Wednesday 12 March 2014
Electricity generated from renewable sources contributed to around 14.1% of final energy consumption in 2012 in the European Union.
That’s in comparison to only 8.3% in 2004, according to figures released by Eurostat – the statistical office of the EU.
The largest increases in the share of renewables between 2004 and 2012 were recorded in Sweden (from 38.7% to 51%), Denmark (14.5% to 26%) and Austria (22.7% to 32.1%).
The highest shares of renewable energy in final electricity usage in 2012 were found in Sweden (51%), Latvia (35.8%) and Finland (34.3%). On the other end was Luxembourg and Malta, with the latter only logging a 1.4% use of renewables in overall consumption while the UK’s energy usage from renewables stood at 4.2% in 2012.
Renewable energy sources covered solar, hydro, including tidal, wave and coastal energy, wind, geothermal and biomass.
Estonia was the first member state to reach its 2020 target (25%) in 2011 and by 2012 Bulgaria (16%) and Sweden (49%) also joined the list.
A report released last month revealed nuclear energy accounted for the largest share (29%) of domestic energy generating capacity in the EU in 2012.