EWEA - Bringing fresh air to Italy

Italy’s first ever offshore wind farm is to be built off the coast of Molise (156 MW), and will be one of the largest in the Mediterranean Sea so far.

With under a month to go, the competition to win a weekend in Copenhagen or the Swiss Alps as part of EWEA’s Breath of Fresh Air campaign is growing fierce. One of the strongest contenders for a prize is 26 year old Bruno Mignogna from Molise in Italy, who works at the national agency for Energy and the Environment (ENEA) in Rome. He told us why he decided to adopt a wind turbine and tell his friends about it.

Why do you support wind energy?:
In 1998, the first wind turbines were installed close to where my grandfather lived in the region where I come from, Molise. (The wind turbine I adopted on www.ewea.org/freshair is one of these). Since then I started studying how wind energy works, and during my studies I saw many wind farms being put up, with wind turbines that got bigger and bigger!

Currently in my region there are about 435 wind farms, covering an area of 4,000 km2. Italy’s first ever offshore wind farm is to be built off the coast of Molise (156 MW), and will be one of the largest in the Mediterranean Sea so far. However, there is opposition to wind power by some environmental associations in Molise, which try and claim that wind farms are unnecessary and dangerous. I’m trying to curb this by doing press work to disseminate scientific data showing all the benefits wind energy brings.

I strongly believe in this power source and in the positive environmental and economic impact that it can have. Sometimes people do not understand me, but I do not give up easily!

Where did you hear of our Breath of Fresh Air campaign?:
During a break at work I was reading an online newspaper and I discovered the campaign. I decided to participate, and the campaign is a natural outlet for my passion for wind energy. Once I had adopted a turbine I prepared an e-mail describing the campaign and how to vote for my turbine, and I sent it to all my Facebook contacts, email contacts, put it on Twitter and sent it to all colleagues of the Italian energy agency. I soon received lots of votes – and I’m looking for more!

Do you have any other comments or stories about wind power?:
Well, I really think that wind energy is the future for all of us…and I’m sure that I was born to love wind energy.

The campaign is a good way to promote this kind of energy, but you should do more! As I said, in lots of regions there are people who don’t know about the positive impact of this energy and who try to stop wind farm projects…you should disseminate all the important information about wind energy directly to the places where wind farms are being put up.

Finally, I hope to win this competition and to spread at the same time more and more knowledge of this energy source in my region and beyond. My dream would be to be able to visit an offshore wind farm up close.

For more on the campaign and to adopt your own turbine, go to www.ewea.org/freshair

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