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Indicator Specification
Not all primary energy is available to be utilised as useful final energy for the end-consumer due to various losses that occur within the energy system (in particular transformation losses in the production of electricity and heat). The magnitude of these losses is an important indication of the overall environmental impact (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, environmental impacts associated with upstream activities of resource extraction) of the energy system, due to the high proportion of fossil fuels still used. Significant losses occur in transformation, hence they depend on the system’s efficiency. The majority of thermal generation is produced using fossil fuels but can also include biomass, wastes and geothermal and nuclear. Associated environmental impacts at the point of energy generation are mainly related to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. However, other environmental impacts, in addition to those previously mentioned, such as land use change, biodiversity loss, ground water pollution, oil spills in the marine environment etc., occur during upstream activities of producing and transporting the primary resources or final waste disposal. While the level of environmental impact depends on the particular type of fuel used and the extent to which abatement technologies are being employed, the greater the efficiency of the power plant, the lower the environmental impact for each unit of electricity produced (assuming that the increase in efficiency leads to an absolute decrease of fossil fuel input).
The structure of the energy mix in gross inland energy consumption provides an indication of the environmental pressures associated with energy consumption. The type and magnitude of the environmental impacts associated with energy consumption, such as resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutant emissions, water pollution, accumulation of radioactive waste etc., strongly depend on the type and amount of fuel consumed as well as on the abatement technologies applied. Energy consumption by sector gives an indication of which sectors are driving the trend in consumption of different fuels.
Energy supply does have negative effects on the environment and human health. Addressing energy dependency can result in the strengthening or weakening of these effects, depending on which fuels are being replaced and how the life cycle environmental pressures are being addressed (e.g. upstream environmental pressures associated with the production and transport of fossil fuels, downstream environmental pressures related to disposal of CO2 emissions and other wastes etc). Decreasing the amount of imported fossil fuels on one hand and increasing energy savings and the share of renewable energy on the other, are likely to result in diminishing the negative effects of energy supply and energy consumption on the environment and human health, as well as improving energy security in Europe (see also ENER 026, ENER 028, ENER 037, ENER 038).
Energy efficiency of conventional thermal electricity production
Output from conventional thermal power stations consists of gross electricity generation and any heat sold to third parties (combined heat and power plants) by both conventional thermal public utility power stations and autoproducer thermal power stations. The energy efficiency of conventional thermal electricity production (which includes both public plants and autoproducers) is defined as the ratio of electricity and heat production to the energy input as fuel. Fuels include solid fuels (i.e. coal, lignite and equivalents, oil and other liquid hydrocarbons, gas, thermal renewables, industrial and municipal waste, wood waste, biogas and geothermal energy) and other non-renewable waste.
Energy losses in transformation and distribution
Numerator: The amount of energy loss is the sum of the the energy industry's own consumption, with distribution and transformation losses (the difference between transformation input and output). Denominator: Numerator plus final energy available for final consumption in primary energy.
EU-28 share of primary energy by fuel type and share of final energy consumption by sector
Total energy consumption or gross inland energy consumption represents the quantity of energy necessary to satisfy the inland consumption of a country. It is calculated as the sum of the gross inland consumption of energy from solid fuels, oil, gas, nuclear and renewable sources, and a small component of ‘other’ sources (industrial waste and net imports of electricity). The relative contribution of a specific fuel is measured by the ratio between the energy consumption originating from that specific fuel and the total gross inland energy consumption calculated for a calendar year.
Energy efficiency of conventional thermal electricity production
Fuel input, and electrical and heat output are measured in thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). Efficiency is measured as the ratio of fuel output to input (%).
EU-28 share of primary energy by fuel type and, share of final energy consumption by sector
Energy consumption is measured in thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). The share of each fuel in the total energy consumption is presented in the form of a percentage.
Transformation and distribution losses
Not all primary energy (gross inland energy consumption) is available to be utilised as useful final energy for the end-consumer because of various losses that occur within the energy system (in particular transformation losses in the production of electricity and heat). The magnitude of these losses is an important indication of the overall environmental impact of the energy system (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, environmental impacts associated with the upstream activities of resource extraction). The overall environmental impact has to be seen in the context of the type of fuel and the extent to which abatement technologies are used. In 2013, 73.8 % of gross inland consumption in the European Union came from fossil fuels (see ENER026). Because Europe imports large amounts of fossil fuels to meet its final energy demand, a significant part of the environmental impact associated with resource extraction remains outside the realm of European policy.
