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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. GHG 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, additional to the ones 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. Whilst 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 production and consumption. The type and magnitude of the environmental impacts associated with energy production and 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 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 strengthening or weakening these effects, depending on which fuels are being replaced and how the life cycle (LCA) 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, is likely to result in diminishing the negative effects on environment and human health of energy supply and energy consumption as well as improve energy security in Europe (see also ENER 28, ENER 29, ENER 30, ENER 37, ENER 38).
This indicator is a compilation of the former
ENER 11 Energy efficiency in transformation;
ENER 12 Security of energy supply;
ENER 19 Efficiency of conventional thermal electricity and heat production;
ENER 26 Gross inland energy consumption by fuel.
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Energy flows in European Union The Sankey diagram (Fig.1) shows the energy conversion from primary energy (coal, oil, natural gas, etc) to secondary energy commodities such as heat, electricity and manufactured fuels, through transformation plants (power stations, district heating, CHPs, 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 EU27 energy users (including: industry, transport, domestic, other final consumers and non-energy use). Note that renewables in transport for ENER 36 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 incurred before energy reaches the final consumer due to distribution losses and use in the energy sector. The Sankey diagram is useful in capturing the situation in a certain year but other indicators are needed to show the change in energy use over time. Energy efficiency of conventional thermal electricity and heat production |
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Energy losses in transformation and distribution |
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EU-27 Share of primary energy by fuel type and, share of final energy consumption by sector |
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EU27 net energy imports of solid fuels, oil, and gas from outside the EU27 was calculated as follows: total imports by fuel minus the sum of imports by fuel from other EU Member States minus total exports (Fig.1) |
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-27 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 total energy consumption is presented in the form of a percentage.
Environmental context
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 due to various losses that occur within the energy system (in particular transformation losses in the production of electricity and heat). In 2010, 76.4 % of the gross inland consumption in European Union came from fossil fuels (see ENER 26). The magnitude of these losses is an important indication of the overall environmental impact of the energy system (e.g. GHG emissions, air pollution, environmental impacts associated with 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 (see ENER 06). Because Europe imports large amounts of fossil fuels to meet the final energy demand, a significant part of the environmental impact associated with the resource extraction remains outside the realm of European policy.
Efficiency of conventional thermal electricity and heat production - The 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 the primary energy consumption (see ENER 11). Higher efficiency of production therefore results in substantial reductions in primary energy consumption, hence reduction of environmental pressures due to avoided energy production. However, the overall environmental impact has to be seen in the context of the type of fuel (see ENER 27) and the extent to which abatement technologies are used (see ENER 06).
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.) increasing the energy consumption of the plant, thus reducing its efficiency. This is why it is important to promote highly efficient generation units, such as IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle), which can operate at higher efficiencies.
Gross Inland Consumption by Fuel and Sector - The level, the evolution as well as the structure of the total gross inland energy consumption provide an indication of the extent environmental pressures caused by energy production and consumption are likely to diminish or not. The indicator displays data disaggregated by fuel type and sector as 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 than coal per unit of energy content, 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 consumption of nuclear energy at the expense of fossil fuels would on the other hand 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 (see ENER19), as it determines the amount of input fuel required to generate a given quantity of electricity.
The impact also depends upon the total amount of electricity demanded and hence the level of electricity production required (see ENER18 for more details on electricity consumption). Thus 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 - The environmental impact and fuel import dependency are linked via the fuel mix used to deliver energy services, the level of demand for those services and the form with which these fuels and energy services have to be 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 ENER16), the efficiency of the energy system (see ENER11) in particular of electricity transformation (see ENER19 and ENER17). It is also strongly affected by the level of indigenous supply as well as the development of alternatives such as renewables (see ENER29). In addition, the need to import fuels also depends on the end-use efficiency (e.g. measures in transport and buildings sector expected to yield significant benefits in this respect (see ENER 21, ENER 02 and TERM27)). The environmental pressures associated with energy production will change depending on the fuel mix used (see Figure 4 and ENER 01, ENER 05, ENER 06, ENER07).
