Long ago, the European Union embarked on a decisive transition towards a secure, competitive and sustainable energy system, characterized by low emissions of climate-changing gases, increased production from renewable sources and improvements in energy efficiency. The energy and climate policies for 2030 promoted by the European Council effectively redraw the map of energy consumption, with the projected growth in global energy demand over the coming decades being highly uneven and concentrated in a few specific geographical areas. This scenario is based on an awareness of the risks and costs associated with climate change, which led to the Paris Agreement reached at COP21, in which developed countries committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to curb global warming.

In this context, the results of the project contributed to provide valid support to the Italian government in the Vertical Table on Scenarios of the National Energy Strategy, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, and subsequently in the Technical Roundtable on the Decarbonisation of the Economy, coordinated by the Presidency of the Council. In addition to the National Energy Strategy – SEN scenario, decarbonisation scenarios up to 2050 and national electricity demand development scenarios were analyzed for the five sectors into which electricity consumption is divided (agriculture, tertiary sector, residential, industry and transport). In addition, the cost items of the end-users’ energy bills are updated every year.

The project also addressed issues that contribute to the assessment of the Italian energy context. Thanks to the availability of updated high-resolution climate simulations, it has been possible to assess how extreme events will increase in intensity and frequency in the coming decades, making some infrastructure more vulnerable.

The theme of the water-energy connection was explored from a systems perspective by assessing the water footprint of national electricity production, following the Life Cycle Assessment methodology defined in ISO 14046:2014. Not only was water consumption counted, but also the impact in terms of remaining resource availability (water scarcity footprint) by geographical location.

Finally, the project developed the SunRiSE portal, which provides useful information to sector operators and private individuals for managing renewable energy production.