Energy in Luxembourg describes
energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
and
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
production, consumption and import in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
.
Energy policy of Luxembourg will describe the
politics of Luxembourg
The politics of Luxembourg takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Luxembourg is the head of government, and the multi-party system. Executive power is under the constituti ...
related to energy in greater detail.
Electricity sector in Luxembourg is the main article of electricity in Luxembourg.
Luxembourg is a net energy importer. Primary energy use in Luxembourg was 48 TWh in 2009, or 98 TWh per million inhabitants.
[IEA Key energy statistics 2010]
Page: Country specific indicator numbers from page 48
Overview
There was no decline in the climate change gas emissions () from year 2008 to 2012 in Luxembourg. There was no better efficiency in the use of electricity from 2008 to 2012.
Electricity
In 2008, electricity use per person in Luxembourg was 2.6 times greater than in the United Kingdom.
The
1970s energy crisis
The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...
led
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
to briefly consider constructing a nuclear power plant. In 1972
RWE
RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. The company is Europe's most climate threatening Company, the world's number two in offsh ...
and the government negotiated a project to build a 1,200 MW
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
along the
Moselle river
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblen ...
near
Remerschen
Remerschen ( lb, Rëmerschen) is a former commune and small wine-growing town in south-eastern Luxembourg, belonging to the commune of Schengen, near the point where the borders of Germany, France and Luxembourg come together.
, the town of Remer ...
. In 1974 there were already signs that there was little support for the project among public opinion. The opposition to the project grew, and became more organized, ultimately forcing the government to cancel the project at the end of 1977.
Subsequently, the construction of the large
French Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant
The Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in Grand Est in the Cattenom commune, France, on the Moselle River between Thionville (7 km upstream) and Trier (48 km downstream). It is close to the city of Luxembo ...
in 1979 close to the Luxembourg border caused tensions between the two countries.
Renewable energy
Luxembourg is the EU country with the second smallest forecast penetration of renewables, with the
NREAP assuming that only 12% of electricity consumption will be covered by renewables in 2020.
At the end of 2010 the installed capacity of wind power covered on average 1.1% of electricity use. This is among the lowest in Europe, with only
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, Slovakia, Slovenia and
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
generating a smaller share of their electricity from wind power. In comparison,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
can generate over half of its electricity from wind power under optimal wind conditions in 2010.
Climate change
Emissions of
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
in total, per capita in 2007 were 22.4 tons CO
2 compared to EU 27 average 7.9 tons .
1990 emissions were 13 Mt
eqKyoto protocol
The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...
target is reduction of 4 Mt (28%).
Wind energy and EU climate policy Achieving 30% lower emissions by 2020
EWEA October 2011 p. 39
See also
* Cegedel
Cegedel S.A. (until 17 May 1997 the Compagnie Grand-Ducale d'Électricité du Luxembourg ( en, Grand Ducal Electricity Company of Luxembourg)), was a Luxembourg company that distributed electricity. It operated under a concession written into th ...
* List of Ministers for Energy of Luxembourg
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luxembourg