Policy context
The Europe 2020 growth growth strategy aims to address shortcoming of the European economic model while creating coditions for smarter, more sustainable and inclusive growth. One of the headline targets include the objective of increasing the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption to 20% by 2020.
The 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 20% reduction in gross inland energy consumption. Member States are requested to set indicative targets. It is up to the Member states whether they base their targets on gross inland consumption, final energy consumption, primary or final energy savings or energy intensity. This directive has a direct impact on the renewables target since it aims to reduce the final energy consumption, thus making the renewables target easier to reach.
A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050 (COM(2011) 112 final). Presents a roadmap for action in line with a 80-95% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2050.
On 15 December 2011, the European Commission adopted the Communication "Energy Roadmap 2050". The EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80-95% below 1990 levels by 2050 in the context of necessary reductions by developed countries as a group. In the Energy Roadmap 2050 the Commission explores the challenges posed by delivering the EU's decarbonisation objective while at the same time ensuring security of energy supply and competitiveness.
On 10 November 2010, the European Commission has adopted the Communication "Energy 2020 - A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy". The Communication defines the energy priorities for the next ten years and sets the actions to be taken in order to tackle the challenges of saving energy, achieving a market with competitive prizes and secure supplies, boosting technological leadership, and effectively negotiate with our international partners.
Council adopted on 6 April 2009 the climate-energy legislative package containing measures to fight climate change and promote renewable energy. This package is designed to achieve the EU's overall environmental target of a 20 % reduction in greenhouse gases and a 20 % share of renewable energy in the EU's total energy consumption by 2020.The climate action and renewable energy (CARE) package includes the following main policy documents:
Regulation (EC) no 443/2009 of the European parliament and of the Council setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the community’s integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles
Directive 2006/12/EC on waste requires all EU Member States to take the necessary measures to ensure that waste is treated and disposed of correctly, sets targets for re-use and recycling, and requires Member States to draw up binding national programmes for waste prevention.
Second Strategic Energy Review; COM(2008) 781 final
Strategic review on short, medium and long term targets on EU energy security.
The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan; COM(2007) 723
Focuses on bringing new renewable energy technologies to market competitiveness.
The 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 20% reduction in gross inland energy consumption. Member States are requested to set indicative targets. It is up to the Member states whether they base their targets on gross inland 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.
The 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 20% share of renewable energy in final energy consumption. This indicator does not directly monitor progress towards these targets but it provides a quick snap-shot of the situation in Europe on these issues.
The Sankey diagram shows the key energy flows (in Mtoe) for the EU27 based on 2010 Eurostat data (Figure 1). The left side of the diagram shows the gross inland consumption with the net amount of energy imported compared with what is produced indigenously. The diagram then shows energy conversion of primary energy to secondary energies; heat, electricity and manufactured fuels, through transformation plants (power stations, district heating, CHPs, 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 EU27 energy users (including: industry, transport, domestic, other final consumers and non-energy use). Note that renewables in transport for ENER 36 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 incurred before energy reaches the final consumer due to distribution losses and use in the energy sector. The Sankey diagram is useful in capturing 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 waste heat not utillised. 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 purposes 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 own use in energy industry and distribution losses are shown in a single flow in Figure 1).
