Multivariate statistical analysis of fuel-mix typologies in European Union member states

The structure of fuel use plays a pivotal role in the transformation of energy and transport systems: the relative shares of fossil energy carriers, bio‑based components and electrification jointly characterize each country's fuel-use structure. To describe this multidimensional phenomenon, multivariate statistical methods are particularly suitable, as they (i) reveal comovements between variables, (ii) reduce the number of dimensions without substantial information loss, and (iii) enable the formation of typologies on the basis of similarities across countries. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the fuel use profiles of European Union (EU) member states through the combined application of correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling (MDS). The objective is to identify the fuel‑consumption (and fuel‑mix) patterns of the 27 member states of the European Union using multivariate statistical techniques. The analysis is based on country‑level data for 11 fuel types (fossil, bio‑based and electricity). Comovements between variables are examined by correlation analysis, opportunities for dimensionality reduction are assessed via principal component analysis, and country groupings are identified through hierarchical cluster analysis. Sampling adequacy is indicated by a Kaiser Meyer Olkin (KMO) value of 0.541, while Bartlett’s test is significant (p < 0.001), indicating the possible application of principal component analysis related to the fuel consumption patterns. Three principal components explain 68.369% of the total variance. The clustering procedure identifies five groups, one of which is a small outlier‑type cluster containing two countries. Overall, the results partially support the initial assumptions: a very strong comovement among bioenergy types delineates a clearly identifiable structural dimension, whereas the relationships between natural gas, liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and conventional transport fuels reflect distinct consumption patterns characteristic of different groups of countries.