Energy use in the industry sector declines 5% in 2023

Disclaimer: the name of the sub-sector in the first paragraph after the sub-heading was updated to "manufacture of pulp" from "paper, pulp and printing industry".

In 2023, the final energy consumption in the industry sector in the EU was 8990 petajoules (PJ), down 5.3% compared with 2022 (9489 PJ). The industry sector has had a long-term decline in energy use, falling almost a third since 1990. 

Electricity and natural gas accounted for almost two-thirds of final energy consumption in the EU’s industry sector (32.6% and 31.3%, respectively). Oil and petroleum products accounted for 11.4%, followed by renewables and biofuels (11.2%). Solid fossil fuels had a 6.0% share in the mix, derived heat 5.3%, whereas non-renewable waste accounted for 2.1%.

Source dataset: nrg_bal_s

Renewables biggest energy source in paper industry

In one of the sub-sectors, the manufacture of pulp, renewables and biofuels are by far the most important fuel group (302.5 PJ or 70.3%) for energy use.

For the first time, renewables and biofuels (246.8 PJ or 33.9%) had the highest energy consumption share in the manufacturing of paper and other paper products (pulp excluded), ahead of electricity (236.9 PJ or 32.6%) and natural gas (147.3 PJ or 20.3%).

Source dataset: nrg_d_indq_n