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Over the period 1990-2016, the energy efficiency of end-use sectors improved by 30 % in the EU-28 countries at an annual average rate of 1.4 %/year. These improvements were driven by improvements in the industry sector (1.8 %/year) and the households sector (1.6 %/year). However, half of the efficiency gains achieved through technological innovation in the household sector were offset by the increasing number of electrical appliances and by larger homes. The rates of improvement were lower in the transport sector (0.9 %/year) and services sector (1.1 %/year).
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The EU's final energy intensity decreased by 17.5 % between 2005 and 2016, at a rate of 1.7 % per year. Final energy consumption decreased at a rate of 0.7 % a year while gross domestic product grew by 1.1 % annually over the same period. This indicates a decoupling of final energy consumption from economic growth in the EU. During that period, final energy intensity decreased most in the industry sector (2.3 % per year), followed by the services or tertiary sector (1.6 % per year), the agriculture sector (1.7 % per year), the transport sector (1.1 % per year) and the households sector (1.0 % per year). Since 1990, total final energy intensity has decreased by 33.4 %, at a rate of 1.5 % per year, in the EU. The final energy intensity trend varied among non-EU European Environment Agency countries. Between 2005 and 2016, total final energy intensity decreased by 11.8 % in Norway and by 10.3 % in Turkey, and increased by 25.7 % in Iceland. The large increase in Iceland was mainly due to the recent growth in relatively energy inefficient geothermal energy sources.
Between 2005 and 2016, final energy consumption decreased by 7.1% (0.7% annually) in the EU28. Final energy consumption decreased in all sectors, particularly in industry and households (16.4 %, and 8.0% respectively) but also in transport (0.5%). In the services sector the final energy consumption increased (3.8%). The overall decrease in final energy consumption since 2005 was influenced by economic performance, structural changes in various end-use sectors, in particular industry, improvements in end-use efficiency and lower heat consumption due to favorable climatic conditions particularly in 2011 and 2014. Between 2015 and 2016, the final energy consumption in the EU28 increased by 2% above its 2020 target. Preliminary data for 2017 suggest that the final energy consumption since 2005 decreased by 6.1% in the EU28 (0.5% annually), and increased between 2016 and 2017 by 1.1%. Between 1990 and 2016 the final energy consumption increased by 2.1% in the EU28 and by 7.5% in the EEA countries. In the EEA countries final energy consumption decreased by 3.9% (0.4% annually) between 2005 and 2016. The largest contributor of this decrease was the industry (15.7%) and the household sector (11.6%). On average, each person in the EEA countries used 2.0 tonnes of oil equivalent to meet their energy needs in 2016.
In 2016, primary energy consumption in the EU amounted to 1 543 million tonnes of oil equivalent, 4.0 % above the 2020 target. Between 2005 and 2016, primary energy consumption in the EU decreased by 10 %. This was due to energy efficiency improvements, an increase in the share of renewable energy sources (hydro, wind and solar photovoltaic power) in total energy consumption, the economic recession and climate changes. Based on the European Environment Agency's preliminary estimates, in 2017 primary energy consumption was 1 563 million tonnes of oil equivalent in the EU. This represents a 1.3 % increase compared with 2016. Fossil fuels (including non-renewable waste) continued to dominate primary energy consumption in the EU, but their share declined from 78 % in 2005 to 72 % in 2016. The share of renewable energy sources almost doubled over the same period, from 7 % in 2005 to 14 % in 2016, increasing at an average annual rate of 5.4 % per year between 2005 and 2016. The share of nuclear energy in primary energy consumption decreased slightly, from 15 % in 2005 to 14 % in 2016. The EU’s dependence on imports of fossil fuels (gas, solid fuels and oil) from non-EU countries slightly increased, from 52 % in 2005 to 54 % in 2016, expressed as a share of total gross inland energy consumption plus bunkers. In 2016, oil represented 59 % of total net imports, gas 30 % and solid fuels 11 %.
Between 2005 and 2016, the efficiency of public conventional thermal power plants in the EU increased from 47 % to almost 50 %. The efficiency of electricity and heat production from autoproducer conventional thermal power plants stabilised at around 57 % in the period 2007-2016. This followed a 5 percentage point decrease in the 2 years before.
