Sustainable Energy Transition and Carbon Footprint in Italian Insular Context

Energy transition is an ongoing global process that aims to progressively replace fossil fuels with renewable and sustainable energy sources, with the goal of reducing climate-altering emissions and addressing climate change. The European Union has defined in the Green Deal that it aims for climate neutrality by 2050 and a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. At the national level, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (European Commission, 2021) promotes measures aimed at decarbonization, energy efficiency, and the development of renewables. This study proposes a method to evaluate the evolution of the carbon footprint in relation to GDP per capita, linking the impact of the energy transition and economic capacity in the period 2021–2024, using four indicators: direct carbon intensity, LCA carbon intensity, share of low-carbon energy, and share of energy from renewable sources. The study takes two Italian islands (Sardinia and Sicily) as a case study. The results show that, compared to the islands, the national context is more efficient in the relationship between energy, emissions, and produced wealth.