EU energy use falls to 20-year low

The amount of energy used in the European Union has fallen to its lowest levels since the early 1990s. Latest statistics from the European Commission reveal gross inland energy use […]

The amount of energy used in the European Union has fallen to its lowest levels since the early 1990s.

Latest statistics from the European Commission reveal gross inland energy use – i.e. energy production and imports minus exports – reached 1,666 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2013.

The last time such a low level was recorded was in 1995, it said.

The figure is a 9.1% fall compared to the energy consumption peak in 2006, when the EU used the equivalent of 1,832 million tonnes of oil.

11th FEB - Gross inland energy consumption

Across the bloc, nuclear energy accounted for the largest share of EU domestic production at 29%. Renewables contributed almost a quarter of the energy generated in the EU, followed by solid fuels, gas and oil, which contributed 20%, 17% and 9%.

Despite the fall in energy use and an increase in renewables, the EU was dependent on imports for around 53% of consumption in 2013.

Among the five Member States using the most energy, the least dependent on energy imports were the UK (46.4%) and France (47.9%) in contrast to Germany (62.7%), Spain (70.5%) and Italy 76.9%).

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