Awaiting the entry into force of Conto Termico 3.0, an incentive that has proved fundamental in strengthening the process of energy efficiency and decarbonisation of private individuals and public administrations, a first opportunity to learn about new developments in the woody biomass heating sector comes from the National Wood Energy Forum – policies, incentives, actions for the future of renewable thermal energy, scheduled at the Veronafiere Congress Centre on Friday 28 March 2025 from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The event, organised by Progetto Fuoco, the exhibition organised by Veronafiere that represents the reference point for the wood-energy supply chain, in collaboration with AIEL – the Italian Agroforestry Energy Association, will bring together in Verona the protagonists of a sector called upon to make a further contribution to energy transition and the fight against energy poverty.
The latest GSE data show how woody biomass technologies are the most chosen by private individuals using the Conto Termico. From 2016 to date, thanks to this incentive, almost 450,000 old, obsolete and polluting heating systems have been replaced with modern and efficient biomass appliances, leading to a positive impact on air quality and energy efficiency in homes.
Most of the private interventions carried out with the Conto Termico involve the biomass heating sector, followed at a distance by solar thermal systems (198,000) and heat pumps (113,000 interventions). Supporting the technological turn-over process of appliances is crucial for Italy because replacing old, obsolete generators with high-efficiency biomass appliances means reducing particulate emissions by 70-80%.
In 2024, of the 500 million euro planned for private efficiency measures, only 222 million were actually used, while the public administration used 199 million of the 400 available. The resources are there, but they are still not all being used effectively. Also in an attempt to push the Conto Termico, regions such as Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, and Campania have activated their own funding lines in recent years in conjunction with the national incentive, helping to accelerate the process of technology turnover that can have a decisive impact on the reduction of PM10 and other critical air quality pollutants.
While waiting for the new Conto Termico 3.0 to be issued, the National Wood Energy Forum will provide an opportunity for operators and institutions to discuss the policies needed to further increase the turn-over rate of appliances and reap the environmental and employment benefits that the biomass home heating sector can offer.
The Forum will devote ample space to future measures, highlighting how the renewable energy of wood, pellets and wood chips can contribute, on the one hand, to reducing energy costs for households – combating energy poverty phenomena and making the energy transition really affordable for everyone – and, on the other, to enhancing an industrial sector in which Italy is a European leader, with a supply chain that counts more than 14,000 companies, 72,000 employees and a total turnover of more than 4 billion euro.
