RENEWABLE ENERGIES IN EUROPE : STATISTICS AND THEIR PROBLEMS

Abstract

Eurostat official figures for 1991 show that renewable energy contribution to primary production in the European Union (12) was 7% and to gross consumption 3.7%. These figures were calculated by a methodology which takes into account the actual energy content of renewable electricity from water, wind and other sources in terms of oil equivalent as for nuclear energy, a 3 times higher value is calculated by applying a Carnot conversion efficiency of 33%. In this paper, corresponding figures of 10.16% for primary production and 5.6% for gross consumption are calculated by applying equivalent Carnot efficiency of 38½ % for all non fossil electricity. With the addition of Austria, Finland and Sweden into the energy mix of the European Union, the renewable energy contribution for 1991 would have been 14.4% of.primary production and.7.8% for gross consumption.