There energy transition it is a process of moving from using fossil-based energy sources to sources of renewable energy and it is a phase that takes time. Yet the European Union, thanks to its reforms and regulations, is moving towards right direction.
This is confirmed by the independent research center Emberwhich conducted an analysis on the progress of the transition to more sustainable energy sources in 2023 and which declared that finally the mix of renewable energy sources is becoming central in the European electricity supply.
Another essential fact that emerged is that the fossil electricity sourcesi.e. coal and gas, have reached theirs lowest percentage shareequal to less than a third of total electricity generation in Europe.
As you can see from the image below, the generation of electricity thanks to the coal decreased by 26% compared to 2022, while electricity production through the gas decreased by 15%: it’s a considerable result because this is the largest reduction in pollution in the energy sector, even greater than during the 2020 lockdown period.
The European Union had already started to do without coal to produce electricity, as can be seen in the graph below, but the war in Ukraine has complicated the situation, because some countries have decided to reactivate the coal plants that they were decommissioning to cope with the lack of Russian gas.
However, the energy crisis that had arisen raised the question ofurgency of an energy transition towards new sources, which according to some has been accelerated precisely because of necessity, leading private individuals to seek renewable sources and states to invest in wind and solar plants.
In fact, it can be noted that the electrical energy obtained fromwind power reached one historic milestone: reached the 18% of total electricity production and ha passed the gas. Furthermore, the energy produced from water sources also increased (after a decline due to the drought periods of 2022) and that produced from solar sources, which led renewable sources to reach the share of 44% of the European energy mix.
In the sea of good news However, we must not rest on our laurelsbecause it is assumed that in the future the demand for electricity will increase (also in the face of an increase in the diffusion of electric cars) and the entire European Union will have to make further efforts to achieve the objectives it has set in recent years and, therefore, will have to improve what has been done so far.
