By effectively identifying and implementing regional energy policies that support the EUâ??s energy and environmental strategy, itâ??s worth recognising those factors that can influence energy consumption, says Michèle Sabban, President of the Assembly o

It goes without saying that, as something affecting all European regions, energy remains very much a key aspect of the AER’s agenda. Our inaugural European Regions Energy Day, held in conjunction with power generation and energy delivery technology supplier, GE Energy, during April, succeeded in its primary objective of bringing this important issue to the fore.

This event unveiled the results of an exclusive survey which examined and analysed how energy policies are formulated at regional and local levels, while evaluating needs and expectations in terms of sustainable energy practices. Part of the findings of this invaluable study proved that energy landscapes in European regions are determined by various political and natural factors, including economic structure and strategic policy orientations, as well as climatic, territorial and morphological considerations.

Political and economic influences

Indeed, our study supports the idea that energy markets are still strongly interwoven with major political and economic decisions. For instance, after the oil crisis of the 1970s, French political leaders advocated greater global use of nuclear power, as a means of ensuring a higher level of supply security and independence from the world’s major petroleum exporters. Based on this strategy, over 90% of electricity generated in France’s Rhône-Alpes region is today derived from nuclear power plants, while more than 50% of the overall energy production in the Alsace region is nuclear-based. As a result, these regions are now highly self-reliant in terms of electricity supply.

Importantly, France’s example is not an isolated case; despite once being at the forefront of the anti-nuclear campaign, Sweden recently lifted its ban on nuclear energy production as part of a new political drive to increase energy security and effectively tackle the challenges of global warming. This move towards nuclear power as a viable alternative energy source has seen the Jönköping and Örebro regions derive 9% and 26% of energy consumption, respectively, from nuclear fuel.

Sweden is also set to benefit from even greater power plant performance and reliability, thanks to a recent deal with Global Nuclear Fuel – a joint venture between GE, Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba – which will see the company supply innovative nuclear fuel technology to the Oskarshamn nuclear power station, located on the country’s east coast.

Also recognising the fact that nuclear energy generates electricity with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions, is Poland. This has seen the country’s largest power company reach an agreement with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to collaborate on an initiative to build two next-generation commercial nuclear power plants as the country seeks an alternative to coal-based technologies.

Further embracement of nuclear energy is evidenced by its importation into other regions, such as in central Finland where it accounts for 30% of the total amount of imported electricity, and in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where 24.4% of energy consumption is nuclear-based.

Another primary factor affecting regional energy demand is that of economic structure, where the type of activities practiced in a particular area will invariably represent an important yardstick for measuring energy consumption. Those regions in which primary industries are prevalent will typically see agriculture, forestry and fishery as leading energy consumers. This is reflected by the significant levels of energy recorded in farming activities across regions like Lapland in Finland; Lower Silesia, Poland; and Békés, Hungary.

Similarly, regions reliant upon heavy industry have to also contend with excessively high energy demands, an issue exemplified by the Albanian region of Elbasan, whose large scale chromium, cement and brick production continues to put strain on the area’s energy production. This also applies to other energy-intensive industries found in pockets across European regions, and includes metal processing, textiles, building, chemicals, as well as paper and pulp manufacturing.

At the same time, heavily urbanised areas in which services are a predominant aspect of the economic structure, also bear the brunt of high energy consumption, such is the case in urban centres like Brussels, Belgium; the Ile de France area of Paris; and Castilla y Léon in Spain. It is also clear that another energy-consuming sector within urban regions is transport; with their high accumulation of economic activity, towns and cities are typically complex spatial structures, usually supported by a public transit system. The constant traffic flow in agglomeration areas can be attributed to a number of reasons, including rapid motorisation, increasingly important human mobility, heavy reliance on private vehicles and a continual rise in economic activity linked to a souring demand for freight services. This is especially so of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, where transport accounts for a massive 29% of overall energy consumption.

Territorial and climatic drivers

Another means of better understanding regional trends in energy consumption can be obtained by considering geographic factors. For example, the high level of energy-intensive travelling evident in the mountainous regions of Austria, Italy and Switzerland can be partly attributed to the ground elevation of these areas. Similarly, in the Scandinavian regions of Keski-Pohjanmaa, Finland; and Örebro, Västra Götaland and Ostragötaland in Sweden, the transport sector and households consume large amounts of energy as a result of long distance travelling and an increased need for heating during severely cold periods.

While this may well remain an irksome issue for those living in such regions, the emergence of innovative devices like GE Energy’s Home Energy Panel, at least afford consumers the means of better managing power usage and understanding costs. This particular system consolidates data from smart meters, appliances and thermostats into a single information panel to deliver the real-time knowledge that empowers smarter energy choices. By providing more information about their energy usage, GE Energy anticipate that consumers will become better energy stewards and take charge of their energy use and carbon footprint.

External energy needs of islands

It’s worth noting that island regions have their own peculiar energy situations. As a result of their often remote locations, outer continental regions have a greater dependence on both air and maritime traffic. Not only that, but given the invariable shortage, or indeed often complete lack of internal resources, it is usually necessary to import fuel used in transportation. This requirement not only increases the overall cost of mobility but also intensifies the dependence of island regions on external energy provisions. Two examples that illustrate this are the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain, where transport consumes 58% of energy; and the French island of Corsica, where almost 50% of total energy consumption comes from transport.

Of course, ensuring effective transportation links with inland points is vital when it comes to providing critical public services and enabling territorial cohesion, but all the island regions stress that this should be achieved in accordance with environmental standards. This has led the authorities of Bornholm in Denmark to consider using ethanol for fuel production. Produced renewably from agricultural crops or from recycled waste and residues, ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the energy efficiency of transportation systems. Clearly, energy consumption and energy efficiency are strongly linked to the territory, and energy saving strategies should be developed on the lowest possible level to take into account specific territorial particularities.

The outcome of the AER survey demonstrates that energy consumption in European regions is driven by a number of different factors and that these may often have a decisive impact upon how energy is produced and consumed at a local level. By highlighting these various factors, the AER study provides a basis for European regions to share best-practice methods in terms of alternative energy choices and consider the appropriate policies required to address respective energy demands. With GE Energy as the natural partner for the AER, the company offers the full portfolio of energy and infrastructure solutions allowing them make recommendations to the regions based on every technological energy solution available today – be it in the coal, oil, green energy sources, natural gas or nuclear energy sources.