Energy: Italian Mountain Village Finds The Good Life

Varese Ligure, Italy
31 Oct. 2006

With hundreds of miles of coastline, various mountain ranges and one of the sunniest climates in Europe, Italy is ideally suited to develop wind and solar power, yet the proportion of electricity generated from green energy sources here is among the lowest in Europe: a mere 4.5 percent. However, one picturesque mountain village in the northern Italian region of Liguria which meets all its energy needs and more from renewables - has set an example for the rest of Europe. The mayor of Varese Ligure, Maurizio Caranza, told Adnkronos International (AKI) how this feat has been achieved.

"Ten years ago, Varese Ligure's population had shrunk from 6,000 to 2,250 people. We realised the only thing to do to prevent the village from dying was to protect the environment and rehabilitate the agriculture sector," Caranza said.

"Today, the population is stable and Varese Ligure produces all its electricity from green energy sources. We chose the environmental certification route and to save energy, using all the renewable energy sources available," he said.

"Tourism is an important sector for six months a year, local farmers produce an abundance of organic fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products, and the village now recycles 25 percent of its refuse," he said. "Because the political will existed, we succeeded in arresting Varese Ligure’s decline," Caranza stressed.

Varese Ligure was the first European community to receive the ISO 14001 (1999) and EMAS II (2002) environmental certification awards, as well as a European Union prize for Best Renewable Energy Partnership in Rural Communities (2004).

The village has two windmills in operation - jointly owned by the village of Varese Ligure and a local electricity company - which produce an annual four million kilowatts of electrical power. "This is three times the amount of electrical energy the village needs. We sell the rest to the national grid which earns us 30,000 euros a year," Caranza explained.

The 46-metre tall windmills come into view as one enters Varese Ligure, perched atop a mountain ridge above the village - their white, tapering blades turning silently and rhythmically. They prompt differing reactions: some claim they blight the landscape while others find them strangely beautiful.

Two more windmills are being built to generate a further three million kilowatts of electricity annually. By the end of the year, the village will produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 7,000 people, Caranza noted proudly. "We will sell all the surplus power at a good price," he said.

Varese Ligure has installed solar panels on the roof of the town hall and the local middle school, as well as on the roof of its only hotel. These produce a further 23,000 kilowatts annually and the panels on the town hall and hotel roofs generate enough electricity to heat and provide enough hot water for both.

"Our windmills and our solar panels help reduce by 0.05 percent Liguria's annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions," said Caranza. When asked why he believes there are not more 100-percent renewable villages in Italy he pinpointed bureaucracy, the very high costs of connection to the national grid, and a lack of funding as the main obstacles.