In 2023 the national energy scenario was characterized by a sharp drop in carbon dioxide emissions (-8%) and a new reduction in primary energy consumption (-2.5%), slightly lower than that of the Eurozone (- 3%).
This is what emerges from the analysis of the Italian energy system by Enea for the whole of 2023. Oil has largely returned to being the first energy source with 35% of the total but, overall, the share of demand covered by fossil fuels - oil, gas and coal - marked the minimum of the last 50 years (71%).
In fact, explains the Enea Report, "the drop in demand is mainly linked to non-structural phenomena, such as the decrease in gas consumption for heating in the first quarter of 2023, due to a very mild winter, to the national plan for containment of consumption and energy prices that are still high, but also to the contraction in industrial production which has reached almost dramatic peaks in some energy-intensive sectors, falling below 2020 levels".
The only sector bucking the trend is transport, with energy demand returning to pre-crisis levels (+2%) driven by the aviation sector (+20%).
The decrease in CO2 emissions (-8%) is attributable to the lower use of fossil fuels: over three-quarters of the decrease was recorded in the ETS sectors (electricity generation and energy-intensive industry), whose emissions are estimated to have decreased by 16%. , the rest is attributable to the contraction in gas consumption in the civil sector (non-ETS), whose emissions are estimated to fall by 3%.
More in detail, 70% of the reduction in emissions concerns the electricity sector, largely due to economic phenomena such as the 'readjustment' of the mix of sources after the 2022 tensions on the energy markets.
"In fact, the increase in carbon intensity recorded in 2022 proved to be a temporary phenomenon due to a set of factors: hydroelectric production increased (+10 TWh from the historic low of 2022), gas production decreased (-25 TWh), the program to maximize the use of coal (-9 TWh) and fuel oil has ceased, while electricity imports (+8 TWh) have reached a historic record", underlines Stefano Gracceva, the researcher who edited the report.
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