Environmental impact of energy consumption in Belgium: past, present and future

Within the European Union (EU15) Belgium has one of the highest primary energy consumption figures per inhabitant. This has obviously its environmental consequences especially when one takes into account that some 10 million Belgians are living, working and moving on 30.500 km(2). The fact that this small country is densely populated, with major industrial areas, hectic local and transit traffic, and with a very short coastline (some 65 km), means that renewable energy sources are not only very scarce, but also actually underdeveloped. The paper presents and comments on: - the trends with respect to primary and final energy consumption; - the corresponding CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions; - the ambient SO2 and NO2 levels in Belgium's five largest cities; - the evolution of the electricity sector; - with focus on the "nuclear exit starting in 2014"; - the possible role of green electricity generated in Belgium; - and the hard to reach Kyoto objectives in 2010.