2 comments so far.Malta has highest energy dependence rate in the EU at 97.7%
 Email item
|  Print item
|
|
The EU was dependent on energy imports for slightly over half of its consumption in 2014 Energy dependency at its lowest point in 9 Member Sates.
According to data released by Eurostat today the highest energy dependence rate in the EU during 2014 was registered in Malta (97.7%), it also recorded its lowest energy dependency rate since 1990. Its peak was in 1992 when it stood at 112.5%.
The energy dependency of the European Union (EU) stood in 2014 at 53.4%, meaning that the EU needed to import just over half of the energy it consumed in 2014.
Energy dependency in the EU was higher in 2014 than in 1990, but slightly lower than its highest point recorded in 2008. The evolution of EU energy dependency has not been constant between 1990 and 2014, however, it has continuously stood above 50% since 2004.
Energy dependency varies widely across Member States, with half of them relying mainly on imports for their energy consumption in 2014, while for the other half, energy dependency rate stood below 50%.
In 2014, the least dependent Member States were Estonia (8.9%), Denmark (12.8%) and Romania (17.0%), followed by Poland (28.6%), the Czech Republic (30.4%), Sweden (32.0%), the Netherlands (33.8%) and Bulgaria (34.5%). At the opposite end of the scale, the highest energy dependence rates were registered in Malta (97.7%), Luxembourg (96.6%), Cyprus (93.4%), Ireland (85.3%), Belgium (80.1%) and Lithuania (77.9%).
Among the five Member States consuming the largest amounts of energy, the least dependent on energy imports were the United Kingdom (45.5%) and France (46.1%), in contrast to Germany (61.4%), Spain (72.9%) and Italy (75.9%).
It should also be noted that nine Member States recorded in 2014 their lowest energy dependency rates since 1990: Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Romania. In contrast, the Czech Republic is the only Member State recording a peak of its energy dependency in 2014.
These figures are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, along with the publication of the detailed 2014 annual results on energy supply, transformation and consumption in the EU. They are complemented with a publication on energy savings in the EU.
Considering the hours of sunshine we enjoy here, this is an absurd situation. More should be done to encourage the harnessing of solar power for both domestic and business use. Perhaps the Government could cover 75% of the costs involved – this would be a good long-term investment.
I live in Australia, and solar power is being harvested at its early stage, even though we have so much hydro-power in much of our states. Solar is so cheap, & l feel the Maltese government should embrace The concept of Solar, and will later reap the rewards, but it will be a slow process