EU Energy Dependence at 53% – They Need More Renewable Energy
Earlier this week, the EU issued a report on the 2013 consumption and production of energy of it’s member states. The results were somewhat surprising and are detailed below.
In 2013, gross inland energy consumption , which reflects the energy necessary to satisfy inland consumption, amounted in the European Union (EU) to 1 666 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), back to its early 1990s level and down by 9.1% compared to its peak of 1 832 Mtoe in 2006.
In 2013, nuclear energy (29%) accounted for the largest share of EU domestic production of energy, ahead of renewables (24%), solid fuels (20%), gas (17%), oil (9%) and non-renewable wastes (1%). In total, the EU produced 790 Mtoe of energy in 2013.
As a result, the EU was dependent on energy imports for slightly over a half (53%) of its consumption in 2013. These figures are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and are complemented with a publication on energy saving in the EU.
Estonia and Denmark, least dependent on energy imports
Energy dependency shows the extent to which an economy relies upon imports in order to meet its energy needs. In 2013, the least dependent Member States were Estonia (11.9%), Denmark (12.3%), Romania (18.6%), Poland (25.8%), the Netherlands (26.0%) and the Czech Republic (27.9%). In contrast, the highest energy dependence rates were registered in Malta (104,0%), Luxembourg (96.9%), Cyprus (96.4%) and Ireland (89,1%).
Among the five Member States consuming the largest amounts of energy, the least dependent on energy imports were the United Kingdom (46.4%) and France (47.9%), in contrast to Germany (62.7%), Spain (70.5%) and Italy (76.9%). At EU level, the energy dependence rate was 53.2% in 2013.
France, largest energy producer in the EU
With 135 Mtoe (or 17% of total energy production in the EU), France remained in 2013 the main producer of energy in the EU, ahead of Germany (121 Mtoe, or 15%), the United Kingdom (110 Mtoe, or 14%), Poland (71 Mtoe, or 9%) and the Netherlands (70 Mtoe or 9%). While producing from different types of fuel, the energy production of these five Member States together accounted for nearly two-thirds of EU total primary production of energy in 2013.
Solid fuels predominant in Poland, Estonia and Greece
In thirteen Member States, 70% or more of the energy production come from a single type of fuel. After the two Mediterranean island Member States, Cyprus and Malta (both 100.0%), the highest shares of energy production from renewable sources were recorded in Latvia (99.7%), Portugal (97.5%), Lithuania (91.1%), Austria (78.2%) and Luxembourg (76.4%). Solid fuels were largely predominant in Poland (80.5%), Estonia (78.3%) and Greece (72.3%), while France (80.9%) and Belgium (75.2%) were highly dependent on nuclear energy production. With an 88.7% share, gas represented the main type of energy production only in the Netherlands.
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Tags: energy dependence, EU, EU Energy, Eurostat, renewable energy