In 2016, low-carbon energy sources (i.e. renewables and nuclear energy) continued to dominate the electricity mix for the second year in a row, together generating more power than fossil fuel sources. Fossil fuels (i.e. coal, natural gas and oil) were responsible for 43 % of all gross electricity generation in 2016, a decrease of 11 percentage points across the EU compared with 2005 (54 %). By way of contrast, the share of electricity generated from renewable sources has grown rapidly since 2005, but the pace of growth has slowed down after 2014. In 2016, renewable electricity reached almost one third (29 %) of all gross electricity generation in the EU. This is twice as much as in 2005. As such, renewable sources generated more electricity in 2016 than nuclear sources or coal and lignite. Nuclear energy sources contributed roughly one quarter (26 %) of all gross electricity generation in 2016. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable fuels, together with improved transformation efficiencies in electricity generation, led to an average annual 2.6 % decrease in CO 2 emissions per kWh between 2005 and 2016. Final electricity consumption (the total consumption of electricity by all end-use sectors plus electricity imports and minus exports) in the EU increased by one percent in 2016 compared with 2015, reaching the same level as in 2005. The sharpest growth was observed in the services sector (1.2 % per year) and the sharpest decline in industry (-1.0 % per year). With regards to the non-EU EEA countries, between 2005 and 2016, electricity generation increased by an average of 4.9 % per year in Turkey, 7.1 % per year in Iceland and 0.7 % per year in Norway.
Between 1990 and 2016, the EU's energy intensity, i.e. the ratio between its gross inland energy consumption and its gross domestic product (GDP), decreased by 36 %. This decrease was continuous during the entire period, with an average annual decrease of 1.7 % per year. The 1990-2005 period is characterised by relatively high economic growth and more moderate growth in gross inland energy consumption. In contrast, the 2005-2014 period is characterised by lower economic growth and decreasing gross inland energy consumption. Gross inland consumption of energy started to increase again after 2014, marking a slow-down in energy intensity improvements. In all member countries of the European Environment Agency (EEA), energy intensity decreased between 2005 and 2016. The largest decreases were observed in central and eastern European countries (e.g. Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia) because of changes in their economic structure, and in Malta.
The share of renewable energy in gross final energy use in the EU has almost doubled since 2005. It reached 17.0 % in 2016 and is expected to have reached 17.4 % in 2017, according to the early estimates from the European Environment Agency (EEA) . These levels are higher than those from the indicative EU trajectory for these years set by the Renewable Energy Directive . The increase in the share of renewable energy sources in final energy consumption has slowed down in recent years. An increasing energy consumption and lack of progress in the transport sector imperil the achievement of both 2020 targets on renewable energy and energy efficiency at EU level. In 2017, according to the EEA's early estimates: progress towards national targets deteriorated across the EU, with 20 Member States (all but Cyprus, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom) meeting or exceeding their indicative targets set under the Renewable Energy Directive, compared with 25 Member States on target in 2016. In addition, only 16 Member States (all except Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) reached or exceeded the trajectories set in their own National Renewable Energy Action Plans, compared with 19 in 2016; 11 countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Romania and Sweden) had already managed to achieve their binding renewable energy share targets for 2020, as set under the Renewable Energy Directive; renewable energy accounted for 30.6 % of gross final electricity consumption, 19.3 % of energy consumption for heating and cooling, and 7.2 % of transport fuel consumption in the whole EU.
The annual energy consumption of transport in the EEA-33 grew by 38 % between 1990 and 2007. However, the economic recession caused a subsequent decline in transport demand leading to a 3 % decrease in the related energy demand between 2007 and 2016. Nevertheless, between 1990 and 2016, there was a 34 % net growth in the energy consumption of transport in the EEA-33. The shipping sector saw the greatest decline in energy consumption during the economic recession; it dropped by 11 % between 2008 and 2009 alone, with a total decrease of 19 % between 2007 and 2016. Total energy use in road and rail transport fell by 1 % and 13 % respectively, while air transport increased by 5 % between 2007 and 2016. Road transport accounts for the largest share of energy consumption, with 74 % of the total EEA-33 demand in 2016. Despite a decrease in energy consumption since the recession, road transport energy consumption in 2016 was still 32 % higher than in 1990. The fraction of diesel used in road transport has continued to increase, amounting to 74 % of total fuel sales in 2016.
