Archive:Consumption of energy

Data from March 2014. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Table 1: Gross inland consumption of energy, 2002–12
(million tonnes of oil equivalent) - Source: Eurostat (ten00086)

Figure 1: Gross inland consumption, EU-28, 2002–12
(% of total consumption) - Source: Eurostat (ten00086), (nrg_102a), (nrg_103a), (nrg_101a), (nrg_104a) and (nrg_107a)

Table 2: Final energy consumption, 2002–12
(million tonnes of oil equivalent) - Source: Eurostat (ten00095)

Figure 2: Energy intensity of the economy, 2002 and 2012
(kg of oil equivalent per EUR 1 000 of GDP) - Source: Eurostat (tsdec360)

Figure 3: Final energy consumption, EU-28, 2012
(% of total, based on tonnes of oil equivalent) - Source: Eurostat (tsdpc320)

Figure 4: Energy consumption by transport mode, EU-28, 2002–12
(2002 = 100, based on tonnes of oil equivalent) - Source: Eurostat (tsdtr250)

The European Union (EU) has pledged to cut its energy consumption by 20 % (compared with projected levels) by 2020. This article describes how the consumption of energy in the EU-28 has developed, highlighting a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, solar energy, wind power and biofuels; it also looks at the development of energy use by various transport modes.

In tandem with supply-side policies, the EU has launched a number of initiatives which aim to increase the efficiency of energy use, reduce energy demand and attempt to decouple it from economic growth. Several instruments and implementing measures exist in this field, including the promotion of co-generation, the energy performance of buildings (whether private or public buildings), and energy labelling for domestic appliances.

Main statistical findings

Consumption

Gross inland consumption of energy within the EU-28 in 2012 was 1 683 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) — see Table 1. Having remained relatively unchanged during the period from 2003 to 2008, gross inland consumption of energy decreased by 5.8 % in 2009; much of this change can be attributed to a lower level of economic activity as a result of the financial and economic crisis, rather than a structural shift in the pattern of energy consumption. Indeed, in 2010 there was a 3.8 % rebound in the level of gross inland consumption of energy in the EU-28 although this was followed by a similarly large (3.4 %) fall in 2011. After these three years of relatively large changes, 2012 saw a more modest rate of change as consumption fell by 1.0 %.

The gross inland consumption of each EU Member State depends, to a large degree, on the structure of its energy system, the availability of natural resources for primary energy production, and the structure and development of each economy; this is true not only for conventional fuels and nuclear power, but also for renewable energy sources.

In keeping with the data for the whole of the EU-28, gross inland consumption of energy fell in all of the EU Member States in 2009. Consumption rebounded in 2010 in most of the Member States — with only Lithuania, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Croatia and Spain recording consecutive contractions in consumption in 2009 and 2010 — possibly reflecting the low level of economic output and consumer confidence in several of these countries. In 2011, a fall in consumption was recorded by 22 of the 28 Member States, the main exceptions being Bulgaria (a 7.4 % increase) and Lithuania (3.2 %). As such, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Croatia and Spain’s downward paths continued for a third consecutive year, and this pattern extended into a fourth year in 2012 when only eight Member States recorded an increase in their consumption, including three of the largest Member States (Germany, France and the United Kingdom).

Germany had the highest level of gross inland consumption of energy in 2012, accounting for a 19.0 % share of the EU-28 total. France (15.4 %) and the United Kingdom (12.0 %) were the only other Member States to record double-digit shares, with Italy’s 9.7 % share just below this level. Together these four Member States accounted for 56.0 % of the EU-28’s gross inland consumption.

An analysis of the data shows that gross inland consumption of energy in the EU-28 in 2012 was just 0.9 % above the level it had been in 1990. Between these years, consumption increased by 12.3 % from a low point of 1 631 million toe in 1994 to a peak of was 1 832 million in 2006. Thereafter, consumption fell most years to reach its 2012 level which was 8.1 % below the 2006 peak. A total of 12 EU Member States had lower gross inland energy consumption in 2012 than in 1990. Most of these Member States had joined the EU in 2004, 2007 or 2012, as Germany and the United Kingdom were the only EU-15 Member States among those with lower consumption. Nevertheless, two other Member States that joined the EU in 2004, namely Cyprus and Malta, stood at the other end of the ranking, having the largest increases in gross inland energy consumption between 1990 and 2012, in both cases in excess of 50.0 % and with annual average increases of at least 2.0 %.

Figure 1 provides information on the energy mix during the period 1990 to 2012. Overall there was a gradual decline in the share of crude oil and petroleum products. The share of solid fuels fell relatively quickly during the early years of this period, before stabilising between 1999 and 2007, falling sharply again in 2008 and 2009, and then increasing again through to 2012. The combined share of crude oil, petroleum products and solid fuels fell from 65.1 % of total consumption in 1990 to 51.3 % by 2012, reflecting a move away from the most polluting fossil fuels. The share from nuclear energy rose to a peak of 14.5 % in 2002 but dropped back to 13.5 % by 2012. By contrast, the share of EU-28 gross inland consumption accounted for by renewable energy sources more than doubled between 1990 and 2012, rising from 4.3 % to 11.0 %. The relative importance of natural gas also increased relatively quickly during the 1990s and more slowly thereafter, to peak at 25.4 % in 2010; the share from natural gas fell during the next two years to reach 23.3 % in 2012, a share that was relatively close to that observed 10 years earlier.