The Sankey diagram has been prepared using the 2010 data available from Eurostat (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/). The majority of the figures have been extracted from the Eurostat Energy Balances Sheets 2009 - 2010 (available from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-EN-12-001/EN/KS-EN-12-001-EN.PDF). Where data was not available in the balance sheet, data extracted from Eurostat (6th July 2012) are used. These are indicated with asterisks. The primary input fuels have been split into three main fossil fuel types, gases [nrg_103a, product code: 4000], solid fuels [nrg_101a, product code: 2000] and total petroleum products [nrg_101a, product code: 3000]. Total petroleum products has been split further into Crude oil, feedstocks and other hydrocarbons [product code: 3100], and All petroleum products [product code: 3200]. End-user consumption of manufactured fuels, produced from other transformation, has also been split from fossil fuels (Derived gases [product code: 4200], Coke [product code: 2120] and Brown coal briquettes [produce code: 2230]). Manufactured fuels which are then consequently consumed by another transformation step (e.g. CHPs) are not separated from the main fossil fuel categories. c
1. Supply
For each of the fossil fuel, the supply consists of:
The overall fuel supply for each fuel is then also affected by:
The following are subtracted away from overall supply:
2. Consumption
The final consumers are split into the following:
3. Transformation input
There are five transformations included in the diagram. The inputs in the following five transformations are:
A. CHP's
Input into CHPs is = ∑ Transformation input into CHPs (gas, solid fuels, all petroleum products, renewables)
where:
Gas, solid fuels and total petroleum products (for each fuel type)* = Transformation input in Autoproducer CHP Plants [B_101035 ] + Transformation input in Main Activity Producer CHP Plants [B_101032]
Renewables* = Biofuels [Transformation input in Autoproducer CHP Plants, nrg_1073a, B_101035, product code: 5545] + Biofuels [Transformation input in Main Activity Producer CHP Plants, nrg_1073a, B_101032, product code: 5545] + Renewable energies [Transformation input in Autoproducer CHP Plants, nrg_1071a, B_101035, product code: 5500] + Renewable energies [Transformation input in Main Activity Producer CHP Plants, nrg_1071a, B_101032, product code: 5500]
B. Power stations
Input into power stations is = ∑ transformation input into power stations (gas, solid fuels, total petroleum products, nuclear, renewables) - ∑ transformation input into CHPs (gas, solid fuels, all petroleum products, renewables)
Where transformation input into power stations (see point a. for transformation input into CHPs):
Gas, solid fuels and total petroleum products (for each fuel type) = Transformation input Conventional Thermal Power Stations [B_101001] - ∑ Transformation input into CHPs (gas, solid fuels and all petroleum products)
Nuclear = Transformation input [nrg_104a, B_101000, product code: 5100]
Renewables* = Biofuels [Transformation input - Conventional Thermal Power Stations, nrg_1073a, B_101001, product code: 5545] + Renewable energies [Transformation input - Conventional Thermal Power Stations, nrg_1071a, B_101001, product code: 5500] + Hydropower + Wind power + Solar photovoltaic + Tide, wave and ocean [Primary production, nrg_1072a, B_100100, product code: 5510, 5520, 5234 and 5535] - ∑ Transformation input into CHPs (renewables)
C: District Heating
Input into district heating plants = ∑ transformation input into district heating (gas, solid fuels, all petroleum products, renewables)
Where:
Gas, solid, total petroleum products (for each fuel type) = Transformation input - District heating plants [B_101009]
Renewables* = Biofuels [Transformation input - District heating plants, nrg_1073a, B_101009, product code: 5545] + Renewable energies [Transformation input - District heating plants, nrg_1071a, B_101009, product code: 5500]
D. Refineries
Input into refineries = Net crude oil import + indigenous production of crude oil – direct use + stock change + recovered products + Exchanges and transfers, returns
Where:
Net crude oil import = Imports [B_100300] - Exports [B_100500]
Indigenous production = Primary production [B_100100]
Direct use = Direct use [B_100112]
Stock change = Stock change [B_100400]
Recovered products = From other sources [B_100200]
Exchanges and transfers, returns = Exchanges, Transfers, Returns [B_101200]
The above are all of crude oil, feedstocks and other hydrocarbons, nrg_102a, product code: 3100.
