IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v12y2019i6p964-d213386.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption and Environmental Impacts in European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Florinda Martins

    (REQUIMTE/LAQV/ISEP, School of Engineering, P. Porto 4249-015, Portugal)

  • Carlos Felgueiras

    (CIETI/ISEP, School of Engineering, P. Porto 4249-015, Portugal)

  • Miroslava Smitkova

    (Institute of Power and Applied Electrical Engineering, FEI - Slovak University of Technology, Ilkovicova 3, 812 19 Bratislava 1, Slovakia)

  • Nídia Caetano

    (CIETI/ISEP, School of Engineering, P. Porto 4249-015, Portugal
    LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

The use of fossil fuels as the main source of energy for most countries has caused several negative environmental impacts, such as global warming and air pollution. Air pollution causes many health problems, causing social and economic negative effects. Worldwide efforts are being made to avoid global warming consequences through the establishment of international agreements that then lead to local policies adapted to the development of each signing nation. In addition, there is a depletion of nonrenewable resources which may be scarce or nonexistent in future generations. The preservation of resources, which is a common goal of the Circular Economy strategy and of sustainable development, is not being accomplished nowadays. In this work, the calculation of indicators and mathematical and statistical analysis were applied to clarify and evidence the trends, provide information for the decision-making process, and increase public awareness. The fact that European countries do not possess abundant reserves of fossil fuels will not change, but the results of this analysis can evolve in the future. In this work, fossil fuel energy consumption, fossil fuel depletion, and their relationship with other variables, such as energy dependence and share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, were analyzed for 29 European countries. Furthermore, it was possible to conclude that many European countries still depend heavily on fossil fuels. Significant differences were not found in what concerns gross inland consumption per capita when the Kruskal–Wallis test was applied. It was possible to estimate that by 2050 (considering Jazz scenario) it will only remain approximately 14% of oil proven reserves, 72% of coal proven reserves and 18% of gas proven reserves. Given the small reserves of European countries on fossil fuels, if they need to use them, they will fast disappear.

