The impact of methane on health in Italy is worth 2.17 billion
(Sustainabilityenvironment.com) – Italy is the last place in Europe for the impact of methane on health. The health costs of fossil gas come to EUR 2.17 billion annually. Virtually 25% of the bill that pays across the EU to 27 plus Great Britain, although the Italian population is just 13% of the total.
This is supported by the report “Methane emissions in Italy” presented by the WWF and the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI). That comes at a time when the Italian government (like all Europe) is multiplying efforts to secure enough gas in the event of a stop to supplies from Russia. Also by supporting new infrastructure.
“We are very concerned about gas at the moment,” says Mariagrazia Midulla, Head of Climate and Energy at WWF Italia. “We foresee in the various decrees contracts for regasification plants until 2043, this is a way of predicting our energy future very conflicting with the commitments we have made”.
According to the data presented in the report, only in 2019 would be at least 2,864 premature deaths attributable to the use of fossil gas. In addition to deaths, the impact of methane on health in Italy ranges from 15 thousand cases of respiratory impacts on adults and children, to 4,100 hospitalizations, to over 5 million working days lost for diseases related to the use of CH4.
The methane in the dock, however, is not only the one used by the energy sector. The largest share of emissions, in fact, comes from agriculture and livestock (44.2% of the total), while 37.9% from landfills and just under 18% from electricity generation. If in this respect Italy aligns itself with the European average, the situation of efforts to cut methane emissions is quite different. Looking at the data for the period 2000-2019, we read in the report, Italy is only 18 (out of 28 countries) per reduction of CH4.