Emergy based analysis of Italian electricity production system

The continuously increasing demand for electric power together with the dem and of environmental friendly technologies require a deep acknowledgement o f the directions to give to electric power production in order to satisfy b oth necessities. The aim of this work is to evaluate the sustainability of Italian electric system by using the emergy function, a methodology developed in the early 8 0s by Odum, and its correlated indices. Emergy is a thermodynamic based fun ction that calculates all the fluxes of energy requested to obtain a produc t going backward to the solar energy invested. We analyzed all the inputs concurring to the yield of electricity taking in to account not only the final phases of the production but also all the sou rces and materials that had been necessary for the system to operate. We ha ve performed a wide analysis of all the different types of production focus ing on thermoelectric sector. We have obtained not only a thermodynamic analysis of electricity productio n but also an evaluation of the sustainability of the entire process and a scenario for a correct exploitation of resources.