Car-addicted Italians lag Europe on environment

Soccer fans wave Italian flags after the World Cup semi-final match Germany against Italy during a car corso at the Tauentzienstrasse in Berlin July 4, 2006. Italians' love of cars and their reluctance to switch from carbon fuels for energy needs means their country is one of the worst environmental performers in Europe, one of Italy's main green groups said on Thursday.

ROME (Reuters) - Italians' love of cars and their reluctance to switch from carbon fuels for energy needs means their country is one of the worst environmental performers in Europe, one of Italy's main green groups said on Thursday.

The home of Ferrari and Fiat is more car-mad than any other in Europe, the Legambiente group said, quoting figures showing Italians drive an average 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles) each year -- 31 percent more than the European average and 60 percent more than the average German.

"The diagnosis on Italy's health is not encouraging, in particular when it comes to two infrastructure areas: energy and transport," said the green group as it issued an annual report of the state of the nation's environment.

On energy, Italy, which has little oil or gas of its own, still gets 88 percent of its energy by burning fossil fuels.

Renewables account for less than 6 percent, and most of that it hydro-electric power, with wind and solar power making up just 0.3 percent, way behind countries like Germany and Spain.

"Italy is the black sheep of Europe," said Legambiente President Roberto Della Seta. "We're really late compared to our neighbors on environmental innovation."

Italy's emissions of greenhouse gases -- blamed for global warming -- have risen 12.1 percent since 1990, rather than heading toward the 6.5 percent reduction that, under the Kyoto Protocol, it has pledged to reach in the period 2008-2012.

The rise was due to increases in transport and energy both of which consume fossil fuel and emit CO2.

Legambiente said as well as the usual inertia to switch to greener ways of life, Italy suffered from a high degree of "Nimby-ism" -- the "not in my back yard" mentality which meant people often opposed things like new railways and wind farms.

Ironically, it is environmentalists themselves that often produce the greatest opposition to new infrastructure, an attitude that is not always helpful, said Della Seta.

"We need to understand that liquefied natural gas plants and wind farms need to go ahead. Respecting the environment and the countryside, certainly, but they must go ahead."

(Additional reporting by Natalie Higgins)