GREEN ECONOMY

Finland, third EU user of renewable energy for heating and cooling

A wind turbine in Finland. Photo Kosti Keistinen/Pixabay.

The Nomad Today

30 de December de 2020 (20:55 h.)

Outside the EU, Iceland recorded also a very high share of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling (79.4%). Norway, however, remained well below the rest of the Nordic countries.

The EU share of energy from renewable sources for heating and cooling (households, industrial processes, hospitals, schools, etc.) almost doubled during the last 15 years, from 11.7% in 2004 to 22.1% in 2019.

But the latest data published by the European statistical agency (Eurostat) show a lot of disparity in the results of the different countries.

Among the EU Member States, the share of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling was more than half in Sweden (66.1%), Latvia (57.8%), Finland (57.5%) and Estonia (52.3%).

At the other side of the scale, the EU Member States with a share of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling of less than 10% were Ireland (6.3%), the Netherlands (7.1%), Belgium (8.3%) and Luxembourg (8.7%).

Source: Eurostat

Share growing in Finland

Compared with 2018, the EU share of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling recorded an increase in 2019, from 21.2% to 22.1%.

Twenty EU Member States registered increases, with the highest registered in Slovakia (from 10.6% to 19.7%), Finland (from 54.6% to 57.5%) and Denmark (from 45.5% to 48.0%).

Outside the EU, Iceland recorded also a very high share of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling (79.4%) in 2019. Norway, however, remained well below the rest of the Nordic countries (35.8%).