Italy’s Ministry of Defence is promoting the use of clean energy and sustainable mobility for the Armed Forces through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with gas infrastructure provider Snam. The intention is to study the possible use of natural gas and renewable gas for Armed Forces vehicles.
The Ministry of Defence, the Snam company specializing in renewable energy, and Difesa Servizi SpA (an in-house company of the Ministry of Defence), signed the MoU on November 19 in the field of research on sustainable mobility for the Armed Forces .
The memorandum was signed at Palazzo Aeronautica, by Undersecretary Angelo Tofalo, the CEO of Snam Marco Alverà and the CEO of Defence Services Fausto Recchia.
“Improving and making the defence sector more efficient is one of the main objectives we are pursuing with innovative approaches and sustainable projects”, said Undersecretary Tofalo.
“This collaboration”, he added, “represents an important opportunity to develop synergies with the industrial world in research and technological exchange, especially in the dual use field and, in line with the Defence Energy Strategy, will allow to reduce polluting emissions to the benefit of air quality in the cities.”
The CEO of Snam, Marco Alverà said: “We are very happy to work with the Ministry of Defence in sustainable methane and biomethane mobility, starting a virtuous collaboration in an Italian chain of excellence in which we are at the forefront of Europe and in the world”.
The Ministry promotes the use of clean energy and sustainable mobility of the Armed Forces. The protocol of understanding signed with Snam is included in this context, aimed at studying the possible use of natural gas and renewable gas (biomethane) for Armed Forces vehicles, to contribute to the development of sustainable mobility for the average and long distance with a lower environmental impact.
The agreement, promoted by the Energy Project Structure (SPE), will allow the realization of a technical-economic feasibility study for the installation of refueling systems for vehicles powered by natural gas on Defence areas near their border external to allow also a dual public/private use, and for the partial and progressive conversion of the military fleet.
The Director of the SPE, General Francesco Noto, who attended the signing of the protocol, in his speech highlighted that “the collaboration between Defence and Snam is part of the overall effort of Defence aimed at reducing energy expenditure and environmental impact on the territory, through the definition of strategic nodes of the energy supply and distribution networks with a reduced environmental footprint that can be used for the dual use”.
