Pubblicazioni in programma
Storia dell’energia solare in Italia
Questa pubblicazione si propone di raccogliere notizie, fatti e dati su come le tecnologie solari siano state promosse e sviluppate nel passato più o meno recente in Italia, anche attraverso le storie di organizzazioni e persone che vi hanno contribuito.
Storia di ISES ITALIA, Sezione dell’International Solar Energy Society
Versione italiana della cronistoria e attività della Sezione italiana dell’International Solar Energy Society, partendo dalla storia già pubblicata in lingua inglese in “The Fifty-Year History of the International Solar Energy Society and its National Sections” (ISES/ASES Agosto 2005) a cura di C. Silvi.
Prima parte (1964-1980)
Seconda parte (1980-2004)
Storie di pionieri dell’energia solare del novecento in Italia
Il “ISES History Standing Committee” sta promuovendo a livello internazionale la pubblicazione di una serie di monografie sui pionieri dell’energia solare del novecento. Con riferimento all’Italia le monografie in studio riguardano: Giacomo Ciamician (1875-1922) - Mario Dornig (1891-1963) - Gaetano Vinaccia (1889-1971) - Giovanni Francia (1911-1980) - Ferruccio Grassi (1897-1980) e Daniele Gasperini (1895 - 1960) e altri.
Renewable Energy and the United Nations over the last 50 years
Energy has not had an easy time in trying to climb up in the international agenda. It is a complex and multistakeholder question, at the core of development efforts but also at the centre of some of the most important economic and political interests. Notwithstanding these conditions, since 1954, the United Nations have reiterated their efforts in order to bring energy at the heart of social and economic development, especially in developing countries. Although energy as a whole has been basically kept out of international intergovernmental talks and negotiations, efforts can be found regarding solar and renewable energy. In 1954 UNESCO organized in New Delhi, India a Symposium on Wind Power and Solar Energy. But the first large event organized by the United Nations was the UN Conference on New Energy Sources (solar, wind, geothermal), held in Rome in August 1961 at the headquarters of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The decision to organize the conference had been made in May of 1956, when the U.N. Economic and Social Council recommended that "the United Nations should display the same interest in all new sources as it had in (some of) the conventional sources of energy and in atomic energy."....
As a response to the so called “energy crisis” of the late 70’s, and a worry regarding the security of energy supplies, the UN was again called upon to guide the international community on energy matters. Once more, due to resistance by various sectors, the UN was only allowed to discuss New and Renewable Sources of Energy (NRSE). This took place at the UN Conference on NRSE which took place in Nairobi, Kenya in August 1981. The Nairobi Programme of Action adopted at the Conference and by the UN General Assembly represents one of the most serious attempts of the international community to promote the transition towards renewable energy options. The Nairobi Conference also stressed the need to focus on the “other energy crisis”, represented by the fuelwood situation, mainly in Africa. The findings of the Nairobi Conference have been revised during the last decades based on very important events in the energy scenario, such as the discovery of large oil and gas deposits, the move towards energy efficiency and the linkages established between fuelwood and health problems.
As societies realized the vital links of energy demand and supply patterns with the local and global environment, the UN began to integrate the environmental dimension within its perception and actions on the energy front. By the time of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro UN Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED, the energy and environmental nexus had been clearly established and, furthermore, climate change considerations came to play a critical role. Scientific evidence of the links between anthropogenic emissions of CO2 and of other GHG gases began to grow. The UNFCCC took form and the need to mitigate climate change through lower emissions and the move to renewables were highlighted in the discussions. In spite of this growing evidence, and of the also growing energy problems faced by rural poor in developing countries, Agenda 21, the main document coming out of UNCED does not have an energy chapter. Again, the international community was left without an instrument to guide international cooperation on energy matters. Energy issues can be found in various chapters of Agenda 21, but this dispersion lead to an also dispersed action in the international energy scene. No international energy programme, agency or mechanism was established.
The Kyoto Protocol signed to stabilize GHG emissions is another international instrument which touches closely on the need to promote renewable energies. Its flexible mechanisms such as Joint Implementation, Carbon Trading and, in particular the Clean Development Mechanism contain clear approaches on renewables. Whilst this kind of global financing mechanisms, together with the Global Environmental Facility, promote financing of renewable energies as means mitigate climate change, hopefully they will also influence the policy role of the UN on energy matters. This broader approach was decisively taken at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002. Both at the political intergovernmental negotiation level as well as in the NGO activities and in the proposals of the UN Secretary-General himself, renewable energy rouse to the highest levels of the International Agenda.
It seems that finally, after more than 50 years of constant efforts by energy development visionaries and dedicated energy officers in the United Nations system, the UN has a Framework to construct an international platform for energy. Efforts today are directed to identifying the best ways to mobilize the ideas and proposals contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. Partnerships, new Programme and ways to build upon the experiences already in place, together with innovative manners to tap the tremendous interdisciplinary expertise in the UN organizations are being discussed.
It seems that at last the international community can count with a new impetus from the UN family to contribute to building a sustainable energy system to the benefit of all, and in particular of the poorest populations in remote, rural and peri-urban areas.
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