Italy presents itself as a country with low energy intensity, but with high dependency. This is what emerges from the latest "Focus" elaborated by Bnl.
In 2009, energy intensity, measured as the ratio between gross domestic energy consumption and GDP at constant prices, was equal to 140 kg of oil equivalent for every thousand euros of GDP. The same ratio in Germany was equal to 151 and in France to 164. The United Kingdom, a country in which in 2009 needed 114 kg of oil equivalent to obtain one thousand euros of GDP, and Japan (92 kg) were on lower levels.
The trend over the last fifteen years shows in Italy a less extensive improvement in energy intensity than that seen in almost all the other advanced economies. Faced with a low energy intensity, however, Italy has a strong dependence on imports to satisfy its needs: 85% of consumption is satisfied by purchasing energy from abroad. In the European Union higher values are found only in Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta. In France, imports cover about half of total consumption, while this ratio drops to less than 40% in Sweden and just over a quarter in the United Kingdom.
In the natural gas and oil sectors, imports in Italy cover over 90% of consumption, while for coal this ratio reaches 100%. Italy's dependence on foreign countries is the result of both the limited availability of raw materials and the low weight of alternative sources in the domestic production of energy. Electricity generated from thermal sources, through the use of fossil fuels, in fact represents almost 80% of total production, compared to a value of around 56% in the European Union. In France, fossil fuels are used to produce just over 10% of the total electricity generated. In Italy, electricity consumption reached 2010 gigawatt hours in 310.
At the sectoral level, industry absorbs 38% of total consumption, a value 8 percentage points higher than that of services. Domestic users account for about a fifth of the total. Consumption in the agricultural and construction sectors is marginal. Looking at the last forty years, the composition of electricity consumption by sector has undergone significant changes. In the 15s the weight of industry was much larger, with almost two thirds of national consumption attributable to the manufacturing sector, while the weight of services was limited to less than XNUMX%.
