PAY OFF Fotos

2022 - 2024

 

Nominated for the Felix Schoeller Photo Award 2025

 

In Reggio Emilia (Italy), the local utility company decided to invest €75 million in a very large, state-of-the-art biogas production plant.

The original plan to use the plant to power the city's entire public transport system had to be abandoned due to the decision to switch to electric power during construction. New EU regulations and expiring subsidies were decisive factors. The planning uncertainty resulted in enormous financial problems for the utility company.

The plant covers a considerable area of ​​approximately 17 hectares of land. The surface was completely sealed. Hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete were used in its construction.

The biogas plant is extremely controversial among the population.

I had the opportunity to follow the construction until its commissioning. The ambivalence between green progress and the unreal, actually hostile nature of the environment preoccupied me throughout the entire period.