Tuesday, August 03, 2021
Germans use more electricity
Power generation from coal increases by leaps and bounds
At its peak, the corona crisis is causing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Germany to collapse along with economic activity. It’s over. The consumption of lignite, which is particularly harmful to the climate, is increasing dramatically.
The recovery of the economy after the Corona slump and the cool spring caused energy consumption in Germany to rise in the first half of 2021. According to calculations by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Energiebilanzen (AGEB), consumption increased by 4.3 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The temperature-adjusted consumption values would be more than 7 percent below the value for the first six months of 2019.
Because more electricity was produced with lignite and hard coal than in the same period of the previous year, carbon dioxide emissions rose by 6.2 percent. The consumption of lignite rose in the first six months of this current year by around a third, that of hard coal by almost 23 percent. The increase in fossil fuels in electricity generation is said to be mainly due to the fact that less wind power was generated. Compared to the first half of 2019, however, the consumption of lignite has fallen by 12 percent.
In the entire German energy mix, natural gas took the lead for the first time with a share of 30.6 percent, while mineral oil fell into second place with 28.6 percent. Renewable energies occupy third place with a share of 16.8 percent. The shares of lignite and hard coal in total consumption increased slightly to a total of 16.6 percent. In the further course of the year, however, there could be shifts, stressed the energy statisticians.
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