Renewable energy powered 24.8% of the heating and cooling requirements of the European Union in 2022, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous year (23.0%), new data from Eurostat has found.
Heating and cooling takes up around half of the bloc’s total gross energy consumption, with the share of renewables increasing in recent years largely due to the contribution from biomass and heat pumps, Eurostat said.
Renewable energy
Over the past ten years, the percentage share of energy from renewables for heating and cooling has risen from 18.6% to 24.8%, a rise of 6.2 percentage points, however more effort is needed if the EU is set to meet the targets outlined by EU Directive 2023/2413, on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RED III).
The directive, which was passed in October 2023, requires Member States to increase their annual average share of renewables in heating and cooling by at least 0.8 percentage points from 2021 to 2025 and by at least 1.1 percentage points from 2026 to 2030.
Sweden leads the way
On a country-by-country basis, Sweden led the way in terms of the use of renewable energy to power heating and cooling, with 69.3%, with biomass and heat pumps largely responsible.
A similarly high share was reported in Estonia (65.4%), again due to biomass and heat pumps, while in Latvia (61.0%), energy is largely provided by biomass.
The lowest share of renewable energy for heating and cooling was recorded in Ireland (6.3%), with the Netherlands (8.6%) and Belgium (10.4%) also showing low percentages.
Compared with 2021, the largest increases were recorded by Malta (+5.2 percentage points), Luxembourg (+2.5 percentage points), and Ireland (+1.4 percentage points).
At the same time, decreases were registered in Austria (-2.4 percentage points), Slovenia (-1.2 percentage points), and Cyprus (-1.0 percentage points).
🌞In 2022, in the EU, the share of energy from #renewables in heating and cooling reached 24.8%
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) February 27, 2024
Highest shares:
🇸🇪Sweden (69.3%)
🇪🇪Estonia (65.4%)
🇱🇻Latvia (61.0%)
Lowest shares:
🇮🇪Ireland (6.3%)
🇳🇱the Netherlands (8.6%)
🇧🇪Belgium (10.4%)
Learn more👉https://t.co/127iiDaSo1 pic.twitter.com/9j0JxWWHow
Looking to navigate the unpredictability of climate change? Read www.sustainabilityonline.net to keep up to date.
