EU Transport Had 1.2% Fewer Shares of Renewable Sources in 2021, Eurostat Reveals

According to a press release by the authority, the share of renewable sources in the EU has dropped to 9.1 per cent – 1.2 percentage points less than in 2020, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Furthermore, this result means there is more to be done in order to meet the 14-percentage points goal currently set for 2030 by the EU directive for the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. As the data show, in 2021, the EU was 4.9 percentage points below the 2030 target and 0.9 below the 2020 target.

“Despite an increase in the use of renewable energy in transport in absolute terms compared with 2020, the decrease in the share is linked to both the increase in transport activities due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and to the change of methodology. Please see the methodological notes for a more detailed explanation,” Eurostat explains.

Countries with the highest share of renewable sources in transport are the Scandinavian and Nordic countries, with Sweden leading the way (30.4 per cent), followed by Finland and Norway, which had nearly 20 per cent shares of energy from renewable sources in transport throughout 2021.

While Scandinavian countries recorded the highest shares, the lowest ones were registered in Ireland and Greece (both 4.3 per cent), Poland (5.7 per cent), Latvia (6.4 per cent) and Lithuania (6.5 per cent).

The largest decreases from 2020 to 2021 were recorded in Ireland, with 5.9 percentage points, Hungary (5.4 percentage points) and Luxembourg (4.6 percentage points).

Finland and Lithuania recorded increases in the share of energy from renewable sources in 2021, about 6.2 and one percentage point, respectively, in addition to other countries that are also recording similar rates such as Denmark (0.8 percentage points), Croatia (0.4 percentage points) and Malta, who managed to maintain the same results as in the previous year. The remaining countries, all recorded decreases in the average share of energy from renewable sources in transport compared to the preceding year.

In general, the EU had a good performance in terms of reaching targets for renewable energy used in transport throughout 2020. As AtoZSerwisPlus.com previously reported, the EU met its expectations on the matter in 2020 and the share of renewable energy used in transport reached ten per cent.