Pope Francis will make the Vatican’s energy sector independent using agrivoltaics

The Vatican is looking to achieve energy independence through solar power. In addition, Pope Francis says it is turning to a combination of agriculture and photovoltaics. The world’s smallest country has begun the venture on a property outside Rome.

The Holy See has adopted agrivoltaics. This concept, also known as agrisolar, means farming and solar energy production in the same place. Pope Francis, who has promoted decarbonization efforts, issued an encyclical ordering the development of a photovoltaic project in areas outside the Vatican.

​​Santa Maria di Galeria is an area northeast of Rome where the smallest country in the world has a property of 424 hectares. It is worth noting that the Vatican has a radio transmission station in this place. The local agrivoltaic system must ensure complete self-sufficiency, emphasized Pope Francis.

The Pope borrowed the title of his latest encyclical from St. Francis of Assisi.

“We must make the transition towards a model of sustainable development that limits greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, with the goal of climate neutrality. Humanity has the technological means necessary to face this environmental transformation and its devastating ethical, social, economic and political consequences, and among them, solar energy plays a fundamental role,” the head of the Catholic Church said.

The Pope titled the encyclical Fratello Sole – Brother Sun. He borrowed the phrase from St. Francis of Assisi, whose name he took.

Interestingly, earlier this month, Italy banned the construction of solar power plants on fertile soil.

In 2008, the Holy See installed a solar power plant on the roof of the Vatican Hall in cooperation with BayWa re and SolarWorld. The plant has a nominal annual production of 300 MWh.

In 2022, the Vatican signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Last year, it entered into cooperation with Volkswagen to electrify its car fleet, including charging stations.

A year ago, the Church of England announced it would sell its investments in fossil fuel companies, saying they had not done enough to tackle climate change.

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