Renewable energy accounted for 19.5 % of the total energy used for heating and cooling in the European Union (EU) in 2017, reported Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Monday. The comparative figure for Hungary is 19.6%.
The 2017 print marks a significant increase from 10.4 % in 2004. Increases in industrial sectors, services and households contributed to this growth. Aerothermal, geothermal and hydrothermal heat energy captured by heat pumps was also taken into account if reported by countries.
In four EU Member States, more than half of the total energy used for heating and cooling came from renewable energy sources in 2017: Sweden (69.1 %), Finland (54.8 %), Latvia (54.6 %) and Estonia (51.6 %).
In contrast, the lowest shares were in the United Kingdom (7.5 %), Ireland (6.9 %) and the Netherlands (5.9 %).
Eurostat’s report, however, does not specify the respective shares of renewable sources. In Hungary, biomass - partly firewood - has by far the largest weight in renewable energy based heating/cooling, while in northern countries, hydrothermal and geothermal heat energy and wind power all have a significant weight.