Europe aims to have a strong, growing and low-carbon industry with closed material cycles. Currently, industry remains a significant source of pollutant releases to Europe’s environment. Releases of pollutants to air and water by European industry have generally decreased during the last decade. Environmental regulation and improved pollutant abatement technology, among other factors, have led to decreasing pollutant releases to air and water in Europe. Soil contamination in Europe is, among other things, linked to industrial activity. Waste transfers from industrial facilities in the EU have remained relatively stable in the last decade.
Compared with 2016, sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the EU-28 increased by 51 % in 2017, the highest increase since 2008. Nevertheless, BEVs continue to constitute only a very small fraction of new vehicle registrations . Around 224 000 p lug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) were registered in 2017, a 35 % increase compared with 2016. The largest number of registrations was recorded in France (more than 26 110 vehicles), Germany (more than 24 350 vehicles) and the UK (more than 13 580 vehicles). Combined, the relative share of PHEV and BEV sales was highest in Sweden, Belgium and Finland, with shares of 5.5 %, 2.7 % and 2.6 % respectively of national car sales in 2017.
Large combustion plants are responsible for a significant proportion of anthropogenic pollutant emissions. In 2015, large combustion plant emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) accounted for 44 % and 14 %, respectively, of EU-28 totals. Since 2004, emissions from large combustion plants in the EU-28 have decreased by 77 % for SO 2 , 49 % for NO x and 81 % for dust. The largest plants (greater than 500 megawatt thermal (MWth)) account for only 24 % of large combustion plants but are responsible for around 80 % of all large combustion plant SO 2 , NO x and dust emissions. In 2015, of a total of 3 418 large combustion plants, 50 % of all emissions came from just 40, 89 and 47 plants for SO 2 , NO x and dust, respectively. One indicator of the environmental performance of large combustion plants is the ratio between emissions and fuel consumption (i.e. the implied emission factor). The implied emission factors for all three pollutants decreased significantly between 2004 and 2015 for all sizes of large combustion plant.
There are 3 418 large combustion plants in the EU-28. The number of such plants increased by 19 % between 2004 and 2015. Most of this increase occurred between 2004 and 2010, while there was a slight downward trend from 2012 onwards. There was a 10 % increase in installed capacity in the EU-28 between 2004 and 2015. This increase occurred between 2004 and 2012, followed by a downward trend from 2012 onwards. The actual use of this capacity, in terms of fuel input, remained broadly stable between 2004 and 2010, although there was a decrease in 2009 that can largely be attributed to the financial crisis. Since 2010, fuel input has decreased, and in 2015 was 17 % lower than in 2010. From 2004 to 2015, other solid fuels (mainly coal) and natural gas were consistently the main sources of fuel input. The types of fuel consumed most in 2015 were solid fuels (mainly coal; 55 % of total fuel consumption) and natural gas (26 %). Despite this, since 2006 the amount of input from fossil fuels has been decreasing. This reflects the shift in Europe’s energy system away from oil, coal and gas to more renewable sources ( EEA, 2017 ). The installed capacity of large combustion plants in Europe is not equally distributed: Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom accounted for more than half of total fuel input and operating capacity in 2015.
The number of population-weighted heating degree days (HDD) decreased by 8.2 % between the 1951–1980 and 1981–2014 periods; the decrease during the 1981–2014 period was on average 9.9 HDDs per year (0.45 % per year). The largest absolute decrease occurred in northern and north-western Europe. The number of population-weighted cooling degree days (CDD) increased by 49.1 % between the 1951–1980 and 1981–2014 periods; the increase during the period 1981–2014 was on average 1.2 HDDs per year (1.9 % per year). The largest absolute increase occurred in southern Europe. The projected decrease in HDDs as a result of future climate change during the 21st century is somewhat larger than the projected increase in CDDs in absolute terms. However, in economic terms, these two effects are almost equal in Europe, because cooling is generally more expensive than heating. The projected increases in the cooling demand in southern and central Europe may further exacerbate peaks in electricity demand in the summer unless appropriate adaptation measures are taken.
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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/energy/indicators or scan the QR code.
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