Country: Italy
Address: c/o Fattoria del Lago, SR 398 km 7850, 58025 Monterotondo M.mo, Grosseto
Type of reality: Cooperative
Target audience: B2C
Website: www.distrettoenergierinnovabili.it
Scenario
The production system for major food commodities relies on the constant availability of energy in its various forms (Donolo, 2006). One of these is geothermal energy—that is, the energy stored as heat within the Earth. Extracting this large amount of heat requires an energy carrier: this role is typically fulfilled by rainwater, which penetrates the Earth’s crust through recharge areas, comes into contact with hot rocks, and accumulates in aquifers. There are two main geothermal areas in Italy: Larderello-Travale/Radicondoli and Monte Amiata, both located in southern Tuscany, where there are as many as 36 geothermal power plants (Italian Geothermal Union, 2017).
Description
Food Communities, which are present all over the world, are bound together by the awareness that the standardization of food operated by the food industry is an extremely dangerous path that does not value products, territories and knowledge.
The Renewable Energy Food Community (CCER), based in Monterotondo Marittimo in the heart of Tuscany’s geothermal region, was founded in 2009 through a collaboration between COSVIG (Consortium for the Development of Geothermal Areas), Slow Food Tuscany, and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. It is one of the first communities in the world to operate in the agri-food sector using renewable energy sources such as geothermal energy, and the producers who join it must adhere to strict principles of environmental sustainability, short supply chains, and local sourcing (Cosvig, 2016).
More than 20 different businesses operate within the community including restaurants, oil mills, bakeries, tourist consortia, and farms, working in a circular way. For example, the craft brewery Vapori di birra employs geothermal steam in its production process, and in particular for brewing beer, saving about 5.8 kWh, useful for heating 100 liters of water from 15 to 65 °C (average temperature for brewing).
Moreover, through careful use of water resources, it uses about 7 liters of water to produce one liter of beer compared to an international average of 15 liters (Water Footprint Network, 2016). The social cooperative Parvus Flos , on the other hand, produces basil, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries withoutCO2 emissions, thanks to geothermal flow that allows it to maintain a constant and adequate temperature inside the greenhouses operating 365 days a year.
All products are eligible to bear the “100% Clean Energy—Multiutility” label, as even the electricity used comes from renewable sources. Furthermore, the Parvus Flos cooperative has been hiring 30% socially disadvantaged individuals for years, striving to be innovative from a social perspective as well.
Bibliography
- Cosvig, 2016(www.distrettoenergierinnovabili.it/der/s/cosvig)
- Donolo C., Electrical ties, “The New Ecology,” November 2006, monograph no.: Renewable pride, edited by S. Ferraris.
- Enea, Annual energy efficiency report, 2017(https://www.efficienzaenergetica.enea.it/component/jdownloads/)
- Petrini C., Carlo Petrini and the Example of Renewable Energy Food Communities: “Be Proud of It,”(interview with), 2013(https://www.cosvig.it/carlo-petrini-e-lesempio-delle-comunita-del-cibo-a-energie-rinnovabili-siatene-orgogliosi/)
- Italian Geothermal Union, Geothermal Energy in Italy, 2017(https://www.unionegeotermica.it/la-geotermia-in-italia/).
- Water Footprint Network, 2016(www.waterfootprint.org)
