According to data published by Eurostat, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels in the EU have increased by 6.3 % in 2021 compared to the previous year. Bulgaria had the largest increase with a registered increase of 18 % year-on-year.
Bulgaria generated higher quantities of CO2 due to increased use of liquid fossil fuels excluding biofuels (by 7 %), solid fossil fuels excluding peat (by 27.2 %) and natural gas (by 12.6 %).
The CO2 emissions from energy use were the biggest contributors to global warning. In 2021, they constituted approximately 75 % of all greenhouse gases produced by human activity in the EU.
The factors that have an impact on the environment include the unusual climate conditions, such as longer and colder winters and hotter summers, the economic growth, transport and industrial activities.
The harmful emissions sources are localized to the countries where the fuels are burned to produce electricity or manufacture steel. This affects the import and export of energy products for each country.
The other EU member states that saw the highest percentage growth in CO2 producers are Estonia (+13.1 %), Slovakia (+11.4 %), and Italy (+10.6 %). The only member states that registered a decrease are Portugal (-5.5 %) and Finland (-1.5 %).
The use of solid and liquid fossil fuels, as well as natural gas all had negative impact on the CO2 emissions, while the increased use of peat had a slight positive effect.