Efficiency of conventional thermal electricity and heat production
This indicator shows the efficiency of electricity and heat production from conventional thermal plants. The efficiency of electricity and heat production is an important factor since losses in transformation account for a substantial part of primary energy consumption. Higher production efficiency therefore results in substantial reductions in primary energy consumption, and hence, the reduction of environmental pressures due to the avoidance of energy production. However, the overall environmental impact has to be seen in the context of the type of fuel and the extent to which abatement technologies are used.
Compliance with environmental legislation (for example the Large Combustion Plant Directive 2001/80/EC, the CARE package, etc.) requires the application of a series of abatement technologies (e.g. to reduce SO2 emissions requires retrofitting the plant with flue-gas desulphurisation technology, carbon capture and storage to capture CO2 emissions, etc.) that increase the energy consumption of the plant, thus reducing its efficiency. This is why it is important to promote highly efficient generation units, such as the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC).
Gross Inland Energy Consumption by Fuel and Sector
The level, structure and evolution of total gross inland energy consumption provides an indication of the extent to which environmental pressures caused by energy production and consumption are likely to diminish or not. This indicator displays data disaggregated by fuel type and sector, since the associated environmental impacts are fuel-specific, and provides an indication of the associated environmental impacts by the different end-use sectors (transport, industry, services and households).
The consumption of fossil fuels (such as crude oil, oil products, hard coal, lignite, and natural and derived gas) provides a proxy indicator for resource depletion, CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution levels (e.g. SO2 and NOX), water pollution and biodiversity loss. The degree of environmental impact depends on the relative share of different fossil fuels and the extent to which pollution abatement measures are used. Natural gas, for instance, has approximately 40 % less carbon content per unit of energy than coal, and 25 % less carbon content than oil, and contains only marginal quantities of sulphur.
The level of nuclear energy consumption provides an indication of the trends in the amount of nuclear waste generated and of the risks associated with radioactive leaks and accidents. Increasing the consumption of nuclear energy at the expense of fossil fuels would, however, contribute to reductions in CO2 emissions.
Renewable energy consumption is a measure of the contribution from technologies that are, in general, more environmentally benign, as they produce no (or very little) net CO2 and, usually, significantly lower levels of other pollutants. Renewable energy can, however, have impacts on landscapes and ecosystems (for example, potential flooding and changed water levels from large hydro power) and the incineration of municipal waste (which is generally made up of both renewable and non-renewable material) may also generate local air pollution.
The efficiency with which electricity is produced also determines the scale of the environmental impacts of electricity production and consumption, as it determines the amount of input fuel required to generate a given quantity of electricity.
The impact also depends on the total amount of electricity demanded and, hence, the level of electricity production required. Therefore, another way of reducing energy-related pressures on the environment includes using less electricity on the demand-side, through improved efficiency, conservation or a combination of the two.
Fossil fuel import dependency
Environmental impact and fuel import dependency are linked via the fuel mix used to deliver energy services, the level of demand for these services and the way in which these fuels and energy services are delivered (e.g. pipeline infrastructure vs. shipping, centralised vs. decentralised energy system, etc.) The level of net imports is determined by several factors including economic issues, the evolution of final energy demand (see ENER 016), the efficiency of the energy system (in particular for electricity transformation) (see ENER 019). It is also strongly affected by the level of indigenous supply as well as the development of alternatives such as renewables. In addition, the need to import fuels also depends on the end-use efficiency (e.g. measures in the transport and buildings sectors are expected to yield significant benefits in this respect (TERM 027)). The environmental pressures associated with energy production will change depending on the fuel mix used.
Current European pricing mechanisms for transmission and distribution services do not necessarily directly target improvements in the efficiency of these networks. However, there are a number of policy initiatives aimed at increasing transformation efficiency (listed below). Some of the policies below are also linked to the other key policy questions in this indicator.
Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency establishes a common framework of measures for the promotion of energy efficiency within the European Union in order to achieve the headline target of a 20 % reduction in primary energy consumption. Member States are requested to set indicative targets. It is up to the Member states whether they base their targets on primary energy consumption, final energy consumption, primary or final energy savings or energy intensity. Some of the mandatory measures included in the directive can be implemented through improvements in transformation efficiency.
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources establishes a mandatory target of a 20 % share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption. This indicator does not directly monitor progress towards these targets but provides a quick snap-shot of the situation in Europe on these issues.
The Sankey diagram shows the key energy flows (in million tonnes of oil equivalent) for the EU-28 based on Eurostat data (Figure 1). The left side of the diagram shows gross inland consumption with the net amount of energy imported compared with that produced indigenously. The diagram then shows the conversion of primary energy to secondary energies (heat, electricity and manufactured fuels) through transformation plants (power stations, district heating, CHP, oil refineries and other transformation plants) and the associated conversion losses. The right hand side of the diagram shows the final mix of energy consumption by different EU-28 energy users (including industry, transport, domestic, other final consumers and non-energy use). Note that renewables in transport for ENER036 include all biofuels whether sustainable or not. Only a proportion of the primary energy entering the energy system of a country flows through to the end user for consumption. There are various diversions and losses before energy reaches the final consumer because of distribution losses and use in the energy sector. The Sankey diagram is useful to capture the situation in a certain year but other indicators are needed to show the change in energy use over time.
The largest sources of loss are the conversion losses, where a proportion of the chemical energy in the fuel is not embodied in the power or heat leaving the generating plant, but is lost as unused waste heat. However, even before fuel is combusted for the generation of power and heat, some of it is diverted for non-energy purposes, for example the use of natural gas as a chemical feed stock in the chemical industry (non-energy purposes). Moreover, once generated, some of the power and heat is consumed by the plant operator for the purpose of running auxiliary equipment (consumption of the energy sector), and yet further down the energy supply chain some power or heat is lost as it is distributed to the end user (distribution losses). Both the energy industry's own use and distribution losses are shown in a single flow in Figure 1.
The Sankey diagram has been prepared using the data available from Eurostat. Figures can be extracted from the Eurostat Energy Balance Sheets for all EU-28 countries. The EU-28 data for Figure 1 (Sankey diagram) and Figure 2 have been derived from the following datasets with annual statistics for the supply, transformation and consumption of:
The following are subtracted from overall supply:
The final consumers are split into the following:
There are five transformations included in the diagram. The inputs in the following five transformations are:
The outputs from the above five transformations are calculated as follows:
Conversion losses for transformation plants = transformation input – transformation output
The transformation processes produce secondary fuels/energies (transformation output) in the Sankey diagram, namely electricity, heat and manufactured fuels (derived gases, petroleum products, coke and brown coal briquettes). Secondary energies are allocated to end-user consumer categories (point 2) in the same way as primary energy inputs and the supply of secondary energies are also affected in the same way as primary energy inputs (point 1). It should be noted that the transformation output of manufactured fuels from other transformations is not consistent with the manufactured fuels consumed by end-users. This is because a proportion of manufactured fuels are consequently used as input for further transformation (e.g. CHP), which is not captured in the Sankey diagram. Manufactured fuels consumed by another transformation plant after the fuel transformations are included as part of the input of gas, solid fuels and all petroleum products into these transformation plants. As a result the input and output from the other transformation plants box do not balance.
Geographical coverage: EU-28 plus Norway, Iceland and Turkey .
The EEA had 33 member countries at the time of writing. These are the 28 European Union Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Where Eurostat data were not available, the data are not included in this indicator.
Methodology and frequency of data collection:
Data collected annually.
Eurostat definitions and concepts for energy statistics http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/methodology
Official data (national total and sectoral emissions) reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and under the EU Monitoring Mechanism and EIONET. For the EU-28, these data are compiled by the EEA in the European greenhouse gas inventory report:
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-union-greenhouse-gas-inventory-2012
Methodology of data manipulation:
Figure 1 Energy flow in the EU-28. Methodology and assumptions used for the Sankey diagram found earlier in this indicator.
Figure 2 EU-28 net imports by fuel.
