Energy Shift
Visualizing the EU’s Energy Dependency
Visualizing the EU’s Energy Dependency
In response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and EU have imposed heavy sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy. However, these bold actions also come with some potentially messy complications: Russia is not only one of the world’s largest exporters of energy products, but it is also Europe’s biggest supplier of these fuels.
As of October 2021, Russia supplied 25% of all oil imported by the EU, which is three times more than the second-largest trade partner. Naturally, the policies and circumstances that have led to this dependency have been under major scrutiny in recent weeks.
To help you learn more, this infographic visualizes energy data from Eurostat.
Energy Dependency, by Country
To start, let’s compare the energy dependence of each EU member, both in 2000 and 2020 (the latest year available). This metric shows the extent to which a country relies upon imports to meet its energy needs.
Note that Denmark’s value of -35.9% for the year 2000 is not a typo. Rather, it means that the country was a net exporter of energy.
Country | 2000 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
🇦🇹 Austria | 65.5% | 58.3% |
🇧🇪 Belgium | 78.2% | 78.0% |
🇧🇬 Bulgaria | 46.4% | 37.9% |
🇭🇷 Croatia | 48.5% | 53.6% |
🇨🇾 Cyprus | 98.6% | 93.1% |
🇨🇿 Czechia | 22.7% | 38.9% |
🇩🇰 Denmark | -35.9% | 44.9% |
🇪🇪 Estonia | 34.0% | 10.6% |
🇫🇮 Finland | 55.5% | 42.0% |
🇫🇷 France | 51.2% | 44.5% |
🇩🇪 Germany | 59.4% | 63.7% |
🇬🇷 Greece | 69.1% | 81.4% |
🇭🇺 Hungary | 55.0% | 56.6% |
🇮🇪 Ireland | 85.4% | 71.3% |
🇮🇹 Italy | 86.5% | 73.5% |
🇱🇻 Latvia | 61.0% | 45.5% |
🇱🇹 Lithuania | 57.8% | 74.9% |
🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 99.6% | 92.5% |
🇲🇹 Malta | 100.2% | 97.6% |
🇳🇱 Netherlands | 38.3% | 68.1% |
🇵🇱 Poland | 10.7% | 42.8% |
🇵🇹 Portugal | 85.3% | 65.3% |
🇷🇴 Romania | 21.9% | 28.2% |
🇸🇰 Slovakia | 65.1% | 56.3% |
🇸🇮 Slovenia | 51.9% | 45.8% |
🇪🇸 Spain | 76.8% | 67.9% |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 39.3% | 33.5% |
Average | 56.3% | 57.5% |
Over this 20-year timeframe, the EU-27 average country’s energy dependence has increased from 56.3% to 57.5%, meaning EU members became slightly more reliant on energy imports over those two decades.
Where Do EU’s Energy Imports Come From?
Looking further into energy imports reveals that Russia is the main supplier of crude oil, coal, and natural gas. Continue below for more details.
Crude Oil Imports
The EU imports more crude oil from Russia than the next three countries combined.
Country | Percentage of total |
---|---|
🇷🇺 Russia | 26.9% |
🇮🇶 Iraq | 9.0% |
🇳🇬 Nigeria | 7.9% |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 7.7% |
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 7.3% |
🇳🇴 Norway | 7.0% |
🇱🇾 Libya | 6.2% |
🇺🇸 United States | 5.3% |
🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 4.9% |
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | 4.5% |
🇩🇿 Algeria | 2.4% |
Others | 10.9% |
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Russia was the world’s third largest producer of oil in 2020. The country has several state-owned oil companies including Rosneft and Gazprom.
Coal Imports
Coal-fired power plants are still being used across the EU, though most member states expect to completely phase them out by 2030.
Country | Percentage of total |
---|---|
🇷🇺 Russia | 46.7% |
🇺🇸 United States | 17.7% |
🇦🇺 Australia | 13.7% |
🇨🇴 Colombia | 8.2% |
🇿🇦 South Africa | 2.8% |
Others | 10.9% |
Russia has the second largest coal reserves in the world. In 2020, it mined 328 million metric tons, making it the sixth largest producer globally.
Natural Gas Imports
Natural gas is commonly used to heat buildings and water. A majority of the EU’s supply comes from Russia via the Nord Stream series of pipelines.
Country | Percentage of total |
---|---|
🇷🇺 Russia | 41.1% |
🇳🇴 Norway | 16.2% |
🇩🇿 Algeria | 7.6% |
🇶🇦 Qatar | 5.2% |
Others | 29.9% |
Nord Stream 1 is the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world and was completed in 2011. It starts from the Russian city of Vyborg and connects to the EU through Germany.
Nord Stream 2 is a recently constructed expansion which was expected to double the project’s capacity. Germany has since halted the approval process for this pipeline in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
What Happens Now?
In retaliation against Western sanctions, Russia has announced an impending ban on exports of certain goods and raw materials.
European gas prices skyrocketed in response, as many fear that Russia could cut off natural gas supplies. This, of course, would have very negative effects on both consumers and businesses.
In early March 2022, both the European Commission and the International Energy Agency (IEA) introduced proposals on how Europe could reduce its energy dependency.
We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas. We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us.
– Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Cutting off one’s biggest supplier is likely to cause issues, especially when dealing with something as critical as energy. Few countries have the capacity (or willingness) to immediately replace Russian imports.
The proposals also discussed options for boosting Europe’s domestic output, though the commission’s report notably excluded nuclear power. For various reasons, nuclear remains a polarizing topic in Europe, with countries taking either a pro or anti stance.
Energy Shift
What Electricity Sources Power the World?
Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35% of global power generation.

What Powered the World in 2022?
In 2022, 29,165.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated around the world, an increase of 2.3% from the previous year.
In this visualization, we look at data from the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, and ask what powered the world in 2022.
Coal is Still King
Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35.4% of global power generation in 2022, followed by natural gas at 22.7%, and hydroelectric at 14.9%.

Source: Energy Institute
Over three-quarters of the world’s total coal-generated electricity is consumed in just three countries. China is the top user of coal, making up 53.3% of global coal demand, followed by India at 13.6%, and the U.S. at 8.9%.
Burning coal—for electricity, as well as metallurgy and cement production—is the world’s single largest source of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, its use in electricity generation has actually grown 91.2% since 1997, the year when the first global climate agreement was signed in Kyoto, Japan.
Renewables on the Rise
However, even as non-renewables enjoy their time in the sun, their days could be numbered.
In 2022, renewables, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, represented 14.4% of total electricity generation with an extraordinary annual growth rate of 14.7%, driven by big gains in solar and wind. Non-renewables, by contrast, only managed an anemic 0.4%.
The authors of the Statistical Review do not include hydroelectric in their renewable calculations, even though many others, including the International Energy Agency, consider it a “well-established renewable power technology.”
With hydroelectric moved into the renewable column, together they accounted for over 29.3% of all electricity generated in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 7.4%.
France’s Nuclear Horrible Year
Another big mover in this year’s report was nuclear energy.
In addition to disruptions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, shutdowns in France’s nuclear fleet to address corrosion found in the safety injection systems of four reactors led to a 4% drop in global use, year-over-year.
The amount of electricity generated by nuclear energy in that country dropped 22% to 294.7 TWh in 2022. As a result, France went from being the world’s biggest exporter of electricity, to a net importer.
Powering the Future
Turning mechanical energy into electrical energy is a relatively straightforward process. Modern power plants are engineering marvels, to be sure, but they still work on the same principle as the very first generator invented by Michael Faraday in 1831.
But how you get the mechanical energy is where things get complicated: coal powered the first industrial revolution, but heated the planet in the process; wind is free and clean, but is unreliable; and nuclear fission reliably generates emission-free electricity, but also creates radioactive waste.
With temperature records being set around the world in the summer, resolving these tensions isn’t just academic and next year’s report could be a crucial test of the world’s commitment to a clean energy future.
Energy Shift
How Mine Permitting Delays Impact the Transition to a Green Economy
Currently, the U.S. has a backlog of more than 280 mining projects awaiting permits.

Mine Permitting Delays and the Transition to a Green Economy
Minerals are essential components in many of our daily-use products, such as cell phones, laptops, and cars.
In fact, every American uses nearly 40,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year.
In the United States, however, the current permitting process makes it difficult for businesses to invest in the extraction and processing of minerals, such as copper.
This graphic by Northern Dynasty explores the untapped potential of mineral resources in America.
Copper, a Critical Material
In 2023 the U.S. Department of Energy officially added copper to its critical materials list, following the examples of the European Union, Japan, India, Canada, and China.
Copper is a highly efficient conductor of electricity and is considered vital for clean energy technologies such as solar, wind energy, and electric vehicles.
Green energy-related copper demand is expected to increase by nearly 600% by 2030. In this scenario, the copper market could see an annual deficit of up to about 1.5 million tonnes by 2035.
Despite having more than 53 million tons of copper reserves, the U.S. imports 45% of its copper from other countries.
This is the highest level of import reliance in over 30 years. One of the biggest reasons for this is the country’s mine permitting process.
A Rigorous Mine Permitting Process
Mines are large-scale projects that demand extensive research and policies. As a result, mining projects can take 16 years, or more, to start production.
Currently, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management—which regulates land use in the country—has a permitting backlog of more than 280 mining projects.
In addition, environmental activists have adopted a “not in my backyard” stance towards domestic mining. As a result, companies have often had to resort to litigation to make any progress in the permitting process.
“Activists have weaponized the government bodies that are essential to the safe and responsible development of domestic mines,” says Michael Westerlund, VP Investor Relations at Northern Dynasty Minerals.
The company owns the largest undeveloped copper deposit in the world, named Pebble, in Alaska. Pebble and other five major copper projects totaling over 11 billion tonnes in copper resources have been delayed because of the Federal permitting process.
The Largest Undeveloped Copper Deposit in the World
The Pebble Project has been through a roller coaster of regulatory activity for the past 15 years.
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the depositing of mining waste near the mining project in Alaska, citing potential harm to the local sockeye salmon industry.
However, the veto directly contradicts findings from the Federal government that concluded that mining and fishing could coexist in the region.
“Alaska does resource development better than any other place on the planet, and our opportunities to show the world a better way to extract our resources should not be unfairly preempted by the Federal Government”
–Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy
Projects like Pebble can provide significant economic benefits and support the U.S. transition to a greener future. With the current regulatory uncertainty for U.S. developers, where the much-needed supply of copper will come from is unknown.
Click here to learn more about Pebble.
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