Strategies to Reduce the Use of Fossil Fuels in the Lombardy Region

Abstract

The Regional Energy and Environmental Programme (REEP) is the planning instrument adopted by the Lombardy Region to define how to reach the commitments set by the European Union for 2020. The actions are designed to achieve the 2020 goals for competitiveness and sustainable development. They consist in the objectives for renewable energy sources set by national legislation and in the new framework for energy efficiency measures provided by the Directive 2012/27/EC. The reduction of energy consumption, the optimal exploitation of renewable resources and the strengthening of the security of the regional energy system are the main levers of change that the REEP will activate. Besides, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency represent a fundamental opportunity for revitalizing the economic and productive system of Lombardy, while promoting a real green economy. The envisaged measures aim to promote the modernization and efficiency of the supply infrastructure and to maximize the storage and delivery capacity, both for power and natural gas (or bio-methane). The actions and projects included in the REEP are based on an extensive and long-established knowledge of energy systems down to the local level, i.e. the demand and the supply by energy carrier, infrastructures for energy generation, distribution and use, actual and potential use of renewable energy sources, specific information on key targeted sectors, such as buildings (Lombardy has developed a buildings energy performance cadastre and a heating and cooling systems cadastre).