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Indicator Specification
The composition of the energy mix in primary 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 types and amounts of fuel consumed, as well as on the abatement technologies applied.
Primary energy consumption is defined as gross inland energy consumption minus the energy consumed for purposes other than producing useful energy (non-energy use, e.g. oil for plastics). Gross inland energy consumption represents the energy necessary to satisfy the inland energy consumption of a country. Gross inland energy consumption is calculated as follows: primary production + recovered products + total imports + variations of stocks - total exports - bunkers. The numbers here are slightly higher than those reported by Eurostat, as Eurostat's numbers do not include ambient heat from heat pumps and the transformation output of blast furnaces.
Energy consumption is measured in million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe).
The level, evolution and structure of primary energy consumption provide 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, as the associated environmental impacts are fuel specific.
The consumption of fossil fuels (such as crude oil, oil products, hard coal, lignite, and natural and derived gases) leads to resource depletion and emissions of greenhouse gases as well as emissions of air pollutants (e.g. sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides). This, in turn, has negative consequences for public health and biodiversity. 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 than coal per unit of energy content, and 25 % less carbon content than oil, and contains only marginal quantities of sulphur.
Increasing the consumption of nuclear energy at the expense of fossil fuels contributes to greenhouse gas emission reductions, but comes with safety and nuclear waste issues.
Renewable energy consumption is more environmentally benign, as the exploitation of renewable energy sources does not give rise to greenhouse gas emissions (except land use change issues related to biomass and emissions related to the use of non-renewable energy during the construction of renewable energy installations). Renewable energy sources usually lead to significantly lower levels of air pollutants (except when related to biomass applications). Renewable energy can, however, affect landscapes and ecosystems (e.g. wind turbines severely affect the landscape and much land is needed for the production of biomass, which may have an impact on biodiversity).
Directive (EU) 2018/2002 on energy efficiency puts forward a binding EU-wide 32.5 % energy savings target for 2030, following on from the previously set 20 % target by 2020. Member States are requested to set indicative targets. The EU target for 2020 is to limit primary energy consumption to 1 483 Mtoe. In 2018, taken together, the sum of all individual Member States' 2020 targets for primary energy consumption was 1 533 Mtoe, which is 3.3 % higher than the 2020 target defined for the EU under the Energy Efficiency Directive (1 483 Mtoe). The 2030 targets are expressed in primary and/or final energy consumption and are relative to the levels projected for 2030 of 1 887 Mtoe for primary energy consumption and 1 416 Mtoe for final energy consumption. A 32.5 % reduction would therefore result in primary energy consumption of 1 273 Mtoe and final energy consumption of 956 Mtoe in 2030.
These data are extracted from Eurostat nrg_bal_c data sets.
No gap filling necessary.
No methodology references available.
The proportion of a particular fuel in total energy consumption could decrease even if the actual amount of energy derived from that fuel increased, as the proportion of a particular fuel depends on its consumption relative to total energy consumption.
From an environmental point of view, however, the relative contribution of each fuel type has to be considered in the 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 consumed, as well as on the fuel mix used and the extent to which pollution abatement technologies are used.
Gross inland 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 on gross inland energy consumption even if there is no change in final energy demand.
Officially reported, annually updated data are used, with no obvious weaknesses.
However, from 2019, Eurostat changed the methodology for calculating energy balances, which changed the energy consumption data compared with previous years. Therefore, this year’s results and those of previous years are less comparable. More information on these changes can be found in the Energy balance guide (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/38154/4956218/ENERGY-BALANCE-GUIDE-DRAFT-31JANUARY2019.pdf/cf121393-919f-4b84-9059-cdf0f69ec045) and in a document online (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/10186/6246844/Eurobase-changes-energy.pdf).
Data have traditionally been compiled by Eurostat through the annual joint questionnaires of 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 Eurostat's web page for metadata on energy statistics (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/de/nrg_quant_esms.htm).
In circumstances where data for one or more of the non-EU EEA countries are unavailable, these data are left out of total amounts for non-EU EEA countries or for EEA countries as a whole.
The composition 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 types and amounts of fuel consumed, as well as on the abatement technologies applied.
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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/primary-energy-consumption-by-fuel-7 or scan the QR code.
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