The Municipality of Ravenna (146.989 inhabitants in 2004) is located in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy and spreads over a large area (it is the second largest municipal area after Rome). The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal still very much in use.
The port, with more than 24 million tons handled through its wharves every year, is one of the most important in Italy and matches trading and industrial vocation. The port houses numerous industries including chemicals, energy, metallurgy, agricultural foodstuffs and offshore.
Ravenna is a city of art and culture, of mosaics with a great heritage of Monuments, religious buildings decorated with mosaics which have been declared patrimony of humanity by UNESCO., Besides Ravenna is a city of art near the coast: there are 9 seaside resorts along 35 kilometres of coast which offer a great variety of possibilities. The resorts of Ravenna blend into the beaches, pinewoods and marshes.
In the field of Sustainable Development the Aalborg Protocol was signed in 2000 and has established in December 2000 its Local A21 Forum with active involvement of major local stakeholders.
The City of Ravenna is implementing specific strategies and policies in the environmental and energy fields since more than twenty years and at present the energy situation of Ravenna is the following:
- 93% of the private consumers use gas systems for heating and domestic use
- Two oil-fed power plants were converted in natural gas combined cycle power plants (NGCC plants) with a great increasing of the operating efficiency (from 38% up to 55%), a noticeable reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions per kWh produced and a strong reduction of SOX emissions and particulate emissions.
- 7% of private vehicles are methane fuelled and the 63% of the buses employed in the urban area is methane fuelled and from the 2004 with the Alternative Fuels Diffusion Project the Municipality of Ravenna gives a contribution for the purchase of low impact commercial and private vehicles.
- thanks to an agreement with the Municipality the main public service company and a important freight carrier company of Ravenna have a biodiesel fuelled fleet
Moreover the City of Ravenna has a long-term experience in EU-funded projects, both as leader and as partner. It also has a specific Department in charge of European affairs and international relations, providing assistance and support to all City Departments.
Actions implemented in the field of building performance:
A new contractual form to promote the energy efficiency in the heating of the public buildings and in the public lighting sector.
Substitution of gas-oil boilers with natural gas fired ones.
Installation of advanced regulation & control devices in heating plants.
Extensive installation of remote monitoring & control in heating plant.
Installation of photovoltaic panel on four local schools and on a municipality building.
Realization of a district heating network in the centre of the city to heat private and public big size buildings.
Volumetric incentives to promote a bio-architecture and bio-climatic technologies in the residential sector.
The Energy City Plan (ongoing) to improve the energy efficiency, to control and to decrease the atmosphere climate gas, and to promote the renewable resources and the awareness-raising in all City Departments on energy issues and related problems.
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