Climate goals still missed
Germans will save five percent on heating energy in 2022
September 27, 2023, 8:47 a.m
The high energy prices as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are making Germans more economical when it comes to heating: in 2022 alone – and therefore only for half of last winter – energy consumption will fall by five percent, adjusted for temperature.
Private households in Germany saved considerable energy on heating last year despite sharply rising prices. Adjusted for the outside temperature factor, they used five percent less heating energy than in 2021, and emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 also fell accordingly. This is the result of the latest “heat monitor” from the German Institute for Economic Research – DIW for short.
Actual CO2 emissions fell by 15 percent due to the mild winter. Nevertheless, the climate targets were narrowly missed, it was said. The study is based on data from the real estate service provider Ista. The heating energy bills of 150,000 two-family and multi-family houses with around one million apartments nationwide were evaluated.
It should be taken into account: The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, as a result of which energy prices skyrocketed, began on February 24, 2022. Accordingly, it was not until the end of 2022 that citizens in Germany made greater efforts to save gas, oil and electricity. At that time there was a threat of a gas shortage because gas was no longer coming to Germany via the pipelines from Russia.
“Households were only able to mitigate the additional costs caused by sharply increased prices by heating less,” said study author Merve Kücük from the climate policy department at DIW Berlin. “Their expenses therefore did not increase as much as the prices in the residential buildings considered, namely only by 17 percent on average.”
According to the results of the study, savings were much higher in the north than in the south. Schleswig-Holstein was the front runner with minus 7.3 percent. In this state, the prices for heating oil and natural gas rose the most in Germany at 47 percent.