BERLIN, October 19 (Xinhua) – The use of renewable energy has increased in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU) in recent years, the German Federal Bureau of Statistics (Destatis) said on Tuesday.
The average share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption in the EU increased from 13.9 percent to 19.7 percent between 2009 and 2019, according to figures published by Destatis.
Northern European countries were “pioneers in transforming energy systems”, stated Destatis. In 2019, Sweden covered 56.4 percent of its total final energy consumption from renewable sources, the highest in the EU.
A high proportion of renewable energy was also noted in Finland with 43.1 percent, Latvia with 41.0 percent and Denmark with 37.2 percent, according to Destatis.
In Germany, the share increased from 10.9 percent to 17.4 percent during the period, according to Destatis. In other EU countries such as Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands, the figures were relatively low.
The EU is trying to become climate neutral by 2050. To achieve this, the Union’s annual greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
Following a recent ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court, the government presented an amended climate protection law in 2021 at the end of August, with the aim of already achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045.