The coding (used in the Eurostat database) and specific components of the indicator are:
Numerator
[imports - solid fuels – 2000] + [imports – oil (total petroleum products) - 3000] + [imports – natural gas - 4100] - exports (excluding EU-28 countries) for the same fuel
Denominator:
Gross inland energy consumption (GIEC) 100900 (tonnes of oil equivalent) + Marine International Bunkers 100800 (tonnes of oil equivalent).
For the separate product indicators the numerators/denominators are, respectively: solid fuels, total petroleum products and natural gas.
Overall scoring – historic data (1 = no major problems, 3 = major reservations):
No gap filling methodology was applied for this indicator.
No methodology references available.
Data have traditionally been compiled by Eurostat through annual joint questionnaires, which are shared by Eurostat and the International Energy Agency, following a well established and harmonised methodology. Methodological information on the annual joint questionnaires and data compilation can be found on the Eurostat web page for metadata on energy statistics. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/nrg_quant_esms.htm and http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/nrg_indic_esms.htm. See also information related to the Energy Statistics Regulation https://www.energy-community.org/portal/page/portal/ENC_HOME/DOCS/2382177/Regulation147-2013.pdf.
CO2 emission data are officially reported following agreed procedures. e.g. regarding the source/sector split under the EU Monitoring Mechanism Decision No 280/2004/EC.
Imports/exports represent all entries into/out of the national territory excluding transit quantities (notably via gas and oil pipelines). However, data on imports are generally taken from importer/exporter declarations; accordingly, they may differ from the data collected by the customs authorities and those included in foreign-trade statistics.
In the case of crude oil and petroleum products, imports represent the quantities delivered to the national territory and, in particular, those quantities:
Similarly, for exports those quantities:
The efficiency of electricity production is calculated as the ratio of electricity output to total fuel input. However, the input to conventional thermal power plants cannot be disaggregated into separate inputs for heat and for electricity production. Therefore, the efficiency rate of electricity and heat production equals the ratio of both electricity and heat production to fuel input, which assumes there is an efficiency rate for heat production. Also, electricity data (unlike that for overall energy consumption) for 1990 refer to the western part of Germany only, so there is a break in the series from 1990-1992.
The share of energy consumption for a particular fuel could decrease even though the actual amount of energy used from that fuel grows, as the development of the share for a particular fuel depends on the change in its consumption relative to the total consumption of energy.
From an environmental point of view, however, the relative contribution of each fuel has to be put in a wider context. Absolute (as opposed to relative) volumes of energy consumption for each fuel are the key to understanding environmental pressures. These depend on the total amount of energy consumption as well as on the fuel mix used and the extent to which pollution abatement technologies are used.
Total energy consumption may not accurately represent the energy needs of a country (in terms of final energy demand). Fuel switching may, in some cases, have a significant effect in changing total energy consumption even though there is no change in (final) energy demand. This is because different fuels and different technologies convert primary energy into useful energy with different efficiency rates.
The estimate of imported/domestic CO2 emissions uses an average EU-28 implied emission factor (tCO2/TJ) for solid, liquid and gaseous fuels.
The IPCC believes that the uncertainty in CO2 emission estimates from fuel use in Europe is likely to be less than ± 5 %. Total greenhouse gas emission trends are likely to be more accurate than the absolute emission estimates for individual years. The IPCC suggests that the uncertainty in total greenhouse emission trends is ± 4-5 %. Uncertainty estimates were calculated for the EU-15 for the first time in the EEA (2005). The results suggest that uncertainties at EU-15 level are between ± 4 % and 8 % for total EU-15 greenhouse gas emissions. For energy related greenhouse gas emissions, the results suggest uncertainties between ± 1 % (stationary combustion) and ± 11 % (fugitive emissions). For public electricity and heat production, the uncertainty is estimated to be ± 3 %. For the new Member States and some other EEA countries, uncertainties are assumed to be higher than for the EU-15 Member States because of data gaps.
Indicator uncertainty (scenarios)
Scenario analysis always includes many uncertainties and the results should, therefore, be interpreted with care. These include:
Work specified here requires to be completed within 1 year from now.
Work specified here will require more than 1 year (from now) to be completed.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/overview-of-the-european-energy-system-3 or scan the QR code.
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