This is a real conversation that took place a couple of weeks ago although, of course, it is revised and rearranged in this written version. The protagonists are me and a friend of mine, Antonella. Imagine us holding glasses, at a party.
Antonella: Ugo, you know, I was visiting a town on the coast, last week. They want to install a big regasification plan, there.
Ugo: I heard something about that.
A. The people, there, don't want the plant. They say it is dangerous. What do you think about that?
U. It might be dangerous, in some circumstances.
A. Yes, but do you think it is a real danger?
U. It is a long story.
A. But we need to do something. don't we? If we need energy, we need to import gas.
U. Really, it is not so simple.
A. Ugo, you never tell people what you really think. For once, could you tell me what's going on?
U (after having taken a deep breath). The situation is critical, to say the least. We won't be able to have new regasification facilities in Italy before 2023, if we are lucky. And even those planned won't be sufficient to replace Russian gas. Even if we were able to build more, liquid gas coming from overseas is much more expensive than Russian gas, and not infinite, either. If the war doesn't stop, we won't have sufficient gas to heat homes and to power the electric grid this Winter. And the Italian industry won't be competitive in the world market with the coming gas prices. That may mean a collapse of the economy, social disorders, and even mass starvation. And because of the leaks of methane, natural gas is worse than coal in terms of damaging the climate.
A ....................
U ...................
A. Of course, we can use hydrogen, right?
U. ............
She walks away, glass in hand.
I wrote a similar post about climate a few years ago, with the same person as the protagonist.