Energy Transition To Cost Italy $760 Billion This Decade

The price tag of the energy transition in Italy could be over $760 billion (650 billion euro) over the next ten years, the president of the local employers’ association said on Thursday.

“The national recovery plan provides only 6% of the investment needed for the transition. Almost 94% has to be covered by companies,” Carlo Bonomi said at the annual meeting of employers’ federation Confindustria, as carried by Reuters.

According to the head of the influential business association, the soaring gas and energy prices and spikes in prices of key metals could slow down the economic recovery from the pandemic globally.  

At the same event, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that the energy transition “is not a choice but a necessity.”  

Still, Italy needs to take into account its capacity to repurpose its energy system to lower-carbon sources, Draghi said.

“The government should help consumers and businesses bear the costs of this transition, paying special attention to the most vulnerable consumers,” the Italian prime minister said.

The world will need to invest up to $173 trillion in greener energy infrastructure and supply over the next 30 years if it wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, BloombergNEF said in its New Energy Outlook 2021 report published on in July.

If governments and companies want to see the coveted 2050 net-zero emissions they have been racing to pledge in recent months, they would need to invest between $92 trillion and $173 trillion in the next three decades, according to BNEF.

The energy transition that would be compatible with a net-zero world in 2050 would need rapid scaling of investment, the research firm says, adding that “the route to net-zero remains yet uncertain.”

According to BNEF, the world needs to more than double yearly investments in order to achieve net-zero emissions. Those investments should jump from around $1.7 trillion annually at present to “somewhere between $3.1 trillion and $5.8 trillion per year on average over the next three decades.”

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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