The Future of Energy Is Green

A NEW RESEARCH CENTER HAS BEEN CREATED THAT WILL COMBINE THE EXPERTISE OF CERTET AND IEFE. MARCO PERCOCO IS THE NEW DIRECTOR

For a few weeks now, a new research center has been working at Bocconi. It is called GREEN (Center for Georgraphy, Resources, Environment, Energy and Networks), which brings together and expands the skills and research fields of CERTET (Center for Regional Economics, Transport and Tourism) and IEFE (Institute of Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy).

"GREEN", explains director Marco Percoco (Michele Polo is president), "compared to the two previous research centers, will have more of a focus on geopolitics, and will consider a new factor we can no longer ignore, namely geography. In fact, everything from climate change to energy policy, to transport, which are the main areas in which the two previous research centers operated and where GREEN will continue to operate, has geography as its connective tissue ". The new research center will also continue the activities of CERTET and IEFE with local authorities, but will increasingly present itself with critical mass. "No longer isolated researchers, but real working research groups that will be more credible vis-à-vis Europe", continues the director.

GREEN has new projects and events in the pipeline. As for the latter, the first important appointment will be at Bocconi, from 10 to 12 December, with the third AIEE Energy Symposium, organized by the Italian Association of Energy Economists. But Percoco returns to research, and in particular on three strands that he would like to explore. "The first will be the socio-economic impact of desertification, the interaction between soil geophysics and the economy. The second is the relationship between large transport networks and climate change, in particular the polluting impact of aircraft and ship routes. The third involves a reflection on the regional disparities of development within the EU and how this represents a threat to the unity of Europe ".
 

by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Richard Greenslade