RSE participated in a day of study on the figure of mining engineer Quintino Sella, whom the Biella Association of Engineers celebrated for the relevance of his revolutionary vision on the subject of raw materials research, on March 16 in Biella.

RSE Managing Director Franco Cotana recalled Quintino Sella, a hydraulic engineer who later specialized in mining engineering, an eclectic man, a charismatic politician and an innovator. During the meeting, the MD highlighted the important role of geo-resources, such as geothermal energy and Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), in the Italian electro-energy system, confirming once againg RSE’s commitment to supporting Italian institutions on these strategic issues for the country system.

Nunzia Bernardo of RSE Sustainable Development and Energy Sources Department, after highlighting the geopolitical aspects related to Critical Raw Materials in Europe, outlined the European key initiatives on the topic. The focus was on the ‘Critical Raw Materials Act’ (CRMA), the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation aimed at defining a structured and resilient strategy for the supply of CRMs in Europe.

The main results obtained from RSE’s research activities on the topic of CRMs and their importance in the context of energy technologies, a key element for the transition, were presented. RSE’s research covers the entire value chain of CRMs, from direct extraction from traditional mining (quarries, mines and mining waste) and innovative mining (mining potential of Italian geothermal brines), to the recovery of secondary raw materials from urban mining, promoting a diversification of supplies, always with a view to environmental and social sustainability and human rights in the mining sector as a whole.