The EU has fulfilled its 2020 aim of 10% renewable energy consumption in transport (including liquid biofuels, biomethane, and ‘green’ electricity). This aim was introduced in Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of renewable energy sources.
According to Eurostat statistics, the average proportion of renewable energy in transportation climbed from 1.6 percent in 2004 to 10.2 percent in 2020, putting it 0.2 percentage points (pp) over the goal threshold.
Twelve Member States exceeded the objective. Sweden led the way in the use of renewables in transportation, accounting for 31.9 percent, followed by Finland (13.4 percent), the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (both 12.6 percent ). The significant usage of compatible biofuels explains Sweden’s leadership.
Greece (5.3 percent) and Lithuania (5.5 percent) had the lowest usage of renewables in transportation.
With the exception of France (no change, 9.2 percent) and Finland (-0.9 percent), all EU Member States increased their use of renewable energy in transportation in 2020, with the largest increases recorded in Estonia (+5.9 percent), Luxembourg (+4.9 percent), Belgium (+4.2 percent), and Cyprus (+4.1 percent).
The European Green Deal (COM(2019) 640 final), an extremely ambitious package of measures aimed at enabling European residents and companies to benefit from a sustainable green transition, aims to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
The use of renewable energy offers several potential advantages, including lower greenhouse gas emissions, increased energy supply diversity, and less reliance on fossil fuel markets (in particular, oil and gas). The expansion of renewable energy sources may potentially boost employment in the EU by creating opportunities in new “green” technology.
This page offers up-to-date information on the proportion of energy derived from renewable sources in the European Union’s total and in three consumption sectors (electricity, heating and cooling, and transportation) (EU). Wind power, solar power (thermal, photovoltaic, and concentrated), hydro power, tidal power, geothermal energy, ambient heat absorbed by heat pumps, biofuels, and the renewable portion of trash are all examples of renewable energy sources.