Renewable energy sources accounted for more than one third of gross inland consumption of energy in Sweden (37.2 %) and Latvia (36.4 %) in 2012, and their share was over one quarter of the total in Finland (29.2 %) and Austria (30.1 %). The fastest expansion between 1990 and 2012 in the share of renewable energy sources in energy consumption was recorded in Latvia, rising by 23.2 percentage points; increases in excess of 10.0 percentage points were also recorded in Denmark, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, Romania and Finland.

EU-28 final energy consumption (in other words, excluding energy used by power producers and energy transformation processes) was equivalent to just under two thirds (65.6 %) of gross inland consumption, at 1 103 million toe in 2012. The relative shares of the four largest EU Member States were similar to those recorded for gross inland consumption of energy; between them they accounted for 55.9 % of the EU-28’s final energy consumption, with the highest share registered in Germany (19.3 %) — see Table 2.

The lowest levels of energy intensity — a measure of an economy’s energy efficiency — were recorded for Ireland, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Italy in 2012, while the most energy-intensive Member States were Bulgaria and Estonia (see Figure 2). It should be noted that the economic structure of an economy plays an important role in determining energy intensity, as service based economies will, a priori, display relatively low energy intensity rates, while economies with energy intensive industries (such as iron and steel production) may have a considerable proportion of their economic activity within industrial sectors, thus leading to higher energy intensity.

Between 2002 and 2012, substantial energy savings were made in the Lithuanian and Slovakian economies, as well as in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as the amount of energy required to produce a unit of economic output (as measured by gross domestic product (GDP)) was reduced by at least one fifth (20.0 %). None of the EU Member States reported a rise in their energy intensity between 2002 and 2012, with the smallest decreases recorded for Austria, Italy and the Netherlands.

End-users

An analysis of the final end use of energy in the EU-28 in 2012 shows three dominant categories: namely, transport (31.8 %), households (26.2 %) and industry (25.6 %) — see Figure 3.

The total energy consumption of all transport modes in the EU-28 amounted to 351.1 million toe in 2012. There was a marked change in the development of energy consumption for transport after 2007. Until that year consumption had generally increased, but in 2008, as the financial and economic crisis started, the consumption of energy for transport purposes fell 1.2 %. This fall intensified in 2009 (-3.5 %), continued at a more subdued pace in 2010 (-0.4 %) and 2011 (-0.5 %) and further decreased again in 2012 (-3.0 %). Overall, between the 2007 peak and the latest data — for 2012 — energy consumption for transport in the EU-28 fell by 8.4 %.

There were considerable differences in the development of energy consumption across various transport modes, with rapid growth for international aviation (96.4 % between 1990 and 2008). However, there followed a considerable reduction in energy consumption for international aviation in 2009, down 7.4 %, and this pattern continued in 2010 albeit at a much slower pace (-1.4 %). In 2011, energy consumption for international aviation returned to its upward path, registering a 3.3 % increase, although this growth was short lived as in 2012 energy consumption for international aviation fell again by 2.7 %. Nevertheless, as shown in Figure 4, international aviation had the highest growth in EU-28 energy consumption among the principal modes of transport between 1990 and 2012 — rising 80.3 % overall. Road transport was the only other transport mode to report an increase over this period, up by 20.5 %. By contrast, energy consumption in 2012 was 0.6 % lower than in 1990 for domestic aviation, 15.5 % lower for rail transport, and 30.2 % lower for transport via inland waterways.

In absolute terms, the largest decrease in energy consumption among the different transport modes was recorded for transport via inland waterways, where EU-28 consumption was 1.9 million toe lower in 2012 than in 1990. For rail transport the difference was a reduction of 1.3 million toe and for domestic aviation a reduction of 0.03 million toe. The consumption of energy for international aviation rose by 19.4 million toe between 1990 and 2012, around two fifths the 48.9 million toe increase recorded for road transport. These changes in energy consumption reflect the use of each transport mode, but can also be influenced by technological changes, especially when these relate to fuel-efficiency gains or losses.

Data sources and availability

Gross inland energy consumption represents the quantity of energy necessary to satisfy inland consumption of the geographical entity under consideration. It is defined as primary production plus imports, recovered products and stock changes, less exports and fuel supply to maritime bunkers (for seagoing ships of all flags). It describes the total energy needs of a country (or entity), covering: consumption by the energy sector itself; distribution and transformation losses; final energy consumption by end-users; non-energy use of energy products and statistical differences.

