Fossil Industrial Territories in Decline: The Energy Transition Seen from the Sannazzaro De’ Burgondi Refinery in Northern Italy

Fossil industrial territories seem at the time of the energy transition to be marginal places in relation to the transformative centrality of the eco-restructuring of the present. Questioning what becomes marginal in the transition allows us to step out of what are the objects of study ‘à la une du debat’ and to problematize the energy question of which the imperative of transition is the hegemonic trait. This marginality is, however, still to be investigated if we think of the fossil industry as a ‘past that does not pass’, which retains its centrality in the energy system, albeit neglected. Industrial places emerge in analyses and political discourses under the double pressure of de-carbonisation and the recognition of “left-behind” regions, as potential points of relevance for feelings of political marginalisation. A debated issue in discourse and policy is indeed how to make the transition just, not only in terms of energy access, but also for fossil territories and communities. Reflecting on path dependence from the hydrocarbon path helps to grasp the socio-economic and political complexity of the transition where those who suffer the side-effects of energy extraction, production and distribution may also pay the costs of decarbonising their economies. While it is common for polluting industrial plants to be located in rural and scarcely populated areas, it is not uncommon for the economic or energy benefits to be enjoyed elsewhere, such as in large cities or metropolises. The aim of this contribution is to give a situated perspective of such processes through the case study of Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi in northern Italy and the Eni refinery located there, where a process of disinvestment of the company in the plant have given rise to a local debate on the legacy of the long-term production.