The 'green' turning point in the Vatican: organic crops, recycling, hybrid cars and home automation

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Renewal of the fleet of electric and hybrid cars, organic crops and an irrigation system that reduces waste, recycling of fountain water, energy savings through the installation of solar panels and the adoption of systems with LED devices and twilight sensors lighting, replacing air conditioning systems that use chlorofluorocarbon gases and recycling: this is the "green" turning point in the Vatican, inspired by the encyclical "Laudato si '" by Pope Francis.

"The Governorate has especially adapted, or is doing so, the various areas of competence in which it is divided, to the principles of the encyclical dedicated to the care and respect of the common home", Bishop Fernando Vérgez explains in an interview with the Osservatore Romano Alzaga, general secretary of the "town hall" of the Papal State.

"For example, one area in which we have applied these principles is the agricultural activity of the Vatican City State, which takes place exclusively through the Directorate of the Papal Villas. In the extraterritorial zone of Castel Gandolfo the cultivation of a vineyard and a olive grove is performed with non-invasive techniques that respect the earth to guarantee high quality of the final product Procedures and products used fall within the canons of sustainable agriculture The same happens for the farm that manages a small variety of farm animals " .

Another "bio" project is the new irrigation system of the Vatican Gardens which has allowed the modernization of the water network by inserting new management techniques, obtaining water savings and a more adequate dosage depending on the type of crop. And as far as water is concerned, "we have carefully reduced waste with rational use by installing closed circuits for recycling water for the fountains of the Vatican Gardens", explains the monsignor, and also "the redevelopment of the irrigation distribution network and the fire prevention system is scheduled for the year.

Another step towards a prudent use has been the one made since 2016 in the service table of the Governorate's employees. A delivery system was in fact adopted through distributors thanks to which the employee serves himself and takes the drinks directly with his own glass, thus drastically reducing waste ".

Separate waste collection is already in place in all the Departments and Offices, which precedes the separate disposal of waste, both "normal" (organic, plastic, paper and ferrous materials) and "special / dangerous" (waste oils, tires , metals, plastics, batteries, hospital waste). As for energy savings , "we have already made progress in the lighting system, and this has allowed us to significantly reduce consumption", Bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga tells the newspaper directed by Andrea Monda. "Suffice it to recall the new lighting of the vault of the Sistine Chapel which allows a reduction of about 60 percent in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions and a considerable slowing of the aging of the frescoes.

Another project already underway concerns the new lighting of Piazza San Pietro and the Bernini colonnade which allows energy savings of between 70 and 80 percent. But even the intervention inside the Vatican basilica has allowed a noticeable visual revaluation of the artistic surfaces of the vaults and a lower expenditure of between 70 and 80 per cent. "Principles that also apply outside the Leonine Walls:" Just think to the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The new lighting system has allowed a reduction of the required power of about 80 percent.

The careful use also includes the adoption of photovoltaic systems installed on the roof of the Paul VI Hall and at the residential site of the Specola Vaticana in Tucson, Arizona. This has allowed a significant reduction in energy costs and the consequent lowering of carbon dioxide emissions ". Furthermore, since 2009, a plant called cooling has been active at the Industrial Center of what was once the Technical Services Department. solar ' . These are 78 solar thermal collectors intended for the conversion of solar energy into thermal and cooling energy necessary for the air conditioning of the service canteen in the summer period ".

Regarding the heating and cooling of buildings "the state thermal plant was upgraded and the air conditioning systems that use chlorofluorocarbons, the ones responsible for the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere, were replaced".

The Vatican, recalls the bishop, secretary of the Governorate in an interview with Nicola Gori, also uses domotics , "the discipline that deals with the study of technologies aimed at improving the quality of life in the home and more generally in buildings. Another project in progress is the adoption of new equipment to replace those with less efficiency and more dispersion.In particular, we are trying to eliminate the old electrical transformers that produced a high heat, with those of the latest generation conforming to European standards that have reduced losses This equipment rotation and the adoption of new technologies is also applied in the IT sector and in the Data Processing Center (Ced) ".

With regards to traction and transport , "from 2014 a progressive limitation of the traffic of the vehicles of the Governorate's employees within the State was adopted. It was also allowed to stop inside the Leonine walls only to the cars of those who reside beyond one radius of two kilometers from the Vatican. Then, from 2018, an infrastructure recharging network for electric and hybrid vehicles was created, with ten devices providing twenty recharging points currently in operation within the state. the renewal of the State's vehicle fleet with electric and hybrid cars on free loan or rental for the State services, as for the Vatican Post Office.From 2019 it was adopted by the Directorate of Economic Services (now called the Management of the economy) diesel fuel for Diesel + type haulage, formed by a percentage of about 15 percent of renewable green component, obtained from exhausted vegetable oils and core fats there. This allows a reduction in consumption of 4 percent, compared to traditional diesel, and of gaseous polluting emissions, ie carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons, up to 40 percent ".