Challenges and barriers of a developing market in Italy

Biomethane is and will be a fundamental accelerator for the decarbonisation of the Italian economy: according to the latest forecasts, a national production capacity increase of 9.8 bcm/year is expected from 2021 to 2050. Currently, the sector is facing two main challenges: the choice of the logistics model and the related regulatory obstacles. The processes of feeding gas directly into the infrastructure or liquefying it to be transported by land to users are feasible, but the same cannot be said for their bureaucratic counterpart, still too cumbersome. At the moment, European and national policymakers are preparing appropriate tools to facilitate and increase biomethane production: an example of it is the renewed incentive scheme defined in the Italian ministerial decree of 15 September 2022. Many questions are still open: stakeholders engagement and commitment, however, is oriented to ensure a promising development.