Use of renewable energies increases in EU countries

The use of renewable energies increased in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU) in recent years, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

The average share of renewable energies 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 the energy systems," Destatis noted. In 2019, Sweden covered 56.4 percent of its gross final energy consumption from renewable sources, the highest in the EU.

High shares of renewable energy were also recorded 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, figures remained comparatively low.

The EU seeks to become climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this, the union's annual greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 55 percent by 2030 compared to the 1990 levels.

Following a recent ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court, the government submitted an amended climate protection law 2021 in late August with the aim of already achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045.