This report describes the research of new tools to analyze and quantify the impacts of the circular economy on the national energy system. The publication of the National Strategy on the Circular Economy has consolidated the fundamental role of this economic model in the Italian energy transition. However, in order for RSE’s technical support to governance to be extended to this topic as well, an appropriate toolkit is needed to quantify the impacts of the circular economy itself.

This paper presents the tool Input-Output Tables, an analytical framework that provides information on the inputs used by an economy and the outputs of production, as well as the final consumption of the goods produced by that economy. They are used primarily for structural macroeconomic analysis and for analysis of the impact of any exogenous shocks to the economy.

One particularly interesting version of Input-Output tables is the Environmentally Extended Multi Regional Input-Output (EEMRIO) tables, which contain data describing the complex web of global economic relationships and their environmental and energy consequences. Within this typology of tables, the Exiobase database is of particular interest to RSE’s scenario studies. Compared to similar databases, it is distinguished for its high disaggregation of production sectors and products, as well as for the richness of data in the energy and environmental extensions.

In particular, the potential of Exiobase for analyses on the impacts of the circular economy can be traced to the following research strands:

• Structural analysis of the circularity of the Italian economic system.
• Analysis of Italy’s material dependence on foreign countries and material requirements for the energy transition.
• Impacts on the economic system of the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle paradigm and other circular measures.

For each of these lines of activity, the relative contribution in scenario analyses and possible synergies between Exiobase and the TIMES-RSE energy model were also described.

Regarding future developments, the goal for the 2023 research year will be to develop one or more practical applications of Exiobase on the topic of circular economy in Italy, starting from the project ideas listed above.