Increasing the EU’s Energy Independence

This report outlines a strategy to halve the European Union's dependence on imported natural gas by 2030 through cost-effective energy efficiency measures and accelerated renewable energy deployment. By targeting the buildings, industry, and energy production sectors, the EU could reduce its net natural gas imports by more than half and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 49% relative to 1990 levels, exceeding the targets set in the EU's 2030 Framework.

• The EU's dependence on imported energy was 54 per cent of total primary energy demand in 2012, with natural gas import dependence reaching 66 per cent in 2012, an increase from 45 per cent in 1990.
• The 'Energy Independence 2030' scenario suggests that cost-effective efficiency measures and realistic renewable energy developments could reduce the EU's natural gas imports by more than half and lower greenhouse gas emissions by 49 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2030.
• In the buildings sector, which represents 39 per cent of final energy consumption in the EU, cost-effective energy efficiency and modest renewable energy improvements could displace 58 per cent of natural gas consumption by 2030, representing 23 per cent of total current EU natural gas consumption.
• The deployment of existing cost-effective technologies in the industrial sector could lead to a 20 per cent reduction in industrial natural gas consumption by 2030, which equals 5 per cent of all natural gas currently consumed in the EU.
• Accelerating renewable energy growth and improving efficiency in the energy production sector could reduce its natural gas consumption by 63 per cent by 2030, accounting for a 19 per cent reduction in total current EU natural gas consumption.
• Domestic natural gas production in the EU is projected to decline as resources are depleted, and the development of substantial shale gas production before 2030 is considered unlikely due to technical, economic, and environmental drawbacks.
• Import dependence varies by member state; while the United Kingdom and Romania have relatively low imports and Denmark and the Netherlands are net exporters, six countries (Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, and Bulgaria) are fully dependent on Russian imports.

APA

de Vos, R., van Breevoort, P., Hagemann, M., & Höhne, N. (2014). Increasing the EU’s Energy Independence. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/ecofys-ocn-2014-increasing-the-eu-s-energy-independence.pdf

Chicago

de Vos, Rolf, Pieter van Breevoort, Markus Hagemann, and Niklas Höhne. Increasing the EU’s Energy Independence. World Resources Institute, 2014. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/ecofys-ocn-2014-increasing-the-eu-s-energy-independence.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Vos |first1=Rolf |last2=van Breevoort |first2=Pieter |last3=Hagemann |first3=Markus |last4=Höhne |first4=Niklas |title=Increasing the EU’s Energy Independence |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=October 2014 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/ecofys-ocn-2014-increasing-the-eu-s-energy-independence.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{devos2014increasing, author = {de Vos, Rolf and van Breevoort, Pieter and Hagemann, Markus and Höhne, Niklas}, title = {{Increasing the EU’s Energy Independence}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/ecofys-ocn-2014-increasing-the-eu-s-energy-independence.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }