Editorial

The situation of alternative fuels is getting worse every day in Italy.

Some fail to reach the consumer for example biodiesel (in 1998 a Decree prohibited its network distribution, whilst the quota exempt of excise has been reduced from 300,000 to 200,000 tons/year, just as the Assobiodiesel was asking for an increase to 400,000), and LPG and CNG have lost state incentives for the vehicles’ purchase and conversion, after a lot of fine words from government. LPG especially is now subject to massive taxation in Italy, the only European country discriminating it.

As feared, state incentives (€ 650 for conversion and € 1,500 for the purchase) have ended: approvals and registration within 29 April 2005, with the relevant Ministries (once more producing a host of fine words) whilst doing absolutely nothing to save money! What savings? The development of gas fuels saves motorists and the state millions of Euro! But clearly POLITICIANS ARE DEAF to appeals. So we have resumed the sad stop and go – 98 style – which keeps consumers guessing and causes uncertainty in the market, which is unable to plan investments.

Nobody knows when these incentives (*) (Italian Ministry of Productive Activities) will be restored. And no-one knows when incentives will be introduced for the transformation of aged vehicles, as promised time and time again by the Environment Minister Mr.Altero Matteoli (as part of the Environment package bill). Still more famous is the Bill for economic and social development, which allocates funds “to initiatives aimed at extending the use of LPG and CNG for vehicles”. Sure, but which, when, how much?

And yet, a large number of members of Parliament of Italy have used these pages to talk of eco-compatible mobility …

Are we supposed to conclude that the government itself does not want to finance these schemes?

 

(*) they are due to be reintroduced in 2006, and amount to about € 2 million: a drop in the ocean!

 

Ugo Nazzarro

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