Suggested Citation

  • Florinda Martins & Carlos Felgueiras & Miroslava Smitkova & Nídia Caetano, 2019. "Analysis of Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption and Environmental Impacts in European Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-11, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:6:p:964-:d:213386
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/6/964/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/6/964/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scarlat, Nicolae & Dallemand, Jean-François & Monforti-Ferrario, Fabio & Banja, Manjola & Motola, Vincenzo, 2015. "Renewable energy policy framework and bioenergy contribution in the European Union – An overview from National Renewable Energy Action Plans and Progress Reports," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 969-985.
    2. Coady, David & Parry, Ian & Sears, Louis & Shang, Baoping, 2017. "How Large Are Global Fossil Fuel Subsidies?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 11-27.
    3. Zheng, Shiming & Yi, Hongtao & Li, Hui, 2015. "The impacts of provincial energy and environmental policies on air pollution control in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 386-394.
    4. Bauer, Nico & Hilaire, Jérôme & Brecha, Robert J. & Edmonds, Jae & Jiang, Kejun & Kriegler, Elmar & Rogner, Hans-Holger & Sferra, Fabio, 2016. "Assessing global fossil fuel availability in a scenario framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 580-592.
    5. Savvidis, Georgios & Siala, Kais & Weissbart, Christoph & Schmidt, Lukas & Borggrefe, Frieder & Kumar, Subhash & Pittel, Karen & Madlener, Reinhard & Hufendiek, Kai, 2019. "The gap between energy policy challenges and model capabilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 503-520.
    6. Pillot, Benjamin & Muselli, Marc & Poggi, Philippe & Dias, João Batista, 2019. "Historical trends in global energy policy and renewable power system issues in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 113-124.
    7. Sugiawan, Yogi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2019. "New evidence of energy-growth nexus from inclusive wealth," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 40-48.
    8. Lott, Melissa C. & Pye, Steve & Dodds, Paul E., 2017. "Quantifying the co-impacts of energy sector decarbonisation on outdoor air pollution in the United Kingdom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 42-51.
    9. Sheinbaum-Pardo, Claudia & Ruiz-Mendoza, Belizza Janet & Rodríguez-Padilla, Víctor, 2012. "Mexican energy policy and sustainability indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 278-283.
    10. Blazquez, Jorge & Nezamuddin, Nora & Zamrik, Tamim, 2018. "Economic policy instruments and market uncertainty: Exploring the impact on renewables adoption," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 224-233.
    11. Hossain, M.S. & Madlool, N.A. & Rahim, N.A. & Selvaraj, J. & Pandey, A.K. & Khan, Abdul Faheem, 2016. "Role of smart grid in renewable energy: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1168-1184.
    12. Saffari, Mohammad & de Gracia, Alvaro & Fernández, Cèsar & Belusko, Martin & Boer, Dieter & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2018. "Optimized demand side management (DSM) of peak electricity demand by coupling low temperature thermal energy storage (TES) and solar PV," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 604-616.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Talan, Amogh & Rao, Amar & Sharma, Gagan Deep & Apostu, Simona-Andreea & Abbas, Shujaat, 2023. "Transition towards clean energy consumption in G7: Can financial sector, ICT and democracy help?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Müller, Inga M., 2022. "Energy system modeling with aggregated time series: A profiling approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    3. Roman Mendelevitch, 2018. "Testing supply-side climate policies for the global steam coal market—can they curb coal consumption?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 57-72, September.
    4. Abdul Rehman & Magdalena Radulescu & Laura Mariana Cismaș & Cristian-Mihai Cismaș & Abbas Ali Chandio & Smaranda (Toma) Simoni, 2022. "Renewable Energy, Urbanization, Fossil Fuel Consumption, and Economic Growth Dilemma in Romania: Examining the Short- and Long-Term Impact," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-18, September.
    5. McCulloch, Neil & Natalini, Davide & Hossain, Naomi & Justino, Patricia, 2022. "An exploration of the association between fuel subsidies and fuel riots," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. Gils, Hans Christian & Gardian, Hedda & Kittel, Martin & Schill, Wolf-Peter & Zerrahn, Alexander & Murmann, Alexander & Launer, Jann & Fehler, Alexander & Gaumnitz, Felix & van Ouwerkerk, Jonas & Bußa, 2022. "Modeling flexibility in energy systems — comparison of power sector models based on simplified test cases," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    7. Jon Sampedro & Iñaki Arto & Mikel González-Eguino, 2017. "Implications of Switching Fossil Fuel Subsidies to Solar: A Case Study for the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Aneesh A. Chand & Maria Malvoni & Kushal A. Prasad & Kabir A. Mamun & F.R. Islam & Shauhrat S. Chopra, 2020. "Distributed Energy Resources and the Application of AI, IoT, and Blockchain in Smart Grids," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-42, November.
    9. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "The intended and unintended consequences of large electricity subsidies: evidence from Mongolia," Discussion Papers 2202, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    10. Lei Li & Yude Wu & Yi Lu & Xiao Yang & Qiyang Wang & Xiaoai Wang & Yulin Wang, 2022. "Numerical Simulation on the Structural Design of a Multi-Pore Water Diffuser during the External Ice Melting Process of an Ice Storage System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    11. Kolasa, Piotr & Janowski, Mirosław, 2017. "Study of possibilities to store energy virtually in a grid (VESS) with the use of smart metering," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1513-1517.
    12. Ikutegbe, Charles A. & Farid, Mohammed M., 2020. "Application of phase change material foam composites in the built environment: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    13. Mesagan, Ekundayo & Adenuga , Juliet, 2020. "Effects of Oil Resource Endowment, Natural Gas and Agriculture Output: Policy Options for Inclusive Growth," BizEcons Quarterly, Strides Educational Foundation, vol. 8, pages 15-34.
    14. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2021. "Distributional Impacts of Carbon Pricing: A Meta-Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(1), pages 1-42, January.
    15. Eduardo Polloni-Silva & Diogo Ferraz & Flávia de Castro Camioto & Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento Rebelatto & Herick Fernando Moralles, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Pollution-Halo/Haven Hypotheses: An Investigation in Brazilian Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-19, April.
    16. Wang, Qiang & Kwan, Mei-Po & Zhou, Kan & Fan, Jie & Wang, Yafei & Zhan, Dongsheng, 2019. "Impacts of residential energy consumption on the health burden of household air pollution: Evidence from 135 countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 284-295.
    17. Barnea, Gil & Hagemann, Christian & Wurster, Stefan, 2022. "Policy instruments matter: Support schemes for renewable energy capacity in worldwide comparison," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    18. Simplice A. Asongu & Joseph Amankwah‐Amoah & Rexon T. Nting & Godfred Adjapong Afrifa, 2021. "Information Technology and Gender Economic Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 120-133, April.
    19. Russo, Marianna & Bertsch, Valentin, 2020. "A looming revolution: Implications of self-generation for the risk exposure of retailers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    20. Jabeen, Gul & Ahmad, Munir & Zhang, Qingyu, 2021. "Perceived critical factors affecting consumers’ intention to purchase renewable generation technologies: Rural-urban heterogeneity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:6:p:964-:d:213386. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.