Ashley Santner

October 31, 2008

Under the mandate of European Directive 2006/32/EC on the application of energy end-use efficiency and energy services, the autonomous province of Trento ("Trentino"), located in the Italian Alps, has recently developed several projects with an eye towards a greener future. Specifically, "Member States shall adopt and aim to achieve an overall national indicative energy savings target of 9 %…to be reached by way of energy services and other energy efficiency improvement measures…[and] take cost-effective, practicable and reasonable measures designed to contribute towards achieving this target," which covers the period from 2008 until 2017.

Article 249 of the European Union Treaty states that a directive requires each Member State to introduce the instruments needed for the implementation within its borders. Furthermore, Title V, Art. 117 of the revised Italian Constitution authorizes regions and autonomous provinces the oversight to implement international agreements and actions of the European Union with respect to procedural regulations defined by the law of the State.

Under this directive, Trentino has distinguished itself as a leader in environmental innovation, especially in the field of clean energy technology. The province currently receives 89% of its energy from renewable sources. It is also among the first provincial governments in the European Union requiring LEED certification for public building procurement. Some of this progress has been credited to the fact that for the last 50 years, Trentino has enjoyed a wide-ranging autonomy from Italy, and the province has direct administration of 90% of tax revenue. This local management of the power grid has allowed Trentino to allocate revenue towards green energy and sustainable development projects.

Trentino has prioritized the increase of financial support to research, development and dissemination of technology on clean and renewable energy resources, as well as an integrated product policy that facilitates cooperation between the government and businesses to reduce the environmental impact and to conserve resources.

The implementation of these goals is culminated in a project called Habitech, an "Environmental Technologies and Renewable Energies Cluster," in order to enhance existing territorial and environmental practices. This project involves 180 partners, 300 companies with 1 billion euros in total income and 8,000 employees from the University of Trento and other regional research centers. An expressed goal of Habitech is make Trentino a global model for the mass deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell applications and other alternative energy sources. The vision for Trentino 2020 is to build an integrated knowledge cluster of sustainable energy and building.

Trentino has gained international exposure for its environmental initiatives through a collaborative effort called "Green Italy in Massachusetts," which is on display at Boston's Logan International Airport through December 15, 2008.

Sources:

Celebrating the collaborative efforts between Italy and Massachusetts for a greener tomorrow, http://greenitaly.info/ (last visited Oct. 30, 2008).

Council Directive 06/32, art. 4, on energy end-use efficiency and energy services and repealing Council Directive 93/76/EEC, 2006 O.J. (L 114) 64, 69 (EC), available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:114:0064:0085:EN:PDF.

Gian Paolo Meneghini, Status of Implementation of EU Environmental Laws in Italy, Consorzio CO.META Report for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament (Nov. 2006), available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/envi/pdf/externalexpertise/implementation_of_eu_environmental_laws_in_italy.pdf.

Gianluca Salvatori, Habitech: The Energy Environment Cluster, Green Building Council Italia, http://www.dttn.it/ (last visited Oct. 30, 2008).

Maurizio Fontanari & Gianna Lazzari, Trentino: Green, Smart, Small, Provincia Autonoa di Trento, available at https://www.hfpeurope.org/uploads/2300/3616/AutonomousProvinceofTrento.pdf.