See an overview of on energy use in Ireland broken down by fuel, sector and mode.
Annual energy flow
Oil,TPER,7147.7 Nat. Gas,TPER,4480.3 Coal,TPER,724.6 Peat,TPER,686 Non-Renewable Wastes,TPER,145.4 Wind,TPER,743 Hydo,TPER,59.7 Biomass & Other Renewables,TPER,668.6 TPER,Transformation losses,2350.4 TPER,TFC,12324.2 Transformation losses,Briquetting,11.4 Transformation losses,Natural Gas Own Use/Loss,57.5 Transformation losses,Oil Refining,93 Transformation losses,Electricity Transformation & Distribution Losses,2188.5 TFC,Electricity Exports (net),2.4 TFC,Agriculture & Fisheries,250.7 TFC,Commercial/Public,1484.3 TFC,Industry,2601.1 TFC,Residential,2786.2 TFC,Transport,5201.9
This graph shows the energy balance for Ireland in 2018.
Primary energy
On the left are the primary energy inputs to the Irish energy system. Primary energy includes the raw fuels that are used for transformation processes such as electricity generation and oil refining. The sum of all primary energy is the Total Primary Energy Requirement (TPER). Fossil fuels accounted for 89% of all energy used in Ireland in 2018.
Final energy
On the right are the sources of demand for final energy. Final energy includes the energy used directly in the different sectors such as transport, residential and industry. Final energy does not include energy lost during transformation processes such as electricity generation. The sum of all final energy used in all sectors is known as Total Final Consumption (TFC). Transport has been by far the largest source of energy demand in Ireland since 2000.
Also on the right is the energy that is lost during transformation processes such as electricity generation and oil refining. The electricity system has become much more efficient since 2000 but is still only just over 50% efficient. This means that almost half of all the energy used to generate electricity is lost before it gets to the final customer.
Primary energy by fuel
Primary energy by fuel (Mtoe),Oil,Gas,Renewables,Coal,Peat,Wastes Non-Renewable,Electricity Imports 2000,7.86,3.06,0.24,1.81,0.8,0,0.01 2001,8.49,3.14,0.23,1.88,0.86,0,0 2002,8.39,3.33,0.26,1.75,0.89,0,0.04 2003,8.1,3.66,0.24,1.74,0.8,0,0.1 2004,8.68,3.65,0.28,1.8,0.58,0,0.14 2005,9.13,3.5,0.37,1.88,0.79,0,0.18 2006,8.95,3.97,0.43,1.63,0.76,0,0.15 2007,8.98,4.26,0.49,1.6,0.75,0,0.11 2008,8.9,4.52,0.59,1.41,0.87,0,0.04 2009,7.73,4.3,0.68,1.14,0.86,0.01,0.07 2010,7.29,4.71,0.68,1.23,0.76,0.01,0.04 2011,6.79,4.15,0.83,1.23,0.72,0.01,0.04 2012,6.25,4.04,0.82,1.49,0.79,0.05,0.04 2013,6.3,3.86,0.89,1.31,0.74,0.06,0.19 2014,6.25,3.73,1,1.23,0.78,0.07,0.18 2015,6.65,3.77,1.14,1.43,0.77,0.07,0.06 2016,6.95,4.25,1.13,1.37,0.73,0.07,0 2017,6.92,4.32,1.34,1.1,0.69,0.11,0 2018,7.15,4.48,1.47,0.72,0.69,0.15,0
Primary energy by fuel 2017 (%),2018 Oil,48.8 Gas,30.6 Renewables,10 Coal,4.9 Peat,4.7 Wastes Non-Renewable,1 Electricity Imports,0
Primary energy peaked in 2008 and declined between 2008 and 2014, due to the recession. Following the recovery in the economy, primary energy returned to growth in 2015 and 2016. It remained flat in 2017, but grew by 1.6% in 2018.
Oil
Oil continues to be the dominant energy source and maintained a 49% share of primary energy in 2017. Consumption of oil increased by 3% in 2018 but remained 22% lower than in 2005. Oil is mostly used for transport, followed by heating. 2018 was a slightly colder year than 2017 which resulted in higher oil use in the residential and commercial sectors.
Natural gas
Natural gas is the next largest energy source and accounted for 31% of primary energy in 2018. Most natural gas is used for generating electricity. It accounted for 54% of energy inputs to electricity generation in 2018.
Renewables
Total renewable energy increased by 10% during 2018. Wind is by far the largest source of renewable energy, accounting for 55% of all renewable energy in 2018. It grew by 15% in that year. Renewable energy accounted for 10.0% of primary energy in 2018, up from 9.3% in 2017.
Final energy by sector
Final energy by sector (Mtoe),Transport,Residential,Industry,Services,Agriculture & Fisheries 2000,4.1,2.5,2.55,1.3,0.35 2001,4.39,2.64,2.52,1.35,0.36 2002,4.5,2.61,2.44,1.4,0.36 2003,4.55,2.72,2.44,1.54,0.37 2004,4.74,2.84,2.49,1.47,0.37 2005,5.08,2.94,2.63,1.57,0.38 2006,5.44,2.97,2.67,1.5,0.36 2007,5.72,2.9,2.58,1.59,0.34 2008,5.45,3.14,2.49,1.75,0.36 2009,4.86,3.08,2.19,1.53,0.31 2010,4.6,3.26,2.26,1.47,0.29 2011,4.43,2.83,2.22,1.33,0.28 2012,4.18,2.71,2.18,1.33,0.27 2013,4.35,2.75,2.22,1.29,0.25 2014,4.52,2.52,2.29,1.24,0.23 2015,4.79,2.66,2.36,1.28,0.22 2016,4.97,2.68,2.43,1.34,0.23 2017,5.07,2.61,2.48,1.39,0.24 2018,5.2,2.79,2.6,1.48,0.25
Final energy by fuel 2017 (%),2017 Transport,42.2 Residential,22.6 Industry,21.1 Services,12 Agriculture & Fisheries,2
Looking at final energy spit by sector, transport has by far the largest share, accounting for 42% of final energy demand in 2018. Transport has been the sector that is most sensitive to the economy. Transport energy demand experienced the greatest reduction after the 2009 recession and has seen the greatest increase since 2012.
The next largest sources of energy demand are households and industry. They accounted for 23% and 20% of final energy use respectively in 2018.
Final energy by mode
Final energy by mode (Mtoe),Transport,Heat,Electricity 2000,4.1,4.97,1.74 2001,4.38,5.07,1.81 2002,4.5,4.94,1.87 2003,4.55,5.1,1.98 2004,4.74,5.19,1.98 2005,5.08,5.43,2.09 2006,5.43,5.29,2.23 2007,5.71,5.2,2.22 2008,5.44,5.45,2.29 2009,4.86,4.94,2.17 2010,4.6,5.1,2.19 2011,4.42,4.53,2.14 2012,4.17,4.42,2.08 2013,4.35,4.43,2.08 2014,4.52,4.21,2.08 2015,4.78,4.37,2.16 2016,4.96,4.49,2.2 2017,5.06,4.49,2.24 2018,5.2,4.79,2.33
Final energy by mode 2017 (%),2017 Transport,42.2 Heat,38.9 Electricity,18.9
We often split energy use into three modes: electricity, transport and heat. If electricity provides transport or heat (electric cars or showers), it is counted under electricity, and not under transport or heat. In this way the three modes are fully separate and add together to give the total energy use.
Transport remains the largest demand accounting for 42% in 2018. Heat is the next largest at 39%. Electricity accounts for the remaining 19%. As it is final energy, this does not include the energy losses from electricity generation.