Introduction
The energy strategy of the European Union (UE) is based on several key goals and principles aimed at ensuring a secure, sustainable, and competitive energy supply for all member countries. Some of the fundamental elements are: transition to clean energy, single energy market, energy security, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, research and innovation, and international cooperation.
Promote energy efficiency and lower energy consumption
Energy efficiency and savings is the cheapest, safest, and cleanest way of reducing our external dependence and ensuring an affordable energy supply. Additionally, investment in renewable energies improves the climate and energy independence while also ensuring supply security and creating jobs within the EU.
It quantifies the total amount of energy consumed in a specific region or country. This indicator considers all primary energy sources, and represents their consumption in a single unit, equivalent to the amount of energy contained in one tonne of crude oil. It is an important measure in the evaluation of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, as a higher consumption of primary energy can be associated with greater greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
This indicator, which is measured in Terajoules, breaks down the final energy consumption of households in several specific use categories, allowing for an understanding of which areas consume the most energy in households.
The net internal use of energy represents the net amount of energy used in a country for production and consumption activities, and can be used to evaluate trends in energy consumption by resident units. This aggregate, linked with monetary accounts data, helps calculate the energy intensity indicator disaggregated by seven branches of activity. This provides important information about the amount of energy used in each sector to generate one unit of GDP.
It measures, within the production associated with construction of new nearly zero-energy buildings, the part of such production specifically related to the energy efficiency measures implemented during the construction of these buildings.
Diversify the energy supply and reduce fossil fuel dependency
In response to the difficulties and disturbances in the global energy market caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission is implementing the REPowerEU plan, which primarily focuses on this objective.
It is used to evaluate to what extent a country or region depends on the internal production, import and export of fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, in order to meet its energy needs. This indicator is relevant for energy planning, energy security, and decision-making related to the diversification of energy sources and the transition to cleaner, more sustainable sources. Reducing dependence on fossil fuels is a key objective in many countries to mitigate climate change and increase energy resilience.
Composition or proportion of different energy sources used to generate electricity in a country or region at a given time. This indicator is important to understand the diversity of energy sources used in electricity generation and their impact on environmental sustainability and energy security. Renewable energies are clean and sustainable energy source that does not generate greenhouse gas emissions. An energy mix with a high share of renewable energy sources will ensure that the electricity generated is clean and sustainable.
It measures the proportion of renewable energy sources in energy consumption by economic sectors. In general, developed countries have a more diversified energy mix, which includes a higher share of renewable energies.