Efficiency and decarbonization indicators for total energy consumption and power sector. Comparison among Italy and the biggest European countries

The role of driving factors for greenhouse gas emission trends has been analyzed, such as economic growth, fossil and renewable energy, transformation efficiency, and fossil fuel GHG emission factors. Transformation efficiency indicators and GHG emission factors for electricity and heat production have been estimated for Italy and largest European countries. The power sector performances of main European countries have been compared for fuel mixes, transformation efficiencies, and GHG emission factors.

National indicators show high transformation efficiency and low energy intensity as compared to the largest European countries. The European carbon intensity is lower than the national one for the presence of a non-negligible share of nuclear energy in Europe. However, the Italian fossil fuels carbon intensity is lower than most European countries due to lower share of coal and higher share of natural gas compared to that observed for the average of the European countries. The reduction of final energy intensity and the increasing share of renewables have played a key role among the factors determining the European GHG emission reduction since 2005.

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