June 6 – In the last five years, Italy has taken important steps in terms of energy policy and sustainability. And the multinational General Electric and the German Handelsblatt Research Institute on energy transition confirmed this in a series of reports on 24 OECD countries and the BRICS that see Italy rank third in terms of progress made over the last five years (“dynamic ranking”). The report analyzes the expansion of renewable energy sources, but also environmental sustainability, economic efficiency and energy supply security. The report also provides interesting insights in analyzing the development of particular sectors, namely those representing new models and sources of energy generation. Italy ranks third because of its development of renewable energy sources, which also allowed the country to improve its level of supply security. Equally exceptional, according to the report, are the results related to sustainable energy production in Italy, low energy intensity in the manufacturing industry and the service sector, and the use of environmentally friendly power plants with gas and steam turbines. “However, according to the survey energy prices in Italy are still among the highest and the rates for industrial consumption have increased faster than the other countries. Another problem is the country’s over-dependence on imported energy.”