E. Other transformation plants
Input into other transformation plants = ∑ transformation input into other transformation (gas, solid fuels, all petroleum products)
Where:
Gas, solid, total petroleum products (for each fuel type) = Transformation input into Briquetting plants [B_101011] + Transformation input in Coke-oven plants [B_101004] + Transformation input in Blast-furnace plants [B_101006] + Transformation input in gas works [B_101007]
4. Transformation output
The outputs from the above five transformations are calculated as follows:
A. CHP's
Output from CHPs = ∑ transformation output from CHPs (heat, electricity)
Where:
Heat = ∑ Eurostat indic_nrg_codes below from table: nrg_106a, product code: 5200
Electricity = ∑ Eurostat codes below from table: nrg_105a, product code: 6000
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Heat (nrg_106a, product code: 5200) |
Electricity (nrg_105a, product code: 6000) |
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INDIC_NRG NAME |
INDIC_NRG CODE |
INDIC_NRG NAME |
INDIC_NRG CODE |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Geothermal |
15_107064 |
Gross electricity generation Main activity CHP plants - Nuclear |
15_107031 |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Combustible Fuels |
15_107072 |
Gross electricity generation Autoproducer CHP plants - Nuclear |
15_107033 |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Heat Pumps |
15_107076 |
Gross electricity generation Autoproducer CHP plants - Geothermal |
15_107041 |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Electric Boilers |
15_107080 |
Gross electricity generation Autoproducer CHP plants - Combustible Fuels |
15_107051 |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Other Sources |
15_107086 |
Gross electricity generation Autoproducer CHP plants - Heat from Chemical Sources |
15_107053 |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Solar Thermal |
14_1070681 |
Gross electricity generation Autoproducer CHP plants - Other Sources |
15_107057 |
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Gross heat production Main activity CHP plants - Nuclear |
15_107060 |
Gross electricity generation Main activity CHP plants - Geothermal |
15_107039 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Nuclear |
15_107062 |
Gross electricity generation Main activity CHP plants - Combustible Fuels |
15_107049 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Geothermal |
15_107066 |
Gross electricity generation Main activity CHP plants - Other Sources |
15_107055 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Combustible Fuels |
15_107074 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Heat Pumps |
15_107078 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Electric Boilers |
15_107082 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Heat from Chemical Sources |
15_107084 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Other Sources |
15_107088 |
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Gross heat production Autoproducer CHP plants - Solar Thermal |
14_1070701 |
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B. Power stations
Output from power stations = ∑ Transformation output from power stations (heat, electricity) - ∑ Transformation output from CHPs (heat, electricity)
Where:
Transformation output power stations = Transformation output - Nuclear Power Stations [nrg_105a and nrg_106a, B_101102, product code: 6000 (electricity) and 5200 (heat)] + Transformation output - Main Activity Conventional Thermal Power Stations [nrg_105a and nrg_106a, B_101121, product code: 6000 (electricity) and 5200 (heat)] + Transformation output - Autoproducer Conventional Thermal Power Stations [nrg_105a and nrg_106a, B_101122, product code: 6000 (electricity) and 5200 (heat)]
See point a. for definition of transformation output from CHPs.
C. District Heating
Output from district heating plants = Transformation output from district heating [nrg_106a, B_101109, product code: 5200 (heat)]
D. Refineries
Output from refineries = Transformation output from refineries [nrg_102a, B_101108, product code: 3200 (All petroleum products)] + Exchanges and transfers, returns [nrg_102a, B_101200, product code: 3200 (All petroleum products)]
The amount of all petroleum products available for consumption also includes net import of all petroleum products.
E. Other transformation plants
Output from other transformation plants = ∑ transformation output from other transformation (Derived gases, Coke, Brown coal briquettes)
Where:
Derived gas, Coke, Brown coal briquettes[1] (for each fuel type) = Transformation output from Briquetting plants [B_101111] + Transformation output from Coke-oven plants [B_101104] + Transformation output from Blast-furnace plants [B_101106] + Transformation output from gas works [B_101107]
5. Conversion losses
Conversion losses for transformation plants = transformation input – transformation output
6. Secondary energy
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 consumers categories (point 2.) in the same way as primary energy inputs are, and supply of secondary energies are also affected in the same way as primary energy inputs (point 1.). Note that the transformation output of manufactured fuels from other transformation 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. CHPs) which is not captured in the Sankey diagram. Manufactured fuels consumed by another transformation plant after the fuel transformation are included as part of the input of gas, solid fuels, all petroleum products into these transformation plants. As a result the input and the output from the other transformation plants box do not balance.
