National Research Council - Institute Of Methodologies For Environmental Analysis Cnr - Imaa
Basilicata, sometimes called by its historic name Lucania, is a region in Italy's far south. Basilicata covers a large area above the instep of Italy's boot, with two short stretches of coastline. The region is sparsely populated and is devided into just two provinces, the Provincia di Potenza and the Provincia di Matera. Potenza is the regional capital.
Population of Potenza has been estimated to be 68252 ( 2006) with a population density of 397 persons per sq km.
The discovery, in 1996, of Western Europe's largest oilfield, 30 km south of Potenza in the Val d'Agri area, has driven the attention towards the difficult coexistence of a recently acknowledged national Natural Park and the increasing mining activities.
The most important local challenges are related to the next issues : the market penetration of electricity produced from renewable energy sources is too low ; much of the housing and building stock is old, inefficient, and unnecessarily wastefull ; lack of public awareness of the impact and importance of energy efficiency.
The concrete policies and actions regarding these challenges are : improvement of the building shell features in the existing buildings and implementation of energy-saving construction practices in new ones ; improvement of the environmental and energy efficiency of the heating and cooling plants.
Related Good Practices