In 2016, primary energy consumption in the EU had moved away from the 4% objective that the EU28 had set itself as a contribution for improving energy efficiency by 20% by 2020. In addition, final energy consumption was 2% away from the target, according to figures published by the European statistics office, Eurostat, on Monday 5 February.
When setting the goal of achieving 20% energy efficiency by 2020, the EU undertook to maintain its primary energy consumption below 1.483 billion tonnes oil equivalent (Btoe), and its final energy consumption below 1.086 Btoe in 2020.
Since 1990, the first year for which data is available, primary energy consumption in the EU has fallen by 1.7% but, over the years, the gap compared to the primary energy consumption target has fluctuated greatly, peaking in 2006 (consumption of 1.723 Btoe and a gap of 16.2%) with a historically low level in 2014 (consumption 1.509 Btoe and a gap of 1.7%).
The difference, however, began to grow in 2015 and again in 2016 to reach 4% above the target set for 2020, with consumption of 1.543 Btoe.
Final energy consumption in the EU, for its part, increased by 2.1% between 1990 (1.085 Btoe) and 2016 (1.108 Btoe) with the lowest level recorded in 2014 (consumption 1.063 Btoe and a gap of 2.1% below target) and the highest level in 2006 (consumption 1.194 Btoe and a gap of 10% above target).
In 2015, the EU had reached the energy efficiency target of 1.086 Btoe but, in 2016, consumption again rose above target (consumption of 1.108 Btoe and a gap of 2%).
Gross domestic energy consumption in the EU, which reflects the quantity of energy required to meet all domestic consumption, rose to 1.641 Btoe in 2016, down 10.8% compared with the record level of 1.840 Btoe registered in 2006 but up 6.1% compared with the level of the decade 1996-2006.
While 19 member states saw their domestic energy use rise between 1996 and 2006, there were no more than two in the decade 2006-2016: Estonia (+13%) and Poland (+3.2%).
The largest falls in consumption of energy over the last decade have been notched up in Greece (-23.6%), Malta (-22.5%) and Romania (-20.2%). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)