Giro 102, sustainable tourism on Tuscany’s Silver Coast
In the south of Tuscany there’s an ecosystem that is among one of the most unspoilt and beautiful in all of Italy: the Silver Coast. A pioneering project for sustainable tourism is about to launch in this very area, the main conurbation of which is Orbetello, the starting point for the fourth stage of the Giro 102.
The municipality of Orbetello was chosen, together with those of Monte Argentario and the Island of Giglio, for Life for Silver Coast, the pilot project for integrated electric mobility that will launch in the summer with the aim of cutting CO2 emissions by 1,200 tonnes.
The project has been financed by the European Commission as part of the Life 2016 programme for the environment and climate action, and is led by a group of institutional partners, one of which is Enel. The project is confirmation of the Group’s commitment to local areas and its vocation for sustainability, a value that it shares with the Giro d’Italia and the race’s symbolic Maglia Rosa (Pink Jersey), for which it is the main sponsor.
Sustainable tourism is a key requirement for an area that sees its population swell to up to ten times its normal number during the summer peak season. For this reason, and beginning this summer, residents and tourists alike will be able to take advantage of the electric vehicles that will enable them to access areas that are not served by public transport.
As Fabrizio Modica, e-Mobility Specialist at Enel X, explains, there will be “an electric fleet of around 20 electric motor scooters, one hundred or so e-bicycles that will be recharged by a system using photovoltaic panels, four electric boats for tourists and residents on the Orbetello lagoon and two electric shuttles that will ferry people back and forth between Orbetello’s railway station and the centre of town.” The whole system will be managed by a network of fixed and mobile sensors for collecting data and an integrated platform on which users can purchase tickets and leave comments.
From Orbetello the Giro’s cyclists will head inland to pass through some beautiful sites in the Maremma area, such as the ancient Etruscan towns of Manciano and Pitigliano. The route will then leave Tuscany to enter the Lazio region, passing through the towns and villages of the Tuscia and the Roman countryside. Finally, after 228 kilometres, the riders will cross the finish line in Frascati, the most famous of the towns in the Castelli Romani (“Roman Castles”) area. This is on account of its Ville Tuscolane (Renaissance noble villas) and the important research centres located there, such as the laboratories of ENEA (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), and the premises of European Space Agency’s ESRIN (ESA Centre for Earth Observation). The town is a symbol of the convergence between history, tradition, science and innovation. Just like Enel.