Management of Energy Sources and the Development Potential in the Energy Production Sector—A Comparison of EU Countries

Marta Daroń,Marlena Wilk

doi:10.3390/en14030685

Abstract

Appropriate management of energy sources is one of the basic undertakings in the energy sector. Climate policy changes and the development of technologies enabling the acquisition of energy in a way to reduce the negative impact on the natural environment lead to diversity in the structure of the energy sources being used. Therefore, it is important to assess the impact of these changes on the development of energy sectors by particular countries. The article contains the analysis of various energy sources utilization by European Union (EU) countries and the assessment of the energy production sector potential, and the development of this potential in relation to changes in the energy sources structure. For this purpose, a multidimensional comparative analysis was used. The data for the analysis are derived from the Eurostat database for the years 2017 and 2019 for 28 EU countries and they concern the use of energy sources such as combustible fuels, coal and manufactured gases, natural gas, oil and petroleum products (excluding biofuel portion), hydro/hydropower, wind power, solar photovoltaic, nuclear fuels and other fuels n.e.c. As a result of the research, it was proved that in most EU countries the changes introduced in the structure of the use of various energy sources, according to EU climate policy, have a positive impact on the development of particular energy sectors.

Highlights

A well-managed energy production sector is fundamental for building the economy of every developed country
Obtaining national energy security to be understood as the ability to provide the energy of the agreeable price while constantly accessed to indispensable energy sources [1,2], is the rudimentary duty of governments, but considering the aspects of balanced development and environmental protection, it has proved to be the priority of the European Union (EU) energy strategy [3]
The purpose of the article is the indication of sources, from which energy is produced in the energy sector of European Union (EU) member countries, as well as the analysis of the development measures of the sector comprehended in the light of the management of diverse sources of the energy

Summary

Introduction

A well-managed energy production sector is fundamental for building the economy of every developed country. Obtaining national energy security to be understood as the ability to provide the energy of the agreeable price while constantly accessed to indispensable energy sources [1,2], is the rudimentary duty of governments, but considering the aspects of balanced development and environmental protection, it has proved to be the priority of the EU energy strategy [3]. Taking it into consideration, it is to be noted that the quantity of RES-produced energy is systematically growing in all European countries. The question arises: whether and how is the type of sources used for producing electricity related to the development potential of countries in the region?

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Conclusion