The Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, officially signed the ministerial decree "Ecological Practices" , aimed at promoting the development of biogas and actions for efficiency in agriculture.This provision, transmitted to the Court of Auditors, is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with an allocation of resources equal to 193 million euros.
It was renamed the Ecological Practices Decree because its main objective is the dissemination of ecological practices in biogas production and agriculture.
But the new Ministerial Decree implementing the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is much more. In fact, there are 193 million euros on the table, part of the larger resources allocated by the PNRR to increase the share of renewable energy in Italy.
Agricultural Practices Decree, what does the text provide?
The new Agricultural Practices Decree regulates various measures as defined by intervention line 1.4 of the M2C2 Mission of the Recovery Plan.
The objectives:
make existing plants for the production of agricultural biogas more efficient and where possible reconvert them to the total or partial production of biomethane ;
promote the diffusion of ecological practices in the biogas production phase to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers, creating consortium centers for the centralized treatment of digestates and effluents;
promote the replacement of obsolete and low-efficiency mechanical vehicles with vehicles powered by biomethane.
The support tool? A capital contribution, equal to a maximum of 65% of investment expenses and within the limit of six hundred thousand euros. The measure is aimed at businesses and projects with a focus on those in the South, to which 40% of the resources are intended (77.2 million euros).
At the intervention level the budget is divided as follows:
124 million euros will support the efficiency of existing biogas plants that cannot be converted to biomethane.
54 million will go towards the purchase of machinery for the efficient distribution of organic fertilizer and the creation of centralized treatment consortium hubs for the exploitation of the digestate.
15 million will instead support the replacement of old tractors with more efficient models, equipped with tools for precision agriculture and powered exclusively by biomethane.
“A specific PNRR target – underlines the MASE in a press note – identifies the putting into circulation of at least 300 tractors in June 2026” with the characteristics just stated.
The role of biogas and biomethane in Italy
The measures converge towards a single objective: strengthening the circular economy based on reuse to achieve European decarbonisation targets. On the other hand, with the PNRR investment alone, the Government expects to increase the capacity of reconversion biomethane to be allocated to the gas network by approximately 2.3-2.5 billion cubic metres.
In this context, agricultural biogas plays a fundamental role.
According to the data presented during Biogas Italy 2024 , approximately 1,803 agricultural biogas plants are currently active in Italy with a production of 2 and a half billion m3 intended mainly for electricity and thermal production. However, a minority share, equal to approximately 600 million Smc, is already released for consumption as biomethane in the transport sector. (Source: https://www.rinnovabili.it/ )