Background of Portuguese Domestic Energy Consumption at European Level

The energy consumptions in households and the energy resources used for fulfilling the energy needs have been changing in a quite short period of time. The present study aims to provide a background of the energy consumptions in Portugal in a European context. A significant part of the energy consumptions is related to buildings. It is estimated that buildings use about 40% of all the energy needs in Europe. In that way, buildings, including households, play a major role in the energy consumptions in Europe. In Portugal the energy consumption of buildings represents about 30% of the final energy consumption of the country and actually electricity plays a major role in the households energy needs. In European households as well as in Portuguese households the energy required is mainly for cooking, for electrical equipment, for heating and cooling the houses, for domestic hot waters (DHW), and for artificial lighting.