In 2012, energy from renewable sources was estimated to have a contribution of 14.1 percent of gross final energy consumption in the European Union (EU), according to the EU statistical office Eurostat Monday.

The share of renewables in EU's gross final energy consumption was 8.3 percent in 2004 when this data was firstly available.

Since 2004, the share of renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy grew in all member states. The largest increases during this period were recorded in Sweden (from 38.7 percent in 2004 to 51.0 percent in 2012), Denmark (from 14.5 percent to 26.0 percent), Austria (from 22.7 percent to 32.1 percent).

The highest shares of renewable energy in final energy consumption in 2012 were found in Sweden (51.0 percent), Latvia (35.8 percent), Finland (34.3 percent) and Austria (32.1percent), and the lowest in Malta (1.4 percent), Luxembourg (3.1 percent), the Britain (4.2 percent) and the Netherlands (4.5 percent).

In 2011, Estonia was the first EU member state to reach its 2020 target and in 2012 Bulgaria, Estonia and Sweden already achieved their 2020 targets (16 percent, 25 percent and 49 percent respectively).

The national targets take into account the member states' different starting points, renewable energy potential and economic performance. The target to be reached by 2020 for EU as a whole is 20 percent, according to the Europe 2020 strategy. Endi