Geographical coverage
EU-27 plus Norway, Turkey, Croatia. The Agency had 32 member countries at the time of writing of this fact sheet. These are the 27 European Union Member States and Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Where Eurostat data was not available, the data is not included in this indicator.
Temporal coverage
1990–2010
Methodology and frequency of data collection
Data collected annually.
Eurostat definitions for energy statistics http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/coded/info/data/coded/en/Theme9.htm
Eurostat metadata for energy statistics http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_SDDS/EN/nrg_base.htm
Eurostat definitions for energy statistics http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_SDDS/en/nrg_quant_esms.htm
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-27, these data are compiled by EEA in the European greenhouse gas inventory report: http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-union-greenhouse-gas-inventory-2012
Methodology of data manipulation
The coding (used in the Eurostat New Cronos database) and specific components of the indicators are:
Figure 1 – Energy flow in the EU27 in 2010: Methodology and assumptions used for Sankey diagram found earlier in this specification.
Figure 2 - EU27 net imports by fuel: The coding (used in the Eurostat New Cronos database) and specific components of the indicator are:
Numerator
[Imports - solid fuels – 2000] + [Imports - oil - 3000] + [Imports - gas - 4000] minus Exports (excluding EU-27 countries) for same fuel
Denominator:
Gross inland energy consumption (GIEC) 100900 (tonnes of oil equivalent). 0000 All products.
For the separate product indicators the numerators/denominators are, respectively: solid fuels, crude oil and petroleum products and gas
[1]For brown coal briquettes the Eurostat Energy Balances Sheets 2009 – 2010 does provide a breakdown of transformation output. It is assumed that all transformation output = other transformation output.
No gap filling methodology was applied for this indicator.
No methodology references available.
Data have been traditionally compiled by Eurostat through the annual Joint Questionnaires, 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 in Eurostat's web page for metadata on energy statistics. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_SDDS/EN/nrg_quant_sm1.htm See also information related to the Energy Statistics Regulation http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5431232
CO2 emissions data is officially reported following agreed procedures. e.g. regarding 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 importers'/exporters’ declarations; accordingly, they may differ from the data collected by the customs authorities and those included in the 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:
(i) destined for treatment on behalf of foreign countries;
(ii) only imported on a temporary basis;
(iii) imported and deposited in uncleared bonded warehouses;
(iv) imported and placed in special warehouses on behalf of foreign countries;
(v) imported from regions and/or territories overseas under national sovereignty.
Simlarly, for exports those quantities:
(i) destined for treatment in other countries;
(ii) only exported on a temporary basis;
(iii) exported and deposited in uncleared bonded warehouses;
(iv) exported and placed in special warehouses in foreign countries;
(v) exported to regions and/or territories overseas under national sovereignity;
(vi) re-exported after treatment or transformation;
(vii) supplied to national or foreign troops stationed abroad (in so far as secrecy permits this).
The efficiency of electricity production is calculated as the ratio of electricity output to the total fuel input. However, the input to conventional thermal power plants cannot be disaggregated into separate input for heat and input 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 refers 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 the wider context. Absolute (as opposed to relative) volumes of energy consumption for each fuel are the key to understanding the 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-27 Implied Emission Factors (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 GHG emission trends are likely to be more accurate than the absolute emission estimates for individual years. The IPCC suggests that the uncertainty in total GHG emission trends is ± 4% to 5%. Uncertainty estimates were calculated for the EU-15 for the first time in 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 specifically, 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 thus be interpreted with care.
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 or scan the QR code.
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