The island also saw the biggest increase in energy demand among the EU 28, growing 41% since 1990 from 1.6 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) to 2.3 Mtoe in 2015.

The number is low compared with larger EU countries; for instance, Germany’s demand is 314 Mtoe. But a more accurate comparison is Malta where total consumption in 2015 was only 0.8 Mtoe.

Compared with 1990, the largest decreases in overall energy consumption in 2015 were recorded in the three EU Baltic States – Lithuania (-57%), Latvia (-45%) and Estonia (-37%).

In contrast, the highest increases were registered in Cyprus (+41%),Ireland (+38%), Spain (+35%) and Austria (+33%), Eurostat said.

Overall, energy consumption in the EU is below its 1990 level but the bloc’s dependency on the import of fossil fuels was on the rise in 2015, the report said.

Accounting for nearly three-quarters of EU consumption of energy in 2015, fossil fuels continued to represent by far the main source of energy, although their weight has constantly decreased over the past decades, from 83% in 1990 to 73% in 2015.

However, over this period, EU dependency on imports of fossils fuels has increased, with 73% imported in 2015 compared with just over half (53%) in 1990.

In other words, while in 1990 one tonne of fossil fuels was imported for each tonne produced in the EU, by 2015 three tonnes were imported for each tonne produced.

Cyprus in 1990 was 100% reliant on fossil fuels. By 2005 this had fallen to 98% and by 2015 it had dropped to 94%. This is still the highest dependency rate in the bloc with the Netherlands at 9 %.

The share of fossil fuels in energy consumption decreased over the period 1990-2015, most notably in Denmark, from 91% in 1990 to 69% in 2015. However, the large majority of member states remains highly reliant on fossil fuels for their energy consumption, Eurostat said.

In 2015, fossil fuels made up less than half of the energy consumption in only three member states: Sweden 30%, Finland 46% and France 49%.

Source: Cyprus Mail