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Indicator Assessment
Between 1990 and 2007, annual transport energy consumption in the EEA member countries showed continual growth (38%). However, with the onset of the recession this trend reversed. Between 2007 and 2011, total energy demand in the transport sector declined by 6.5 %. The extrapolation for the year 2012 is based on the most recent estimates for a limited range of fuels. It suggests that the downward trend in transport energy consumption has continued through the year 2012 with a further 5% drop in energy consumption.
The shipping sector saw the greatest decline in energy consumption during the recession; bunkers dropped by 10 % between 2008 and 2009 alone. Energy use for aviation, rail transport and domestic navigation each fell by around 8% in 2011 compared to 2007. Road transport represents the largest energy consumer, accounting for 73 % of total demand in 2011. The road transport sector experienced a 5% drop in energy consumption between 2007 and 2011 – a slightly lower decline than the other sectors. However, despite recent changes, total transport energy consumption in 2011 was still almost 30% higher than in 1990. The amount of road diesel fuel compared to gasoline has also kept increasing and reached 70% in 2012.
Total growth
Energy consumption from transport in 2011 was almost 30% higher than in 1990. Energy efficiency has improved during this period – for example, the energy efficiency of the average new passenger car in Europe improved by over 20% in the past decade. However the effects of these efficiency improvements have been offset by an overall increase in transport demand (see TERM012 and 013). Longer term projections for the region foresee that economic recovery will lead to renewed growth in transport energy consumption to at least 2020 (albeit at a lesser rate than in the previous decade, as policies designed to reduce transport energy use begin to take effect). Though this period, transport demand is expected to grow faster than energy consumption, in other words the energy intensity of transport will decrease.
Split of energy consumption between old and new EU Member States
The EEA-33 countries[1] consumed approximately 18 million TJ providing energy for transport in 2011. The vast majority, 84%, is consumed by the original EU-15 Member States, with 11% consumed by the new EU-13 Member States (i.e. with Croatia joining the EU in July 2013) and the remaining 5% by other EEA countries.
Overall trends in transport energy consumption
Transport energy consumption went up by 68% in the 13 new EU Member States since 1990. Only three Member States consumed less transport energy in 2011 compared to 1990: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Three have more than doubled their energy consumption over the same period: the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia. Malta has recorded a five-fold increase in its transport energy consumption almost solely through increases in shipping activity (bunker fuels).
Until the first effects of the recession appeared in 2008, transport energy consumption in the 15 original EU Member States had shown steady growth since 1990. In 2011, all of the EU-15 Member States experienced a continuation of the reduction in transport energy consumption compared to the peak in 2007. However, total energy consumption in the EU-15 is still nearly 30% higher than it was in 1990.
Sectoral trends
Road transport energy consumption over the period has increased by 83 % in the new EU-13 Member States and by 20 % in the original EU-15.
Aviation shows the strongest growth in energy consumption of all modes since 1990. In the EEA-33 aviation energy consumption grew by 84% between 1990 and 2008. Between 2008 and 2011 energy consumption in aviation fell by 10%.
The low share of rail energy consumption is partly due to a relatively small modal share, but also because in most situations rail transport is less energy-intensive than other modes. Rail was the only mode which recorded an absolute decrease in energy consumption between 1990 and 2011.
Countries registering the highest share of international transport are located in key corridors within the European market. In the Baltic States of Latvia and Estonia, situated at the border between Europe and Russia, international transport accounted for 91 % and 89 % respectively of the total transport in 2010. For those in the periphery such as the UK and Turkey, the share is much lower, 2 % and 9 % respectively.
The energy consumption from inland water transport for the whole of the EU has remained fairly constant during the 1990s and 2000s. The sector experienced a resurgence in activity up until the recent recession, most notably in the EU-15, with energy consumption in 2007 up 12 % on the 1990 level in the EEA member countries.
Across the EEA member countries energy consumption in maritime transport grew by 53 % between 1990 and 2007. Between 2007 and 2011 it dropped by 11%. The countries with the highest maritime transport energy use are the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
Besides the overall trend, there are considerable variations between countries, although road transport in nearly all cases dominates energy consumption. Differences are likely due to geographical and topographical constraints such as settlement and transport patterns, as well as economic development.
