Contemporary Perspectives on Energy Consumption in the European Union: From System Transformation to Consumer Behaviour

1. Introduction

Energy consumption in European Union member states has become a particularly significant issue in recent years, as it combines several parallel challenges: ensuring the supply is secure, decarbonising, electrifying new sectors of the economy, reducing energy poverty, and improving energy efficiency [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. In this context, research into energy consumption can no longer be limited to a simple description of consumption volumes. It increasingly encompasses the relationships between the structure of energy generation, technological development, consumer behaviour, public policy, and economies’ ability to absorb the costs of the transition [9,10,11,12,13,14,15].

Adopting a multi-level perspective is becoming increasingly critical. On the one hand, the energy transition in Europe is accelerating, and the growing share of renewable energy sources, along with the ongoing electrification of transport and buildings, is changing energy demand patterns [9,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. On the other hand, the effects of rising energy prices, income inequality, and varying infrastructure quality mean that energy consumption remains a social issue, not merely a technical and economic one [18,19,20,21,22]. Therefore, research on energy consumption in the EU must address not only systemic and technological issues but also matters of equity, public acceptance, and the adaptive capacity of households and businesses.

The Special Issue ‘Energy Consumption in the EU Countries: 3rd Edition’ reflects this complexity well. It comprises twelve articles, which, taken together, demonstrate that the analysis of energy consumption in Europe is shifting from a static description to more integrated approaches: from the energy mix and energy security to the electrification of transport to predictive models, social preferences, and energy poverty [23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34]. As a result, this issue is not a single, narrowly defined research trend but rather a map of contemporary research issues that collectively shape the energy research agenda in the EU.

2. Main Research Themes

The first distinct strand of this issue focuses on the energy mix transition, energy security, and the choice of energy generation technologies. This is reflected in a review of hybrid renewable energy systems that highlights the importance of microgrids and HRES for system resilience, local energy balancing, and decarbonisation [23]. Similarly, an article on barriers to the development of green energy in selected EU countries indicates that the development of photovoltaics depends not only on the availability of technology but also on market, infrastructure, environmental, and regulatory conditions [24]. In turn, a study on nuclear energy production in the EU offers a long-term perspective and shows that in some Member States, nuclear energy remains a key element of strategies for stabilising energy supply and reducing emissions [25]. This picture is complemented by an analysis of the causal relationships between energy dependence, human capital, and RES that highlights the interlinkages between the development of renewable energy sources, energy security, and levels of socio-economic development [26,35,36]. Another important addition to this group is an article based on ANP and a social survey conducted across many European countries, showing that energy scenarios must consider not only cost and environmental criteria but also social preferences regarding technologies [27]. The broader context of this strand is reinforced by more recent review papers on the integration of HRES, the role of industrial clusters in the energy transition, and the continued growth in low-carbon electricity generation in the EU [37,38,39,40].

The second strand concerns the electrification of transport as a new area of growth in energy demand and as a tool for decarbonisation. An article on the TSL sector in Poland identifies the main determinants of the development of electric fleets, highlighting the dominant role of economic and technological factors but also the importance of decision-makers’ attitudes and sectoral cooperation [28]. This approach aligns well with a study on public transport in Poland that combined an analysis of funding sources with a forecast of the development of the electric bus fleet and demand for electricity [29]. Both articles demonstrate that transport electrification is not merely a technological process, as it requires simultaneous investment support, infrastructure development, stable regulatory incentives, and adequate energy planning. Their significance is reinforced by the broader literature indicating that the decarbonisation of road and urban transport depends on combining climate targets with cost analysis, charging infrastructure, and models of transport transition in Europe and the integration of diffusion policies and system flexibility [11,12,13,14,41,42,43].

The third strand covers energy consumption at the end-user level, particularly in households and buildings. The socio-behavioural dimension is evident in an article analysing the impact of economic awareness on sustainable energy consumption practices in Polish households. This study shows that a sound knowledge of energy costs and saving techniques translates into more frequent energy-saving behaviours [30]. In the same area, but from a more structural perspective, lies an article on the convergence of energy poverty in the EU. It confirms that there is convergence among Member States in terms of aggregate measures of this phenomenon whilst emphasising the significance of income inequality and the energy intensity of the economy [31]. Combining these two studies is particularly valuable, as it demonstrates that analysing energy consumption at the household level requires a microsocial and macrostructural perspective [18,19,20,21,22,44,45]. From a broader perspective, research into the persistence of energy poverty and the links between the integration of renewable energy sources, housing availability, and energy costs in the social housing stock is also becoming increasingly important [40,44].

