“High energy bills? More efficient boilers would lead to immediate savings,” says Giuseppe Lorubio (Assotermica)

The plan is there. But it’s not visible. “Or at least they’re pretending not to see it,” Giuseppe Lorubio, head of Assotermica, tells Il Foglio. “We’re in favour of decarbonisation; we’re in favour – as the vice-president of Confindustria has pointed out in recent days – of a return to nuclear power. However, these are, in any case, medium- to long-term processes. Italians’ soaring energy bills, on the other hand, are a here-and-now issue. It wouldn’t take much to provide real financial relief, with the cold season approaching. Instead, we risk ending up trapped in the ‘Cuba effect’.” What does that mean? “Limiting consumption, even by cutting necessary expenditure: today, many households prefer to keep using obsolete heating appliances. But this trend creates enormous inefficiencies. Just consider that of the approximately 20 million radiators – by far the most widely used domestic heating systems, according to the European heating industry – between 8 and 9 are powered by traditional boilers. That is to say, old ones, which are a source of waste: they do not even utilise the principle of heat recovery from flue gases. If only condensing boilers – their natural technological evolution – were installed in homes, this would result in immediate savings of 15–20 per cent. For consumers and for the country as a whole.”

These are significant figures, particularly at this time: energy bills are expected to rise by over 20 per cent this autumn, due to rising raw material prices and international geopolitical instability. We have yet to feel the full impact of the Hormuz crisis. “We are concerned about the state of our sector. And it is a situation that is affecting the entire energy supply chain”, warns the representative of manufacturers of heating system equipment and components. The latest guidelines, in fact, envisage circumventing – at least in part – the cost of gas by shifting domestic heating to the electricity grid, using convector heaters and heat pumps. But this would be a misleading solution. “The electricity utilities themselves tell us there are major problems: we have one of the best grids in Europe, yet its margin of adequacy has fallen dramatically. It is not designed to cope with the consumption peaks expected, particularly in large cities, leading to frequent blackouts – not to mention the major issue of energy-hungry data centres. Electrification is not that simple. And it is very costly: according to industry experts, it would take 10 billion euros a year to upgrade the distribution network.”

Lorubio also frames this as a matter of sustainability. “The main difference between a boiler and a heat pump lies in the speed of installation and commissioning,” explains the chairman. “For the former, all you need is a plumber. For the latter, the time, costs and labour required are much higher. And hybrid systems enable a 54 per cent reduction in total expenditure to achieve decarbonisation targets, because at that point there would no longer be a need to massively upgrade the electricity grid – which entails economic, energy and environmental impacts. In short, an Italy with more efficient boilers would mean lower demand for gas straight away. And therefore lower costs.”

Why, then, is no action being taken in this direction? “The problem is that current EU policies do not take these savings into account, as they cannot be quantified under the Energy Efficiency Directive. This removes the incentives for replacing old systems: this is another reason why the rate of energy efficiency improvements in Italian buildings has slowed down.” So does the obstacle lie in Brussels? “Yes. We have a solution at our disposal that would allow us to reduce gas consumption. But we cannot implement it because of the dogmatic approach adopted at a higher level, which is blocking the efficiency measures that should be the first to be rolled out in emergency situations. Given that EU decision-makers will not change their minds, Italy has all the tools to champion the revision of a regulatory framework that serves no one’s interests.” Recommendations for the Meloni government: “We call for immediate action on biomethane as a lever for decarbonisation to promote the circular economy. It must be channelled into distribution networks to supply homes and transport hubs as well – not just industries. Secondly: it is a priority to revise the ideological stance that the boiler is the enemy of the energy transition. Compatibility with green scenarios exists; it depends solely on the type of gas it burns: efficiency gains come from replacing the ageing stock. We need more pragmatism. This is particularly true in light of what is happening in other countries: take Germany’s new heating law, which has scrapped the 65 per cent renewable energy requirement for the latest generation of systems, whilst also repealing the ban on the use of gas boilers by 2045. A new era is upon us, in every sense.