OREANDA-NEWS. The Statistical Office of the European Union Eurostat issued today a digital publication "Shedding light on energy in the EU – A guided tour of energy statistics". This digital publication will serve in particular those who would like to better understand the challenges faced by the Energy Union, one of the ten priorities of the European Commission.

The digital publication tackles four questions which citizens would most frequently ask:

What is the Energy Union about?

This part gives an overview of the five dimensions of the Energy Union. It includes a video where Commissioner ?ef?ovi? and Commissioner Ca?ete explain EU policy.

Where does our energy come from?

This section describes where the energy in the EU comes from, meaning what is produced in the EU and what is imported. The imports are visualised in interactive flow maps, while the energy flows, from source to final use, are described in a very detailed way through interactive Sankey diagrams. From this section, readers will learn for example that in 2014 the EU depended on energy imports for 53% of its consumption, ranging from below 20% in Estonia, Denmark and Romania to over 90% in Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus.

Which kind of energy do we consume and how much does it cost?

This chapter gives information on what kind of energy is consumed in the EU and what sources are used for electricity. Another part deals with how much electricity and gas cost for households and industries. The different sources used to produce electricity are shown in an animation and energy consumption is presented through an interactive visualisation tool. An interesting figure from this part shows that petroleum products accounted for 40% of energy consumption in the EU in 2014, ranging from below 30% in Slovakia, Finland, the Czech Republic and Sweden to over 65% in Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta.