The path towards greater sustainability has been taken, but the road is still long. This is demonstrated by the first "MED & Italian Energy Report", an annual report on the energy sector in Italy and in the Mediterranean presented to the European Parliament. An analysis born from the collaboration between SRM (study center connected to the Intesa Sanpaolo Group) and the Energy Security Lab@Energy Center of the Polytechnic of Turin according to where the world's electricity demand is still mainly satisfied by fossil sources: oil 34,2%, coal 27,6% and gas 23,4%. Overall it exceeds 85%.
The report explains how consumption is mainly concentrated in 3 areas – The USA, China and the European Union – which together account for half of the total. In detail, the Mediterranean area and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa) accounts for 20% of the world production of fossil fuels, holds almost half of the world's oil reserves and over 42% of those of natural gas and it represents, in terms of production, 37% of world oil and 22% of natural gas.
As for our country the study shows how Italy is still dependent on foreign imports of fossil fuels: in percentage terms it reaches 78,6%. Our country is working to develop energy efficiency and savings and renewable sources, whose share of gross electricity production has gone from 17% in 2007 to 34%.
To date, the Italian electricity supply chain, from production to manufacturing, has 30 billion euro of added value, produces 177 billion in turnover, boasts 23.500 active companies for around 215.000 workers.
Massimo Deandreis, General Manager of SRM, explains that “Europe has very ambitious goals and our country can be a protagonist in the Mediterranean. Climate change, reduction in the use of fossil fuels, introduction of new technologies such as hydrogen and LNG, strong development of renewables, are just some of the topics we deal with”.
Hector Bompard, Scientific Director of the Energy Security Lab of the Energy Center of the Polytechnic of Turin stated that “the energy dialogue between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean is, in a prospective vision, in evolution; from a situation in which the countries of North Africa export fossil resources to the northern shore, with per capita energy consumption of the order of half, to a situation in which these countries produce electricity from renewable sources, using it to increase their consumption and export it to the northern shore, in the context of the energy transition".
