BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Europe draws nearly a third of its energy from nuclear power and just 15 percent from renewable sources such as hydroelectric dams and windmills, according to European Union figures released Thursday.
Seeking to cut its reliance on imported oil and natural gas, the European Union is trying to reduce energy consumption and develop more homegrown sources of power -- such as renewables -- that would also limit its output of greenhouse gases.
But the most recent EU statistics on energy use, from 2006, show that Europeans have been using more power and buying in more imports over the past decade. [1]
Energy use rose 7 percent from 1997 to 2006. As oil and gas from the North Sea run out, Europe is also importing far more energy, up 29 percent over the same period.
Most of that energy comes from fossil fuels such as crude oil and natural gas, which are usually imported.
Russia has emerged as a major supplier. In 2006, it provided a third of Europe's oil imports and 40 percent of the natural gas Europe bought.
A fifth of Europe's energy came from natural gas -- which is often burned to produce electricity -- and 14 percent from oil used as transport fuel. Another 22 percent comes from coal and wood.
Nuclear energy is the biggest source of power for the 27-nation bloc at 29 percent although the technology is highly controversial.
France, a major advocate, champions it as a low-carbon emission fuel source that produces most of the nation's electricity. But Germany and many eastern European countries plan to shut down older atomic power stations over safety concerns.
This wave of plant closures has already seen one country, Lithuania, cut its power production by just over a tenth as a Soviet-era plant was closed four years ago because it was unsafe.