Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union has just released the latest figures that highlight the development of renewable energy sources in energy consumption in the EU27 and the member states for 2011.
The new figures show that renewable energy covered 13% of the European Union’s energy consumption in 2011.
Going back to 2004, the results showed that renewable energy covered just 7.9% of the European Union’s energy demand at that time. A significant increase was reported by 2010, where it had risen to 12.1% and the latest report for 2011 shows that renewable energy covered 13%.
As the authority states, the share of renewable energy in the gross final energy consumption is one of the key indicators of Europe’s 2020 strategy, which aims to generate 20% of its energy from renewables by 2020.
According to the current figures, almost all EU member states increased their share of renewable energy between 2010 and 2011.
While some remained stable between 2010 and 2011, such as Luxembourg with 2.9%, there were a few that saw slight declines in their renewable energy (Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden).
Even though Sweden showed a loss, it still held the highest share of renewable energy generation, with 46.8%. The Scandinavian country was followed by Latvia (33.1%), Finland (31.8%), and Austria (30.9%). Meanwhile, the lowest levels were observed in Malta (0.4%), Luxembourg (2.9%), the UK (3.8%), Belgium (4.1%), and the Netherlands (4.3%).
Norway (if it was actually part of the EU) would have held the highest share with 64.7% renewable energy generation and deserves an honorable mention for its achievement.
The overall results from the period of 2004 to 2011 are that all member states have increased their renewable energy consumption considerably.
The biggest increases during this period were recorded in Sweden (from 38.3% to 46.8%), Denmark (from 14.9% to 23.1%), Austria (from 22.8% to 30.9%), Germany (from 4.8% to 12.3%), and Estonia (from 18.4% to 25.9%).
