Shedding light on energy in the EU

Lighting, heating, moving, producing...

...energy is vital for our day-to-day life. Without energy, people and businesses cannot function. Turning on our computers or starting our cars are actions that we take for granted, yet they represent the final stage of a complex process.

First of all, energy resources have to be extracted from our environment. Primary energy sources are transformed into energy products available for consumption. For example crude oil is transformed into motor gasoline, while fossil, nuclear and renewable energy are transformed into electricity.

Statistics can help to make the complex process of energy more understandable.

• Where does our energy come from?
• How dependent are we on energy imports?
• Which kind of energy do we consume in the EU and how much does it cost?
• Are we efficient in the consumption of energy?
• How much greenhouse gas do we emit in the EU?

By providing simple statistical answers to these questions and by presenting the information in different forms (texts, infographics, videos, etc.), this new tool developed by Eurostat replies to the needs of those who are not familiar with the energy sector, but who would like to better understand the challenges the Energy Union initiative is facing. For more experienced users, the whole energy process – from source to final use – is presented in a very detailed way in a user-friendly Sankey-diagram.