Italian technology on display at UN HQ

(ANSA) - New York, April 14 - Six projects in the vanguard of Made in Italy innovation technology in the service of efforts to combat climate change were presented at the United Nations headquarters in New York during a conference organised by Italy's permanent representation to the international organisation on Wednesday. The MOSE moving flood barrier system developed by the New Venice Consortium and robot fish developed by Enea, the Italian national institute for new technologies, to monitor water depths and protect the lagoon city from high tides, were among the projects illustrated. Other technologies to be presented have been invented or are being developed by oil giant ENI, Telespazio/Finmeccanica, environmental monitoring system provider CAE and ENEL Green Power. The conference was organized in view of the signing of the Paris climate agreement at UN headquarters on April 22. "With 8,300 km of coastline and over 450 islands Italy is one of the countries that is most exposed to the consequences of climate change," Italy's permament ambassator to the UN Sebastiano Cardi said. "We are relatively small but we have an incredible geographical heterogeneity," he added.
    The aim of the conference was to show in "concrete" terms what Italy is doing to mitigate the risks. Francesco Ossola of New Venice Consortium illustrated the MOSE system of moving barriers that can be raised to protect the fragile lagoon ecosystem in Venice. Claudio Moriconi, head of ENEA's robotics laboratory, instead presented Venus Swarm, submarine drones that act like fish and are able to 'talk' to each other, monitoring water temperature and salinity, studing currents and coastal erosion and raising the alarm in the event of a tsunami. Francesca Ferrazza of ENI explained how the company is developing a new generation of photovoltaic panels using organic instead of silicion semi-conductors, leading to lower costs and a faster ruturn on investment. Luigi Pasquali of Telespazio/Finmeccanicahen then presented the four satellites of the Cosmo-SkyMed network that are to monitor 1 million square kilometres of Amazonian rainforest and deforestation in Brazil. CAE vicepresident Giancarlo Pedrini illustrated the experience gained in mitigating the effects of climate change starting from weather stations that protect Vietnam against flooding.
    Last but not least, Riccardo Amoroso of Enel Green Power talked about the Pantelleria project and the use of waves and tides to generate energy.
    photo: MOSE system in Venice