The consumption of hard coal in the EU declined by 4% year on year to 226 million tonnes in 2018, according to the EU's statistics watchdog Eurostat on Friday.
Gross inland consumption of hard coal in the EU decreased steadily during the 1990s and then stabilized at between 360 and 380 million tonnes for almost a decade, the watchdog said.
'Following a sharp decline and a brief recovery between 2008 and 2012, consumption has continued to decrease. In 2018, consumption of hard coal was 54% below the level of 497 million tonnes in 1990,' Eurostat said.
- Production
The production of hard coal in the EU has also been falling year on year, according to Eurostat.
'In 2018, production stood at 74 million tonnes, 6% below the level in 2017 and 80% less than the 368 million tonnes in 1990,' it said.
The watchdog noted that in 2018, five member states produced hard coal, including Poland with 63.4 million tonnes, Czechia with 4.5 million tonnes, Germany with 2.8 million tonnes, the U.K. with 2.6 million tonnes and Spain with 0.5 million tonnes.
In 1990, the number of current EU member states producing hard coal totalled 14, it concluded.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr