Controversial Outcomes of Green Energy Policy in Southern Italy: the Case of Basilicata

The policies adopted in favor of the renewable energy in Italy have contributed to increase their importance in the national energy balance. Moreover, according to planned policies, the development of green energy should be related both to the development of the renewable industrial sector (manufacturing, installation companies, and so on) and to an energy system with a wider social redistribution of economic and ecological benefits arising from their use, particularly at local level. Nevertheless, implemented policies do not seem to have been able to adequately promote those last two purposes, especially in Southern Italy. Analyzing policy outcomes and possible reasons of its outcomes may help to improve future planning. In this perspective, this paper aims at outlining the outcomes of a survey about the promotion and management of renewable energy in Southern Italy, focusing on a specific region: Basilicata. In particular, the discussion aims at analyzing, on the one hand, the current trends about renewable energy policies in order to highlight the possible outcomes in the short-medium term and, on the other hand, the first results of a cognitive survey that has described in detail the current situation of companies and employees of the green energy sector in Basilicata.