The line graph illustrates the percentage of energy generated from coal in four European nations – Sweden, France, Denmark, and Germany – over a fifteen-year period from 1995 to 2010.
Overall, all four countries experienced a decline in their reliance on coal for energy production during this period. Denmark and Germany demonstrated the most dramatic reductions, while Sweden and France showed more moderate decreases before stabilizing at relatively consistent levels.
Denmark and Germany exhibited the most significant changes in coal energy production throughout the period. Denmark began at the highest proportion in 1995, with 60% of its energy derived from coal, before experiencing a continuous and steep decline to merely 10% by 2010. Similarly, Germany started at 55% in 1995 and decreased sharply to reach its lowest point of approximately 5% in 2007. However, unlike Denmark’s consistent downward trend, Germany’s coal energy proportion recovered noticeably to 17% by the end of the period, representing an increase of 12 percentage points from its 2007 minimum
In contrast, Sweden and France displayed more gradual and stable patterns. Sweden’s coal energy proportion fell moderately from 35% in 1995 to approximately 28% by 2010, with the decline occurring primarily in the initial years before leveling off around 28-30% for the remainder of the period. France followed a similar trajectory, decreasing from 30% to 24% between 1995 and 2010, with most of the reduction taking place in the late 1990s before stabilizing at approximately 23-25%. By 2010, both Sweden and France maintained higher proportions of coal energy compared to Denmark and Germany, with Sweden recording the highest figure among all four countries at 28%.