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Yes Allan I appreciate that most private homes in Italy are using far less electricity but there is still much scope for businesses to reduce consumption.How many times have you driven past a supermarket or office and seen all the lights on at midnight! Your tongue on cheek reply re nuclear plants points to the root of the problem. Most people are much more willing to accept 'invisible' nuclear power plants than 'visible' wind farms or solar panels. I'm simply trying to point out that there may be another way that lays betwen these two 'evils'. Bio mass is far more gentle on the eye but I think with farming land becoming more and more valuable then slow growing trees are not going to be the solution to mass demand for energy.Although in the UK willow can be cut at 3 years and chipped for fuel then left to re-grow,cut etc.

Read Gomorra Italy's other Mafia by Roberto Saviano - it's astonishing to discover just how the mafia are involved in almost every aspect of ½ûÂþÌìÌà life.And unbelievably aviano has even discovered a link with Aberdeen!! As far as stopping these things from engulfing the countryside I'm afraid its a pretty impossible task -dealing with corrupt local government and greedy land owners -it's a no brainer. The fact is that in order to be most effective the site does need to have certain characteristics - south facing etc. So if you have not bought anywhere yet you can do your best to avoid having a field of panels next door but nothing to stop 'your' view being spoilt by them. I'm generally totally in support of solar power and other forms of green energy but I think we are at the stage where we need to ask ourselves questions about how our own desire to use large amounts of power might conflict with our desire to live surrounded by beautiful countryside. Perhaps cutting down on the electricity we use and using low power appliances is the long term answer?  

What an interesting thread - thanks to everyone for putting forward such useful points. Our experience over the past 5 years in rennovating a 200 year old house is that once you solve one problem you find another one! Whatever you do don't be rushed into any quick fixes Because I am at heart a 'treehugger' I persuaded my partner to go along witth the idea of using just lime (putty and nhl 3.5) and sand to carry out the rennovations.Unfotnately when we've had to employ builders they have used some concrete but this has mainly been restricted to outside drains and the roof.I'm much hapier using lime as apart from when i flick it into my eyes (I now wear googles) its pleasent to work with. We cured a soaking wet room by digging out soil which was laying against the outside wall and putting in French drains to take water away -cost about 15 euros for the pipes.Inside we dug up all the floor(cement tiles laid onto stoney clay soil) until we got to a firm base which we compacted and added about 2ft of gravel to.This will have a compacted subfloor and bricks put on later this year. Most soil locally is clay which is notorious for staying very cold and wet if the heat/winds can't dry it out. By using clay or lime based plasters you will be allowing walls to breath but they are not easy for amateurs to use .If you leave a house shut up for periods of time you are likely to get all sorts of 'growths' and staining too.I've found lots of help and advice on the period property forum.

We had electricity to the property but needed to go to the local ENEL office in Alanno to arrange it to be switched on I was given a unique client number and I also set up a direct debit thro the bank.I think it cost about 260 euros which sounds like the amount you are being charged.

No Italy cant maintain its important monuments as they have a joker 'running' the counrty! This is why they should be prevented from having anything more to do with Pompeii which UNESCO should take over so it isn't completely lost for future generations! What Italy needs as Ram points out is someone or something to give them pride in their country one of the most beautiful on this planet but now sadly left to rot in the case of Pompeii or to crass 'developement' in the rest of the country.

yes valerie after many months of research it all seems to come down to the size of the store and how insulated it is. If you think about the potential a fully blazing woodburner has to heat water as well as the room then its really a matter of how you store that hot water for long enough.Of course a small wood burner cannot heat 2000 litres of water many times over each day so you do need to do a few calculations on the back of an envelope!

Possibly the problem is that the scope of the forum is too wide? Taking in everything to do with Italy from people who just want to go their on holiday to those who live there full-time and are having problems with finding a school for their children maybe its too much?But having said this dividing it into sub-groups dosen't work either. A forum does need a sense of community and this seems to be lacking her

Yes this forum has died on its feet which is such a shame as I think most of the people I know in Abruzzo I met here.

Hi Zeb Glad you can be so laid back about your project;Was it the reliability of local craftsmen or maybe their unreliablity that got you into ythe work!

ha ha.... I'm still laughing at the thought of someone having the mad idea they could make money from rennovating an ½ûÂþÌìÌà house! On the other hand if you have several thousand pounds you would like to 'donate' to a variety of useless cretins whose general response to any complaint is to shrug their shoulders and grin stupidly ( well wouldnt you grin at the thought of all that dosh you knew you'd be hanging onto come what may) then go-ahead ! sorry,sorry but this is me being totally cynical - feel free to throw the rotten eggs!