Some of the key highlights from the report “Implementation of bioenergy in the European Union – 2024 update” by IEA Bioenergy are:
•Renewables made up 18% of total energy supply in the EU27 in 2022. The renewable energy share in final energy consumption was 22%, of which 60% from biomass.
• Energy supply in the EU still relies for around 70% on fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas. In terms of fossil fuels, the European Union has a high import dependency (95% for oil, 88% for gas and 53% for coal), making its energy production and economy quite vulnerable.
• In contrast to fossil fuels, for bioenergy carriers and waste (used for energy) net import dependency is below 5%. In fact, production of bioenergy carriers and waste in the EU is at a similar level as the combined production of crude oil, natural gas and coal in the EU. In several European countries bioenergy has made a major contribution to energy security.
• Solid biofuels (for residential use, industry use, and for transformation to power and/or heat) represent almost 70% of bioenergy supply, but liquid biofuels, biogas and renewable waste also play a substantial role.
• Electricity production in the EU can be divided in three parts: fossil-based power at 38%, nuclear power at 22% and renewable power at 39% in 2022. Fossil power is largely based on natural gas, but also coal still has an important share in power production.
• Renewable power consists of a stable amount of hydropower, a slightly growing amount of biomass-based electricity (producing 6% of EU power, often in CHP mode) and fast increasing shares of wind and solar power.
• Heat production and transport energy are still dominated by fossil fuels. Bioenergy/biofuels are the main sources of renewable energy in these sectors.
Access the report here