Final energy consumption includes the consumption of energy by all users except the energy sector itself (whether for deliveries, for transformation, and/or its own use), and includes, for example, energy consumption by agriculture, industry, services and households, as well as energy consumption for transport. It should be noted that fuel quantities transformed in the electrical power stations of industrial auto-producers and the quantities of coke transformed into blast-furnace gas are not part of overall industrial energy consumption but of the transformation sector.

Energy intensity is measured as the ratio between gross inland consumption of energy and GDP; this indicator is a key indicator for measuring progress under the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The ratio is expressed in kilograms of oil equivalent (kgoe) per EUR 1 000, and to facilitate analysis over time the calculations are based on GDP at constant prices (currently chain-linked 2000 prices). If an economy becomes more efficient in its use of energy and its GDP remains constant, then the ratio for this indicator should fall.

Context

As well as supply-side policies to influence the production of energy, there is a growing trend for policy initiatives to focus on improving energy efficiency in an attempt to reduce energy demand and decouple it from economic growth. This process was given impetus by the integrated energy and climate change strategy that committed the EU to cut its energy consumption by 20 % by 2020 (in relation to projected levels) and, in so doing, simultaneously address the issues of import dependency, energy-related emissions and energy costs. The European Commission adopted the ‘Energy efficiency plan 2011’ (COM(2011) 109 final) in March 2011, which was followed in October 2012 by a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency. This aims to establish a common framework to promote energy efficiency and specifies actions to implement some of the proposals included in the energy efficiency plan; it also foresees the establishment of indicative national energy efficiency targets for 2020. The Commission hopes that these plans will be pursued in conjunction with other policy actions under the Europe 2020 flagship initiative for a resource-efficient Europe, including the ‘Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy by 2050’ (COM(2011) 112 final). The energy efficiency plan proposes several actions to:

promote the role of the public sector and propose a binding target to accelerate the refurbishment rate of the public sector building stock; introduce energy efficiency criteria in public procurement;
trigger the renovation process in private buildings and improve the energy performance of appliances;
improve the efficiency of power and heat generation;
foresee energy efficiency requirements for industrial equipment, improved information provision for SMEs, and energy audits and energy management systems for large companies;
focus on the roll-out of smart grids and smart meters providing consumers with the information and services necessary to optimise their energy consumption and calculate their energy savings.

The EU harmonises national measures relating to the publication of information on the consumption of energy by household appliances, thereby allowing consumers to choose appliances on the basis of their energy efficiency. A range of different products (for example, light bulbs, refrigerators, washing machines) carry the EU’s energy label that details the energy efficiency of products, rating them according to a scale that ranges from A to G, with ‘A’ (or even A+, A++ or A+++ for some types of appliances) as the most energy efficient products and ‘G’ the least efficient; a maximum of seven colours are also used with dark green always representing the most efficient and red the least efficient.

There are many factors that impact on energy use for transport, for example, overall economic growth, the efficiency of individual transport modes, the take-up of alternative fuels, advances in transport technology and fuel, and lifestyle choices. The globalised nature of the economy has fuelled demand for international freight movements (principally by ship), while within the single market there has been a considerable expansion in the use of road freight transport. The growth of low-cost airlines, an increase in motorisation rates (the average number of motor vehicles per inhabitant), a trend for living in suburban areas, or the expansion of tourism (more frequent breaks, and more long-haul destinations) are among some of the factors that have contributed to the longer-term increase in demand for energy as a result of personal travel.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Energy (t_nrg), see:

Energy statistics - quantities (t_nrg_quant)

Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption (tsdcc110)

Gross inland consumption of primary energy (ten00086)

Gross inland energy consumption, by fuel (tsdcc320)

Consumption of electricity by industry, transport activities and households/services (ten00094)

Final energy consumption (ten00095)

Final energy consumption, by sector (tsdpc320)

Final energy consumption of petroleum products (ten00096)

Final energy consumption of electricity (ten00097)

Final energy consumption of natural gas (ten00098)

Final energy consumption by industry (ten00099)

Final energy consumption by transport (ten00100)

Energy consumption of transport relative to GDP (tsdtr100)

Final energy consumption by households, trades, services, etc. (ten00101)

Electricity consumption of households (tsdpc310)

Energy dependence (tsdcc310)

Share of renewable energy in fuel consumption of transport (tsdcc340)

Database

Energy (nrg), see:

Energy statistics - quantities, annual data (nrg_quant)

Energy statistics - supply, transformation, consumption (nrg_10)

Supply, transformation, consumption - all products - annual data (nrg_100a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - solid fuels - annual data (nrg_101a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - oil - annual data (nrg_102a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - gas - annual data (nrg_103a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - electricity - annual data (nrg_105a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - heat - annual data (nrg_106a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - renewable energies - annual data (nrg_107a)

Supply, transformation, consumption - wastes (non-renewable) - annual data (nrg_108a)

Methodology / Metadata

Energy Statistics Manual
Energy statistics - quantities, annual data (ESMS metadata file — nrg_quant_esms)
Share of renewable energy in fuel consumption of transport (ESMS metadata file — tsdcc340_esms)

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Consumption of energy: tables and figures

External links