Coal production and consumption in European Union (EU) countries increased year on year by 5% and 2%, respectively, in 2022, according to Eurostat data on Thursday.
Production reached 349 million tonnes while consumption rose to 454 million tonnes.
‘This rebound started in 2021 and was mainly driven by lignite, a solid fossil fuel with low energy content belonging to the bigger category of brown coal,’ Eurostat said.
The EU produced 294 million tonnes of brown coal in 2022, marking a rise of 6% from 2021.
Despite the recent rebound in production, numbers stayed below pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
According to the latest data, nine EU member countries produce brown coal, with Germany leading as the main producer, accounting for 44% of the EU’s total brown coal production last year with 131 million tonnes.
Other member states include Poland with a 19% share, Bulgaria with 12%, Czechia with 11%, and contributions from Romania, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia.
The data showed total hard coal consumption of 160 million tonnes in 2022.
