Energy suppliesGross electricity generation fuel structure for selected European countries (in 2007, in %)

Europe is striving to replace fossil fuels for generating electricity – partly through the use of nuclear energy and partly through the use of renewable energies. Geographic aspects play a particularly important role in this respect. Countries such as Austria and Sweden can utilise their enormous hydropower potential whereas this option hardly exists in Germany because of the geographic conditions. France, on the other hand, relies mainly on nuclear energy (78%) for its electricity generation. Not least because of the large coal reserves, fossil fuels are used considerable more for German electricity supplies than are used in the three other aforementioned countries. However, the largest proportion of fossil fuels is used in Ireland with 90% and in the Netherlands with 86%.