renewable energy can be produced virtually everywhere in the world.
In constant evolution
Technological innovation makes renewable energy production increasingly more efficient.
Affordable
Large scale renewable energy production is increasingly affordable.
New jobs
The Green Economy has and will continue to create jobs for professionals in this growing sector.
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Use of renewable energy
Developing countries’ energy mix and electrification
The use of renewable energy is two-pronged: producing energy from green sources to tip the overall energy mix scales in favor of renewable energy, and helping people worldwide to have constant safe access to electricity.
Technological innovation helps on both fronts. The increasingly widespread use of renewables is due to continuous improvements in production techniques. Power plants are becoming more and more efficient, making this type of electricity affordable and competitive on the market, so sustainable energy is advantageous for both industrial and household users.
In developing countries, renewable energy is often the only way to electrify entire rural areas. Innovative solutions provide the most disadvantaged communities with stable safe access to the electric grid, and they’ll stand the test of time. Green energy closes the gap in energy access and guarantees the same development opportunities to the entire world.
Renewable energies in Italy
Did you know?
Burlington, the first 100% green city
In 2014, Burlington, Vermont, USA, the world’s first city to rely exclusively on sustainable energy, succeeded in powering 42,000 residents’ homes and businesses in a completely sustainable way.
The energy mix from different renewable sources – mostly wind, water and the sun – is the result of a longstanding strategy, completed in ten years of vision and targeted investments. Burlington is an exemplary model for the rest of Vermont, which, with the example set by its biggest city, aims to get 90% of the entire state’s energy from renewable sources.
“The green wave” is changing electricity supply prospects worldwide. At the end of 2018, over 100 cities across the globe were able to use at least 70% renewable energy to satisfy their energy needs, and around 40 of them, including Basil, Switzerland and Reykjavík, Iceland, went 100% green.