Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions in last year fell to their lowest since the 1950s due to less coal-fired power and reduced output by energy-intensive industries, but the decline is unsustainable without climate policy changes, a study said yesterday.
Germany aims to cut its greenhouse emissions by 65 percent by 2030 compared with 1990, a step to becoming carbon-neutral by 2045.
Carbon dioxide emissions in Europe’s biggest economy fell last year to 673 million tonnes, the lowest level since the 1950s, 46 percent below 1990 and beating the German government’s climate goal of 722 million tonnes last year, a study by the Berlin-based Agora Energiewende think tank showed.
Photo: Reuters
Driven by an increase in domestic renewable energy production with a share of more than 50 percent and a rise in imported electricity, coal-fired electricity production fell to its lowest since the 1960s and contributed to 44 million tonnes of carbon savings, it showed.
While Germany aims to phase out coal by 2038, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck has advocated an earlier exit by 2030, a date already agreed in western German states, but resisted by the eastern brown coal belt.
Industry emissions met government targets, falling 12 percent year-on-year, at 144 million tonnes, following an 11 percent drop in energy-intensive output, it added, saying that that fall could be lost this year with the sector’s recovery.
Energy-intensive manufacturers scaled down production last year due to rising gas prices in Europe following a shift from Russian piped gas supply to liquefied natural gas imports in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The consequences of the fossil energy crisis and the slowdown in the economy are particularly evident in the CO2 emissions of energy-intensive industries,” think tank director Simon Mueller said.
Despite the overall drop, the transport and buildings sectors that have fallen short of government emissions targets in recent years missed their goal last year.
With heating the main contributor, buildings emitted 109 million tonnes of carbon dioxide last year, a 2.7 percent fall on the year, but above Germany’s target of 101 million tonnes.
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