Slower energy efficiency progress in industry since 2007
- Energy efficiency in EU industry improved by 1.3%/year on average since 2000, as measured with the energy efficiency index.
- The energy efficiency improvement rate has slowed down from 2007 to 2020 (0.9%/year compared to 1.6%/year between 2000 and 2007) due to a slower progress in some branches and even no more energy efficiency improvement for others because of the recession following the financial crisis (in particular in most energy intensive branches, e.g. cement, steel). The trend has accelerated significantly since 2020 (2.1%/year), especially in chemicals and machinery.
Energy efficiency index by branch (EU)
Note : The energy efficiency index in industry is calculated as a weighted average of sub-sectoral indices of energy efficiency progress at the level of 14 branches: 6 main branches (chemicals, food, textile, wood, machinery, transport vehicles), 3 energy intensive branches (steel, cement and pulp and paper), 3 residual branches (other primary metals, other non-metallic minerals, other manufacturing, mining and construction. This index is corrected from the apparent loss of energy efficiency during periods of recession as well as from structural shift within each branch towards more energy intensive products : it corresponds to the technical index. Sub-sectoral indices are expressed in terms of energy used per ton produced for energy intensive products (steel, cement and paper) and in terms of energy used related to the production index for the other branches.
- Energy efficiency in industry has been significantly improved in most countries before the economic crisis in 2008. Improvements were slowed down since then (less than 2%/year in most countries). However, the improvement rate is rising again since 2020, with 5 countries exceeding a rate above 3%/year.
Energy efficiency trends in industry in EU countries (2000-2022)
