Situazione e prospecttive dell'energia in Italia

Because of political, structural and cultural reasons, the current Italian energy system is affected by significant differences and drawbacks as compared to those of the most advanced countries. In order not to jeopardize the future development of the country, it is urgent to reconsider and update the Italian energy policy. Besides functional and safety reasons, environmental needs and political-economic opportunities call for a new strategy in the field. To give a contribution to the discussion, the Italian energy scenario is summarized in the article and compared to that of the most advanced Eoecd and Eu countries. Past and current trends are quantified by a selected collection of data taken from several domestic and international sources, along with some predictions/extrapolations for the near future. In the last section, climate change and environmental implications on the energy system are discussed on the basis of the conclusions and recommendations of the Un Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.