Exploiting its raw materials – water, wind, sun and waste – and by acting on consumption and efficiency, Italy can reach 58,4% of energy autonomy, almost tripling the current levels which are currently at the bottom of the European ranking.
The new scenarios have shown the importance of ensuring the supply of raw materials by increasing the national production of the energy and increasing the'energy efficiency of consumption. The theme was addressed by the report "Towards Italian energy autonomy: the role of the Central and Southern Italy" presented by the president of A2A Marco Patuano together with the partner and manager Sustainability Area of The European House Ambrosetti Carlo Cici. energy autonomy refers to the ability of a country to meet its energy needs internally without depending on other countries.
Italy produces only 22,5% of the energy consumed
Italy at the moment is not making a good impression in Europe, despite having all the aces up its sleeve to do better: today it is in 23st place among EU-27 countries in terms of energy autonomy, producing on their own territory only the 22,5% of the energy consumed, compared to one European average of 39,5%, ahead only of Malta (2,7%), Luxembourg (5,0%), Cyprus (7,2%) and Belgium (22,4%). Between 2000 and 2019, however, Italy increased its energy autonomy by 9 percentage points, the highest value among the major EU countries, especially in terms of energy production from Renewable Energy Sources (RES).
But Italy is the 2nd European country for the availability of renewable energies present in the area
However, if on the one hand Italy lacks fossil deposits compared to other European and world countries, on the other the peninsula has a high potential deriving from renewable sources
Italy has a chance to become a real one European energy hub, thanks to the strong availability of water, sun and wind. According to the index created by The European House – Ambrosetti, Italy is in fact the 2nd European country for the availability of renewable energies present in the territory positioning itself only after France and clearly detaching the other European peers such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Germany.
The South is dominant with two thirds of the resources present: everything is already possible
“The problem could be tackled with native, renewable and waste resources and could go very far, even almost 60 percent with current technology. The South has a predominant role because it has almost two-thirds of these assets,” he said Carlo Cici, partner and manager of the Sustainability Area of The European House Ambrosetti. To implement the process "the only thing to do is start" says Cici. “There is nothing to do, there is no law to change, there are no constraints to transform, there are no new technologies to invent: everything is already available and possible. It's a matter of will, to do so you have to decide it but it does not require huge evaluations. National coordination is not necessary, the regions can already leave ".
Made in Italy: how much could production from renewable sources grow?
THEItaly is able to increase production from renewable energy sources with an increase of 105,1 GW of solar (almost 5 times the installed capacity today), 21,1 GW of Aeolian (nearly 2 times the installed capacity today) and 3,3 GW of hydroelectric (over 20% of today's installed capacity).
Particularly at the regional level, Sicily, Puglia, Lombardy and Piedmont they represent approximately 43% of additional power (+55,1 GW) and 44% of additional production from renewable energy sources (+92,7 TWh) and therefore constitute the regions with the greatest development opportunities. They then follow Sardinia, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto which together add up to an additional 25 GW (19% of the total) and about 38 TWh (18% of the total). As far as central Italy is concerned, the first region for additional installable power is la Toscana, with 7,1 GW (and 10,4 TWh of production).
"The southern regions they are the territories characterized by the greatest development opportunities relating to RES (water, sun, wind), cubing 50% of the additional power that can be installed in Italy (compared to 36% in the Northern regions and 15% in the Central regions)” says the relationship. “Furthermore, thanks to the specific peculiarities of these regions – solar radiation, windiness and surface area with an agricultural vocation – the regions of the South contribute to 54% of the production from additional RES (against 32% of the Northern regions and 13% of the of the Middle)".
“The results of the study show that in our country there is ample room for improvement in the production of green energy starting from the peculiarities of each area, based on existing resources and existing plants – underlined Marco Patuano, president of A2A.
Alternative energy: from the transformation of waste
I waste represent the fourth native raw material in Italy, adding to water, sun and wind. There energy valorisation of waste it is central, the report points out. It is estimated that a total of around 8 million tons of waste can be sent for energy recovery, eliminating once and for all landfilling which today is still a highly critical issue in many regions. The treatment of this additional quantity could enable an additional 55% of electricity production deriving from waste-to-energy compared to 2020, thus exceeding 7 TWh.
From biomethane resources still not exploited
Proper management of the waste cycle and agricultural and food production waste can also support the development of the supply chain biomethane, a by-product deriving from waste and, in general, from waste generated by our economy and which has important growth prospects. The development of this supply chain would make it possible to exploit currently unexploited resources, and often sent to landfills, to produce biomethane within the circular economy paradigm, reducing emissions and increasing national energy production. According to the estimates contained in the report, the valorisation of biomethane in the territories of the country can activate approx 6,3 billion cubic meters, a value corresponding to 8% of national gas consumption and 22% of gas imported from Russia in 2021.
Overall, through the deployment of development opportunities linked to water, wind, sun and waste, Italy's energy autonomy can reach 58,4%, 35,9 percentage points more than today and about 4 times the increase recorded over the last 20 years.
