EU’s energy consumption fell below its 1990 level

Energy consumption in the European Union in 2015 was below its 1990 level the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat announced on 20 February.

EU dependency on imports of fossil fuel imports however is rising. Netherlands gas use in 2015 meanwhile fell below its 1990 level.

Gross inland EU energy consumption was 1,626mn metric tons of oil equivalent (mn mt oe), 2.5 percent less than in 1990 and 11.6 percent less than the peak of almost 1,840mn mt oe in 2006.

However fossil fuel continued to represent by far the largest source of energy, at nearly three-quarters of EU energy consumption in 2015, although down from 83 percent in 1990 to 73 percent in 2015. However, over this period, EU dependency on imports of fossils fuels has increased, with 73 percent of fossil fuels imported in 2015 compared with only 53 percent in 1990. (MTI)