The new data from the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat shows that only 11.7% of Luxembourg’s energy comes from wind, solar, hydro or other renewable energy sources.
This leaves the Grand Duchy dead last in the EU, well below the average of 21.8%. The Benelux region as a whole performs especially poorly, with the Netherlands (12.3%) and Belgium (13%) also in the bottom five countries.
Sweden is the only EU country obtaining over half of its energy from renewable sources, at 62.6%. Its Nordic neighbours Norway and Iceland likewise both top 70%, although they are not members of the union.
In the EU as a whole, the share of energy arising from renewable sources dropped by 0.3% between 2020 and 2021 as a result of Covid, representing the first ever fall in this metric.
The union has a long way to go before achieving its target of 32% renewable energy by 2030.
As for Luxembourg, its poor carbon footprint can be attributed to a variety of factors, including fuel tourism. However, the government is making progress, and its integrated national energy and climate plan (PNEC) has set ambitious targets. It aims to increase the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption from 11% to 25% by 2030, thanks to continued wind, solar, and biomass development.
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