Informe El medio ambiente en Europa: Estado y perspectivas 2020

PART 3
FIGURE 16.2
Final energy consumption by sector
ktoe
1 400 000
1 200 000
1 000 000
800 000
600 000
400 000
200 000
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Industry Road transport Other transport Households Services Other
Source:
Eurostat (2018e).
Demographic and lifestyle
changes may increase
demand for energy, land and
infrastructure.
The future of the European energy
system will also depend on global and
regional drivers of change. Trends in
demography and lifestyle changes
in Europe are likely to entail shifts
towards smaller households requiring
a higher floor area per individual, as
well as increased demand for land
and infrastructure (EEA, 2014a), larger
stocks of household appliances and
consumer goods (EEA, 2012), and
personal electronic devices associated
with the digitalisation of all aspects of
life. All these trends potentially increase
the demand for electricity. Projected
impacts of climate change could have
negative effects on the security of
energy supply (EEA, 2019).
The energy system in Europe is likely
to be increasingly exposed to the
effects of price volatility, associated
with the risk of disruption in supply
due to potential conflicts and instability
in exporting countries, trade and
protectionism (EPSC, 2018), increased
global demand and competition
(OECD/DASTI, 2016), and a lower
return on energy investments in newly
discovered oil fields and oil tar sands
(Murphy, 2014). In the short term, this
trend may encourage the extraction
of unconventional fuels in Europe
(e.g. Neville et al., 2017). To counter the
effects of energy price volatility and
meet EU and global climate ambitions,
the EU and its Member States aim to
accelerate the transition to an efficient,
renewables-based energy system.
EU governing bodies are expected to
introduce stronger policies on energy
efficiency, including policies for energy
demand management and to incentivise
the substitution of carbon-intensive
fossil fuels technology with renewable
energy technologies.
The rise of ‘prosumers’ — private
citizens who both consume and produce
electricity, often by installing household
solar PV panels — is recognised as a
358 SOER 2020/Understanding sustainability challenges