A fourth strand comprises research on prediction, modelling, and detection of energy consumption patterns. An article on forecasting energy consumption in residential buildings makes a strong case for developing models that are not only accurate but also interpretable, which is critical for the implementation of practical solutions and building trust in artificial intelligence tools in energy management [32]. In turn, an analysis of the German energy system using the LPMR model demonstrates the usefulness of anomaly detection methods for identifying days with atypical energy consumption profiles, which is important for system balancing and supply planning [33]. This trend clearly demonstrates that modern research into energy consumption is shifting from traditional statistics to advanced predictive and detection models, whose value depends on accuracy, interpretability, and operational applicability [15,16,17,46,47].

Within the broader context of this issue, the article on the electrothermal characteristics of hybrid power modules for industrial servo drives also holds a special place [34]. This is a more technical piece than the others, but its inclusion is no coincidence in the context of this issue. It demonstrates that the debate on energy consumption in Europe does not end at the level of policy, the consumer, or the power system; it also extends to energy conversion efficiency and the reliability of power electronic components, which are essential for the electrification of industry, drives, and mobility [37,38,48].

3. Research Gaps and Future Research Directions

Analysis of this Special Issue highlights several research gaps. Firstly, despite the presence of both macroeconomic and microsocial studies, approaches combining energy policy, consumer behaviour, and the distributional effects of the transition remain relatively underdeveloped. The articles on economic awareness and energy poverty demonstrate that the energy transition does not take place in a social vacuum [30,31]. This issue does not yet provide a comprehensive answer to the question of how regulatory changes, building retrofits, and increased electrification simultaneously affect bills, behaviour, and inequalities across different social groups [18,19,20,21,22,44,45].

Secondly, this Special Issue clearly demonstrates the growing importance of transport electrification, but it also leaves open questions regarding the integration of the transport sector with the electricity system. The articles on TSL and public transport focus mainly on barriers, incentives, and forecasts [28,29], and only to a lesser extent do they explore issues of grid coordination, charging management, demand flexibility, or the impact of local load increases on the security of supply, suggesting there is a need for further research combining transport economics, infrastructure planning, and power system modelling [11,12,13,14,41,42,43].

Thirdly, in the area of predictive and analytical methods, progress towards more intelligent and interpretable models is evident [32,33], yet research is still needed on the transferability of models across countries, sectors, and data types. In the practical implementation of the energy transition in Europe, it will be crucial to determine whether models built on local data can be adapted to other systems and whether they can simultaneously account for weather, calendar, price, behavioural, and infrastructure factors [15,16,17,46,47]. Equally important is linking the data layer to the actual needs of decision-makers and operators.

Fourthly, this Special Issue highlights the tension between the system and technological levels. The article on power modules [34] and the studies on HRES [23] and technological choices [27] indicate that research into energy consumption increasingly requires integrating the component, device, building, transport fleet, and entire-system levels. This kind of multi-scale approach appears to be one of the most promising directions for further research, particularly in the context of growing electrification and digitalisation [37,38,39,40,48].

Fifthly, further research should more closely link energy consumption to system resilience, the fairness of the transition, and the corresponding infrastructure’s capacity to accommodate new demand patterns. This particularly applies to the relationship between the energy transition and energy poverty [49,50], the effectiveness of efficiency policies targeting vulnerable households [51], the modernisation of electricity grids [52], the integration of electric vehicles into energy systems [53], and the long-term monitoring of climate and energy progress in Europe [54,55]. At the same time, there is a need for more integrated research into building renovation, demand response, the digitalisation of energy management, and the impact of local socio-economic conditions on the realistic potential of reducing energy consumption [56,57,58,59,60].

4. Conclusions

The Special Issue ‘Energy Consumption in the EU Countries: 3rd Edition’ provides a valuable, albeit varied, picture of contemporary energy research in Europe. Its main strength lies in the fact that it does not reduce the issue of energy consumption to a single dimension. Rather, it shows that in EU countries, energy consumption is a category that is simultaneously systemic, technological, social, and behavioural [23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34].

This Special Issue’s most significant contribution lies in its combination of four perspectives: the transformation of the energy mix; the electrification of transport; consumer behaviour and sensitivity; and the development of analytical methods for forecasting and optimising energy consumption. As a result, this Special Issue fits well into the current European debate, in which energy security, economic competitiveness, decarbonisation, and social justice cannot be treated in isolation [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,39]. In this sense, these articles not only document current research trends but also indicate that the future of energy consumption analysis in Europe will lie in more integrated, comparative, and multi-level approaches.

In this context, further research into the social costs of the transition, grid resilience, sectoral integration, and the practical effectiveness of public policy instruments takes on particular significance, as these factors will determine whether reducing energy consumption in the EU can be achieved in a way that is effective, fair, and sustainable in the long term [49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60].