Production of bioenergy in Europe
In the European Union, electricity generation from biomass has remained steady in recent years, with total contributions of 173.4 terawatt hours in 2021. It is the third greatest source of renewable energy, following wind power and hydraulic power.Energy production from solid biomass notably increased over the past two decades and peaked in 2021 at over 100 million metric tons of oil equivalent. Germany is the largest producer of biomass energy, with France and Sweeden the only other countries with an output in excess of ten million metric tons of oil equivalent. In comparison, primary energy production from biogas climbed to 14.9 million tons of oil equivalent.
Biofuel production and impact of the European bioenergy industry
Much like biomass, biofuel generation has increased greatly in the EU. Since 2000, production has risen from 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to roughly 236,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2021. In 2020, consumption of biofuels for transport in the European Union totaled 15.8 million metric tons of oil equivalent.In terms of the socio-economic impact of the bioenergy sector, the biomass industry was employer to some 353,800 people in 2021. This was significantly more than the number of jobs generated in the biogas industry.
