Romania - one of largest lignite producers in EU

Bucharest, Aug 25 /Agerpres/ - Lignite consumption in the European Union has halved in recent decades, reaching 370 million tonnes in 2018 from about 700 million tonnes in 1990, Eurostat figures show on Friday. According to these data, Germany was responsible in 2017 for 44pct of the total amount of lignite consumed in the EU, followed by Poland (16pct), the Czech Republic and Greece (both with 10pct), Bulgaria (9pct) and Romania (7pct). A downward trend is also seen in the case of EU pit-coal consumption, which decreased by 54pct from 497 million tonnes in 1990 to 226 million tonnes in 2018. Eurostat data show that in 2018 only five EU member states produced pit-coal: Poland (63.4 million tonnes or 86pct of total EU production), Czech Republic (4.5 million tonnes), Germany (2.8 million tonnes), United Kingdom (2.6 million tonnes) and Spain (500,000 tons). Comparatively, in 1990 a number of 14 states that are currently part of the EU produced pit-coal. Most of the pit-coal (61pct in 2017) and almost all lignite (93pct in 2017) are destined for electricity production. In 2017, approximately 150 million tonnes of pit-coal and 359 million tonnes of lignite were delivered to the EU power plants for electricity and heat production. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Constantin Balaban; EN - author/editor: Bogdan Gabaroi)