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Data-viz 2026

Energy observatory

2026 | Interactive visualization | The Italian energy system

The Italian energy system read as an ancient solar observatory: a circle of monoliths, one for each source, facing a common core.

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Each monolith is one energy source, placed in the order in which it entered Italian history, from wood to solar. Its height is that source's share, and the particles leaving it reach the central core: total consumption. You can switch between the total energy lens and the electricity lens. Click a monolith or the core to open its panel with the figures, uses, countries of origin and sources. The keyboard works too: the arrow keys walk the circle, Enter opens the panel.

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The Energy observatory reads the Italian energy system as an ancient sun observatory: a circle of monoliths, one for each source, facing a common core. From wood, the first energy of human history, to coal, hydro, gas and oil, and on to wind and sun: the sources stand in the order in which they entered the country's energy history.

Each monolith grows with its source's share, and each sends particles towards the centre, where total consumption gathers. Two lenses change the question: all the energy the country consumes, or electricity alone. Nuclear appears as a dotted silhouette: Italy no longer produces any, but it remains in the memory of the system. Electricity imports sit just outside the circle, and their particles arrive from far away.

The figures refer to 2024, the latest year consolidated across all sources: the Eurostat energy balances transmitted by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, Terna data on the electricity system, GSE for photovoltaics, ISPRA for emissions. Each panel lists its own sources, and provisional values or values taken from the historical record are marked as such.