Although oil (34.5%) and natural gas (23.7%) were still the most important energy source in the EU’s energy mix in 2020, the share of energy from renewable sources continued to grow, according to data released by the European Bureau for Statistics (Eurostat).

After overcoming coal and nuclear power, renewables are on track to become the most important source of energy in the European Union in the future climate-neutral economy of the EU bloc.

In 2020, solid fossil fuels (coal) continued their declining trend in previous years, falling by 18.3%, the fifth consecutive year of decline. Compared to 2015, the share of coal decreased by 40%. The share of solid fossil fuels in the EU’s energy mix is now just over 10%, from 25.7% in 1990, according to Agerpres.

Oil and petroleum products (excluding biofuels) continued their downward trend, declining by 12.6% in 2020, reaching their lowest level since 1990. The same trend is observed for natural gas, but the decline was slower, of 2.4% in 2020. Nuclear power has fallen by 10.7% to its lowest level since 1990.

Renewable energy and biofuels have continued their long-term growth trend. After overcoming solid fossil fuels and nuclear energy in the previous decade, the next goal for a more sustainable economy will be to overtake natural gas.

In terms of consumption, the impact of the restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was more substantial on the consumption of petroleum products (minus 10.3%) than of natural gas (minus 2.6%) and electricity (minus 3.8%).

Pandemic travel restrictions affected some oil products more than other fuels, with the most significant decline being in kerosene (minus 48.1%), while car petrol (minus 13.9%) posted a smaller decline.

Oil continues to be the most important fuel on the end-use side, with a share of 35%, followed by electricity, with 23.2%, and natural gas, with 21.9%.