However, there is still a lack of statistics available for the share of energy between different transport activities in particular modes (particularly for road transport). While the use of gasoline, aviation kerosene or road diesel is known, modelling estimates are still needed to discern the proportion of energy used in urban transport, for example, or the amounts of diesel road that has been used for passenger and freight transport. Therefore, there is still a need to get a better understanding of the share of road fuel consumption and CO2 due to different transport activities.
Policy
Additional policies that reduce the demand for transport, encourage modal shift towards more environmentally-friendly modes, improve transport management and enhance vehicles’ energy efficiency are required in order to meet targets set by the Kyoto protocol and the 2020 climate and energy package. Policies that focus only on the efficiency of vehicles will not be sufficient to overcome the dependency on road transport, as they may reduce the cost of transport movements, hence causing increased demand, via the so-called rebound effect.
[1] Excluding Liechtenstein – no data available.
This indicator considers total energy consumption in transport in PJ from 1990 onwards. The transport modes included are bunkers (sea transport), air transport (domestic and international), inland navigation, rail transport and road transport.
In this indicator, transport energy consumption is measured in terajoules (1 TJ = 1012 joules).
Reductions in fuel consumption in the transport sector, and/or reductions of related impacts, may be achieved via three primary means:
Although climate policy and the Kyoto Protocol are important drivers of reducing fossil fuel consumption (and air quality policy to a lesser extent), this indicator is primarily concerned with energy policy. Other related issues are addressed in TERM002 (Greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Europe), TERM003 (Emissions of air pollutants from transport) and TERM031 (Use of renewable fuels in transport in Europe).
The EU has set itself the following targets:
If the 2030 policy framework, proposed in January 2014, is accepted, these targets will be built upon. Additional targets — which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 % by 2030 and increase the proportion of energy that is renewable by at least 27 %, also by 2030 — will be set. Improvements in energy efficiency are still encouraged (as part of the '20-20-20' target to increase energy efficiency by 20 % by 2020), but no new target has been proposed (EC, 2014).
Two key documents published by the European Commission in 2011 outline possible strategies for the transport sector, which are compatible with the 2050 target. These are the Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050 (EC, 2011) and the third decennial Transport White Paper, Roadmap to a single European transport area — Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system (EC, 2011).
The impact assessment that accompanied the 2011 Transport White Paper (EC, 2011) suggests that a 70 % reduction in oil consumption in transport from 2008 levels should be achieved by 2050.
Energy statistics for transport are collected from Member States and collated by Eurostat. To assess whether total energy consumption in transport is growing, time series data for energy consumed were obtained from Eurostat. Data for various fuels were downloaded for bunker (sea), air (domestic and international), inland navigation, road and rail transport. Data for bunkers cover the quantities of fuel delivered to sea-going vessels of all countries. Data for inland and coastal waters are not included in bunker (sea) data. Data for air transport cover quantities of fuel consumed in national and international air traffic. Data on the energy consumed by electric and diesel trains are included within rail data.
Since Eurostat data are used to process statistics, the Eurostat methodology should be referred to for data collection and specification (see Eurostat, ITF and UNECE, 2009).
No methodology for gap filling is applied for this indicator.
No methodology references available.
Data trends within individual countries are difficult to ascertain, as energy consumption data often show unexpected variability from year to year. Energy consumption is calculated based on fuel sales and a common questionnaire is used to report it.
National data vary significantly from country to country and depending on the fuel type and production/consumption sector. The most reliable data come from the EU-15 countries. However, oil pipeline data are lacking for the majority of countries, making them less reliable. Occasionally, data used in older time series may change because of revisions in the methodology used. Such changes have resulted in small alterations, of a few per cent.
For the EU-13, data are generally much less reliable. Gaps are frequent, as are conspicuous jumps in consumption (e.g. doubling or more).
No uncertainty has been specified.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/transport-final-energy-consumption-by-mode/assessment-3 or scan the QR code.
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