The promotion of the Energy Efficiency is one of the priorities of EU energy policy to fight the Climate Change and make Europe climate neutral by 2050 (EC 2020). The civil sector offers high potential for energy efficiency improvement and the buildings are responsible for about 40% of the EU's energy consumption, and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions (EC 2020). In Italy the civil sector (residential and tertiary together), are responsible for approximately 45% of final energy consumption and 17.5% of Italy's CO2 emissions, has a potential in reducing energy consumption of approximately 5,7 Mtoe compared to the base scenario in 2030. The core research question is: “Are national and local energy efficiency policies effective in reducing aggregate energy consumption at regional level in the civil sector?” From the policy maker’s point of view, it is important to understand the effectiveness of the policy instruments introduced to promote energy efficiency. The research framework is based on the frontier analysis and its main objective is to econometrically estimate for the period 2010 to 2017 the energy efficiency level for the civil sector in the Italy regions. The estimates confirm the effectiveness of policy instruments, represented by tax deductions and economic incentives, in creating high potential for energy savings from reduced inefficiency in the civil sector.
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