Energy supply

Energy supply in the UNECE region remains abundant. Both primary energy and final energy supply are provided for with a sufficient domestic and international energy resource, refinery and electricity production capacity. Owing to increased energy efficiency and dislocation of energy-intensive industries to selected emerging economies, total energy consumption is growing slower than the region's GDP, approximately two per cent per year. The biggest consumption increases were achieved in the natural gas sector (4.2 per cent in 2000) and hydro/nuclear (2.6 per cent) while the consumption of crude oil has practically levelled off in recent years. At present, eastern and western Europe benefit from a stable fuel mix dominated by oil and natural gas in the primary energy balance and by an increasing role of electricity in final energy consumption. (Table 9.2 and Figure 9.3).

Energy trade

Natural gas, crude oil and raw materials make up the largest commodity group of east-west trade in the European region. They account for about half of the exports of the Russian Federation, which recently surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer for a brief period. This is a key factor of Europe’s energy security and for economic transition in several east European countries. (Table 9.12 and country pages, e.g. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan).

Coal

The United States continues to dominate as the largest hard coal producer in the ECE region, with annual production in 2001 of over half a billion metric tonnes. Although only exporting some 5% of its hard coal production, the United States is the largest hard coal exporter in the region. Canada, the Russian Federation, Poland and Kazakhstan are the other main exporters of hard coal, exporting in 2000 respectively 22.2, 21.7, 17.3 and 11.4 million tonnes (Mt). (Figures 9.5 and 9.6).

Electricity

Ready access to a reliable supply of electricity is a prerequisite for economic development and growth. In order to meet the increasing demand, electricity production in the ECE region continued to grow throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with the exception of the Baltic and CIS countries where the production level decreased in the 1990s. In both Estonia and Georgia the production of electricity in 2000 was approximately half of that in 1990, and the production in the Republic of Moldova in 2000 was less than a quarter of that in 1990. The per capita consumption of electricity remains highest in the Nordic countries (with a maximum of 24677 kWh in Iceland) and in North America, whereas the lowest per capita consumption occurs in Albania (986 kWh). Almost half the countries in the ECE region have nuclear power stations. In France and Lithuania approximately 75 per cent of electricity is nuclear-based and in Belgium over 55%. (Table 9.7 and Figure 9.8).

Natural Gas

Today natural gas is the fuel of choice. It is flexible to use, environmentally friendly compared to other fossil fuels, relatively abundant, with supplies perceived to be relatively secure and reliable. Consequently, it is being used in a variety of sectors and applications, and experiencing significant growth as a fuel for electricity generation. Within the ECE, five producing countries, namely: Canada 186 billion cubic meters (Bcm) per year, Norway (57 Bcm), Russian Federation (574 Bcm), UK (113 Bcm) and United States (550 Bcm) represented well over half of the 2001 world production of natural gas. Regarding reserves, the enlarged Europe is in a favourable position with estimated potential resources of about 10,000 Bcm within the area and ten times more in the CIS and directly next to the ECE zone (Table 9.9).

Crude oil and products

Despite efforts to diversify energy supply, crude oil has continued to dominate the energy mix in the UNECE region in the last few years with approximately 1700 million tons of oil equivalent consumed and 36-37 per cent share in the mix in 2000/2001. As before, its dominant position is based on the large demand of the transport sector for various crude oil derivatives and selected applications in the domestic and industrial sectors. Some CIS countries are the only exception, where natural gas is the most important fuel for the total energy balance (Table 9.2 and Figure 9.3).

Renewable sources of energy

The political support given to renewable energy sources is growing because of their sustainable nature and characteristics. In response to the Kyoto Protocol obligations, a number of ECE member countries have already established renewable energy targets and related programmes to achieve them. The most encouraging results come from wind and solar power, which are advancing with an annual growth of 20-25 %. Iceland and Norway have made remarkable progress with renewable sources where their share in total primary energy supply was 73 % and 53% respectively (Figure-9.15).

Tables and charts

The following tables are available in the restricted area (if you do not have a user ID and password, register here.):

9.1 Total production of primary energy, 1990 - 2000

9.2 Final consumption of energy by fuel type, 2000

9.3 Consumption of oil as a percentage of total energy consumption, 2000

9.4 Oil product consumption by sector, 2000

9.5 Main coal producers in the ECE region, 2000

9.6 Coal export of main exporters in the ECE region, 1992-2000

9.7 Production of electricity and per capita consumption, 1980-2000

9.8 Share of electricity produced by nuclear power stations, 2000

9.9 Production and proven reserves of natural gas

9.10 Proven reserves of natural gas as percentage of world total, 2000

9.11 Per capita consumption of natural gas, 2000

9.12 Production and trade in crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL), 2000

9.13 Production and trade in refined petroleum products in the ECE region, 2000

9.14 Renewable energy sources, 1990-2000

9.15 Share of renewable sources in total primary energy supply, 2000

9.16 Combustible renewables and waste as a percentage of total renewable energy supply, 2000