Development of renewable energy sources market and biofuels in The European Union

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the paper is to present renewable energy market development with particular regard paid to biofuels in the EU. The analysis included data on the share of renewables in Gross Island energy consumption, changes of renewable energy in the years 2004–2016 and the amount of liquid biofuels. The authors of the paper used descriptive and statistical methods to describe the changes in bioenergy development in the European Union (EU). The biggest share of biofuels and renewable waste can be seen in Latvia (31.2%), Finland (26.7%) and Sweden (24.8%). The highest percentage of wind energy in 2015 was found in: Denmark (7.2%), Portugal (4.3%), Ireland (4.0%) and Spain (3.5%). The highest share of solar energy in 2015 was found in Cyprus (3.5%), Spain (2.6%) and Greece (2.2%). The highest contribution of geothermal energy was found in 2015 in Italy (3.5%), Portugal (0.8%) and Slovenia (0,7%). Hydropower was the biggest in 2015 in Sweden (14.2%), Austria (9.6%) and Slovenia (5.0%). The highest coefficients of variation of the share of electricity from renewable energy sources were found in the years 2004–2017 in Malta (140.3%), Cyprus (101.1%) and United Kingdom (71.9%). In addition, the highest coefficients of variation of share of renewable energy sources in heating and cooling in the years 2004–2017 were found in Malta (72.4%), United Kingdom (69.81%) and Hungary (44.91%). Moreover, the highest coefficients of variation of share of renewable energy sources in transport in the years 2004–2017 were found in Finland (113.78%), Malta (115.52%) and Belgium (96.53%). The biggest producers of ethanol and biodiesel in EU were Germany, France and Poland. Cluster analysis data show that Germany and France are of key importance in the production of biodiesel and ethanol. The biodiesel production increased in the years 2003–2017 from 719,32 million liters to 13323 million liters (increase 1852.2%). However, in the years 2014–2017 a stagnation in biofuel production was observed from 13673 million liters to 13323 million liters (−2,56%). The situation on the market and the increasing demand for green energy suggest that the production of ethanol and esters of vegetable oils will increase by 2030, which will contribute to the development of this sector.