Italy has taken another important step towards meeting its Kyoto protocol targets with the first national agreement on biofuels, according to Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro.
Speaking after the deal was signed, De Castro said it would help reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels and marked a new chapter in green energy, benefiting both the environment and agriculture.
"This framework contract on biofuels is extremely important as it is the first concrete step towards constructing a national agricultural-energy sector," he said.
"This is an area in which Italy is still lagging far behind in comparison to other European Union countries, as well as in terms of meeting its Kyoto protocol targets".
The national 2007 budget, approved at the end of December, earmarked substantial sums for encouraging the production of alternative energy sources.
It also called for 70,000 hectares of farmland to be given over to crops for alternative energy sources by the end of 2007.
The government hopes that 240,000 hectares of Italian soil will be devoted to biofuel crops by 2010.
Biofuel is a fuel derived from biomass, which comes from recently living organisms such as plants. It taps a form of solar energy, which is captured and stored in plants during photosynthesis.
Biofuels are not only renewable sources of energy, they are also far less harmful to the environment if spilled.
The new framework agreement, which was signed by agricultural, seed production and industrial associations, provides guidelines for the manufacture, pricing and technical characteristics of biofuels, such as pricing and delivery.
The move was greeted warmly by Italy's leading agricultural groups.
The association of small farmers, Coldiretti, said it would "fill Italian legislative gaps and help save the climate".
The Italian Farmers Confederation (CIA) said it was the "first important step towards developing agriculture-based energy and creating a national [biofuels] sector able to meet the Kyoto protocol objectives".
De Castro stressed that the deal would not only help the environment, it would also benefit agriculture, which plays an important role in the Italian economy.
"We are moving towards a new function for farming, which will become a key player in policies to safeguard the environment and save energy," he said.
The next step, he said, would be developing framework contracts for other forms of biomass.
"The future of green energy has finally begun," the minister concluded.
News of the biofuels agreement came as the European Commission rapped Italy for not meeting targets on renewable energy, which it stressed was a key weapon in the fight against global warming.
In its annual report published on Wednesday, it said Italy had made some progress in developing wind power, biogas and biofuel systems but was still "far behind" national and European targets.
It blamed several factors for this failure, including red tape, the high costs of tapping into power networks and a lack of new policy after Italy's recent change in government.
For the government, centre-left Daisy party energy pointman Ermete Realacci pledged that an upcoming government policy conference would bring "a major turnaround in energy-saving and renewable (energy) policy".
Italy must step up its use of renewable energy if it is to meet its commitments under the Kyoto protocol.
The 1997 treaty requires 39 of the world's most industrialized countries to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming and climate change.
Italy has agreed to a 6.5% reduction in its 1990 level of carbon dioxide emissions by 2012.
But the most recent government figures suggest emissions have instead risen by over 12%.
