No decrease in the energy consumption
In 2010, at 42 % industry was responsible for the largest part of the Flemish energy consumption. In 2010 the total industrial energy consumption was still 7 % higher than in 2000. The cause of this increase was an increasing non-energetic energy consumption
(+23 % between 2000 and 2010). The energetic energy consumption decreased slightly (-2 %). The non-energetic energy consumption is found mostly in the chemical subsector which uses energy carriers as raw material for various production processes (for example, natural gas for the production of ammonia in synthetic fertiliser production, naphtha as the basis for plastics …) and represented 43 % of the industrial energy consumption in 2010.
In 2009, the total industrial energy consumption decreased by
12 % with respect to 2008 as a result of the reduced activity due to the financial-economic crisis (production index -15 %). In 2010 the economy recovered again, resulting in an increase in the energy consumption in all industrial subsectors. For the whole industry the increase in the energy consumption was 17 % with respect to 2009 while the production index increased by 7 %. In the chemical subsector, in 2010 responsible for 61 % of the industrial energy consumption, the energy increase in 2010 was 19 % with respect to 2009. The production index of the chemical subsector increased by 21 % in that period.