The next big thing has already been invented

"We need to extend the planning horizon, also using the imagination if necessary, to put ourselves in a position to reap the benefits that will certainly be there, even if today we can only intuit them," says Marco Patuano, president of the A2A Group and Bocconi Alumnus, of the energy transition. He's going through the difficult exercise of drawing up today a ten-year strategic plan for a company operating in a turbulent sector such as energy today. In the document, presented at the beginning of the year, the largest Italian multi-utility (which prefers the definition of "Life Company" for itself) allocated €18 billion in investments, most of which destined to the development of electricity production from renewable sources, a further sign that green energy is the direction of development for all firms.
You have worked for a long time in telecommunications; you must be used to take the long perspective and confide in technological progress..
Yes, in fact, when today I hear about some technologies in the sectors where A2A operates, such as hydrogen or biomethane, the dawn of the Internet comes to mind: these are technologies that have existed for years, and we are all convinced they are going to be the "Next Big Thing", but at the same time there is a sense that something is still missing to make it all happen. At this moment there is an ever greater dyscrasia between the current state of the art and the scenarios towards which macro trends are inevitably leading under the push of social phenomena, geopolitical events, technological developments.
As A2A group you have recently acquired a sizable wind farm: is this the renewable source on which to invest at the moment? What other technologies do you think are the most promising?
Photovoltaics and wind are more than promising technologies, they are a tangible reality. If we talk about promising technologies, looking much further, say beyond 2050, I think that the greatest hope comes from the fusion of the atom. If, on the other hand, we broaden the discussion from renewable energies only to the world of Net Neutral, then I would say that technologies of absolute interest are found in the world of Carbon Capture, understood not so much as the storage of CO2 in the subsoil but the treatment and exploitation of carbon dioxide.
In Italy, the construction of new power plants, be they wind-energy or waste-to-energy plants, or even more nuclear energy plants, is still an almost impossible mission. Will the increasingly evident climate emergency change things in your opinion?
The energy transition is necessarily a process of "learning the hard way": you learn from everyday emergencies, even if for many people these are never evident enough. The point is that acting under the tyranny of emergency means that we tend to favor effectiveness to "solve problems", and thus we tend to centralize decisions. Plants such as those mentioned, however, have very visible impacts on the localities that host them and cannot be achieved without dialogue with local stakeholders. It is no coincidence that a NIMBY attitude is growing around almost all the initiatives, that is, "not in my territory". I am from Piedmont and love to contemplate the rows of vines in my countryside, so it is not obvious that I would be happy if they built wind turbines in front of my house. When it comes to these technologies, people have many questions, they are often frightened because they do not fully understand the implications. But if we put ourselves in the shoes of those who have to allocate capital for investment, no company can accept lengthy times to build an infrastructure. We must therefore strike a balance and find new forms of exchange between companies and the local territory that stave off the mentality of always looking at what is lost without first comparing it to what can be obtained.
The perplexities also arise from the fact that few have yet been able to touch the advantages of the transition to renewable energy, at least among private individuals.
That is not entirely true. If we all drive an electric car within 10 years, it will be because it is cheaper. I usually already use one for the city. Why? The math is simple: with a liter of fuel you can travel, in the best of cases, 15 km, while with its equivalent in electric power, 10 kWh, an electric car runs for 80, 100, maybe even 120 kilometers, because the electrical motor is much more efficient than the endothermic one, which disperses more energy by producing heat. It is a very tangible convenience that brings benefits not only to the environment but also to the user. This is a very relevant change because of the about to 1300 terawatt hours of primary energy that Italy uses (I am referring to the sum of electricity, gas and petroleum derivatives), a major share is due to transportation.
In what way, in your opinion, will the growth of renewables change global geopolitics and what will be the role of Europe in this transition?
If we divide the planet into macro blocks, we notice that there is just one area where energy offer and consumption is in balance, and that is North America. They have an energy-intensive market but also uranium, gas, oil, sun and wind. In short, they can go it alone. Russia and the Middle East are net exporters, China and Southeast Asia are net importers. Europe is in structural deficit because it has no indigenous sources of energy: it has no oil, no gas, no uranium. As Europeans we must ask ourselves how we can remain match demand and offer in the time that separates us from the diffusion of atom fusion that will finally free us from the importation of energy. If, as we have said, this will happen beyond 2050, all that remains is to find a way to harm ourselves as little as possible for the next 30-50 years. The issue is largely political, as much of the necessary technology already exists. A school case says that if we equipped a square of about 100 square kilometers with solar mirrors in the Sahara desert, this would guarantee all the energy that Europe needs. It does not mean that it can really be done, but it does mean that we have the technology and that in order to find common solutions we must truly become a European Union.


Born in Alessandria, 58 years old, Marco Patuano graduated in Business Administration from Bocconi before completing his studies in the US. He made his professional debut in telecommunications in 1995, following the birth and growth of TIM until becoming, in 2011, CEO of Telecom. "After that experience, I remembered that I had a specialization in finance so I started dealing with financial holding companies" jokes the president of the A2A Group, recalling his past as CEO of Edizione srl, his work at MP Invest foundation, or his role as senior advisor for Nomura. "The Bocconi that I knew was first and foremost a school of method and for this reason it gave a very valid teaching to succeed first in studies and then in profession of manager. I remember that, while most of the business schools were still focused on organizational issues, here they were already into strategic thinking, a nice advantage over the competition. Over time, I really appreciated the quality of the faculty we had and the civic sense that professionals of that caliber showed in teaching to the newer generations. Should I teach today? I don't think I'm good at it. And then, with five children, I already have my personal academy at home".