Mercury and Brunello

THE view from the roof terrace of Giorgio Franci’s olive mill in Tuscany is sublime. It takes in the entire undulation of the Val d’Orcia. Just discernible to the east are the walls of Pienza, a UNESCO world heritage site. Scattered across the valley—a UNESCO world cultural landscape—are medieval castles, Etruscan hill villages and the vineyards that yield one of Italy’s great wines, Brunello di Montalcino.

If Mr Franci’s fears are confirmed, however, this glorious vista will soon be pockmarked with drilling rigs and, in a few years, dotted with geothermal power stations. The Val d’Orcia is the arena for an impassioned struggle in which the adversaries of conservationists are not foragers for fossil fuels but promoters of green energy.

On August 26th a six-month moratorium imposed by the Tuscan regional government expired, restarting a process leading to exploratory drilling in 31 concessions, including some in Val d’Orcia and other environmentally sensitive areas.

Tuscans have been living with geothermal energy since classical times, when they began enjoying the region’s hot springs. The world’s first geothermal power station was built at Larderello in the north of Tuscany in 1913. Today, geothermal energy meets 27% of the region’s power needs. Until a few years ago, Italy’s biggest electricity supplier, ENEL, enjoyed a monopoly. The sector was liberalised five years ago and firms that have won new exploration licences include the Italian subsidiaries of Portuguese and Canadian companies as well as several local firms, some new to the industry. Antonio Mazzeo of the Tuscan regional government said allowing prospectors into areas like the Val d’Orcia could help Italy meet the EU’s demand of raising to 20% its renewable energy share by 2020, and claimed it would create jobs.

Some opponents reject geothermal energy altogether. Though renewable, it is not necessarily benign: its exploitation generates noise and can involve releasing toxic substances from below ground. For years, geothermal plants on Mount Amiata, which overlooks the Val d’Orcia, spewed mercury into the air. ENEL Green Power, which ran them, claims to have eliminated the problem with a new filtering system. Stefano Boco, a former lawmaker for the Italian Green party, who heads an association representing ENEL’s new rivals, says that “100% of our members are committed to using a closed-circuit technology with no emissions.” Noise levels at their plants would apparently be “well below the legal threshold”.

Some critics accept geothermal energy but argue that power stations in certain areas would mar unique landscapes and threaten a local economy built around tourism and high-quality food products. “For us the unspoilt beauty of the Val d’Orcia is value added,” explains Mr Franci, who took over the olive press from his father. “We sell in China through an intermediary. We represent zero-point-zero something of his turnover. Yet whenever he brings customers to Europe, he brings them here to eat pici and tagliata, do a tasting—and admire the view.”

For Giampiero Secco, the mayor of nearby Seggiano, handing out exploration licences is patently at odds with the emphasis of successive governments on agri-tourism and agri-business in Tuscany. “You have a whole lot of people here who have been encouraged to do something and who are now having the rug pulled from under them,” he says.