NATIONAL AND EU GAS SUPPLY SECURITY IN-BETWEEN GEOPOLITICS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURES

This thesis discusses the security of gas supply in Italy and the European Union despite geopolitical conflicts currently taking place in the region. The current situation of the Italian and the European Union supply and production of natural gas is presented, as well as what are the issues that they are facing to guarantee this hydrocarbon to their citizens. The current situation of their respective energy infrastructures is also presented with explanations as to how they utilize natural gas to create products or as fuel to power turbines to generate electricity. Case studies are presented detailing what are the consequences when the gas supply security of a nation is compromised, be it because of geopolitical factors or natural disasters, and how cities and nations have taken measures to mitigate the respective risks. The use of early warning systems is discussed, how they work, why are they important, and how are they contributing to secure the energy supply of a country; at the same time, the use of artificial intelligence combined with machine learning models in these systems, how it is helping these systems, the development of its adoption, the improvement of these systems, and some models are presented. The findings highlight the importance of early warning systems that use artificial intelligence combined with machine learning models to guarantee the security of gas supply in Italy and the European Union.