More and more wind turbines are being built, and parks with solar panels are being built. It is well known that the world must transition from black energy to more climate-friendly, green energy. And few places are more suitable for solar panels and wind turbines than the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where there is sun all year round and strong winds from the coastline.
But the locals are apparently not enthusiastic about the idea of green energy. They want to keep their coal. There has been an increasing uprising against renewable energy in recent years, and plants have been vandalized several times. Most recently, sabotage was committed against a wind turbine near the town of Mamoaida, north of the capital Cagliari, in the dead of night.
The bolts holding the towering turbine were loosened on Monday night. The windmill did not have time to fall before the vandalism was discovered. But it is still seen as a major setback for renewable energy on the island.
- The vandalism is an attempt to intimidate political decision-makers. People say that renewable energy destroys the landscape and that we will therefore lose our identity, says Marta Battaglia, head of the environmental group Legambiente in Sardinia.
And identity was also one of the arguments at a demonstration back in October in front of the island's parliament in Cagliari. One of the protesters was 54-year-old Marta Rosa.
- Sardinia is synonymous with wild nature and untouched beauty. This is what we have inherited from our ancestors and what we are trying to preserve for our grandchildren, they said.
Want to limit the spread of RE
The demonstrators repeatedly shouted "hands off Sardinia!". They want to limit renewable energy to rooftops and local projects.
- We must produce energy for Sardinia and our own homes, said Davide Meloni, who also demonstrated.
He criticized multinational companies' "attempts to colonize" the Mediterranean island. The criticism is that international companies want to set up plants that produce more energy than Sardinia needs.
And the regional president, Alessandra Todde, was just elected in February with the promise to stop what she called the "invasion" of renewable energy.
That led her to order an 18-month moratorium on new green projects in July. In September, she presented a proposal that is expected to be adopted by the end of 2024. The decree will make "most of Sardinia unsuitable," it said.
And according to experts, it is actually 99 percent of Sardinia, which will become a prohibited area in connection with the installation of wind turbines and solar cells. Yet the protests against green energy continue.
Most climate-damaging region in Italy
Similar resistance has been seen elsewhere in Europe, for example in the UK and France. But the difference is, according to environmental leader Marta Battaglia, that Sardinia is already greatly affected by climate change.
The Mediterranean island is marked by drought and forest fires that send smoke across the white sandy beaches. And according to Italy's National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), the region is the place in Italy where the largest amount of greenhouse gases are emitted per capita.
74 percent. of Sardinia's electricity in 2022 came from either burned biomass or fossil fuels. The vast majority was coal. Italy is in the process of phasing out coal-fired power plants. The two power plants in Sardinia are scheduled to shut down in 2028. And a new power line to the mainland is set to open the same year.
The island is to increase its production of green energy by 6.2 GW from the current 2.78 GW by 2030 to help Italy meet EU goals to curb climate change.
/ritzau/AFP
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