Energy for heating and cooling represents almost 50% of the EU’s total gross final energy consumption. For 2021, gross consumption of all fuels increased mainly due to economic recovery after lifting COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, the share of renewable energy in gross final consumption for heating and cooling purposes decreased by 0.1 percentage points (pp), from 23.0% in 2020 to 22.9% in 2021. This is almost double the value in 2004 (11.7%).
Developments in the industrial sector, services and households (including the electrification of heating by using heat pumps) contributed to the growth of renewable energy in heating and cooling.
Among the EU Member States, Sweden stood out with more than two-thirds (68.6%) of the energy used for heating and cooling in 2021 stemming from renewable sources (mostly biomass and heat pumps), followed by Estonia (61.3%), Latvia (57.4%) and Finland (52.6%).