Europe has already reached 2020 energy consumption target

The European Union reached its 2020 target for final energy consumption six years early, in 2014, when consumption dropped to a level of 1,061mn tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) – 25 Mtoe below the indicative EU target under the European Energy Efficiency Directive of 1,086 Mtoe by 2020.

These findings are presented in a report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), which outlines a steady decline in energy consumption across the EU – from 1,133 Mtoe in 2000 to the 2014 figure. The 72 Mtoe drop is equivalent to the entire energy consumption of Finland in 2014, and comes as a result of both increased efficiency of building appliances and a decline of industrial production in Europe.

The EU is also on track to meet its target for primary energy consumption of 1,483 Mtoe by 2020, says the report. It estimates the EU’s 2014 primary energy consumption at 1,505 Mtoe. Primary energy consumption is a different metric to final consumption – it refers to energy use at the source, without any transformation before it reaches the end user.

The report breaks down energy consumption trends across the EU by four sectors – residential, tertiary (services), transport and industry. Of these sectors, industry saw the largest decline in final energy consumption at -17.6%. The residential sector saw a decrease of 9.5%.

The other two sectors, that together account for a lower proportion of the total use, actually increased their final energy consumption – transport by 2.2% and tertiary by 16.5%. This reflects the move to a more service-based industry in Europe.

Out of all the sectors, transport on its own is the biggest energy consumer, at 33.2% of the EU’s final energy consumption in 2014. Transport final energy consumption in EU member states was at 345 Mtoe in 2000 and increased to 352 Mtoe in 2014 – largely due to a 1.4% growth from 2013 to 2014, after a declining trend from 2007 to 2013. The JRC report puts this down to recovering European economies.

Breaking the transport sector down further, the report finds that road transport represents the main consuming subsector, with energy consumption increasing by 2% over the fourteen year period, while international aviation final consumption increased by 14.8%.

For buildings, the study found that the decline in final consumption was down to the purchase and use of more energy efficient products. Finally, the report says that European industrial final energy use has been falling since 2008, mainly due to a reduced production of iron and steel in Europe. That subsector saw a 24% drop in final energy consumption between 2000 and 2014.

The report’s findings mirror recent figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA) that indicate that the EU also reached its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target in 2014 (see the September 2015 issue of Energy World). The EEA figures put emissions at 24% below 1990 levels in 2014, 4% below the 2020 target.

The EU is reportedly deciding whether to increase the ambition of its 2030 energy efficiency target, which is currently set at a 27% cut on business as usual by 2030.