Wind turbines near Lichtenau, western Germany, May 31, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Ina FASSBENDER)
Share of renewable energies on the rise, CO2 emissions at their lowest: Germany experienced a greener year 2023, due to the sharp decline in coal but also the deep crisis that its powerful industrial sector is going through.
According to the results of the Agora Energiewende expert group published on Thursday, Europe’s largest economy emitted 673 million tonnes of CO2 last year, or 9.8% less than in 2022, the lowest level in around 70 years. .
And for the first time in its history, the country produced and consumed just over 50% renewable energy for its electricity needs, according to official figures released this week.
This accelerated greening, the result of the energy transition which Olaf Scholz’s government has made a priority, is however also largely explained by the fall in demand in industry.
-Rush on solar –
“We are on the right path,” said the Green Minister of Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck. CO2 emissions were 46% lower than the 1990 base year, approaching the target set by the European Union of a 55% reduction by 2030.
France, for its part, reduced its emissions by 4.6% over the first nine months of 2023, according to the latest data communicated by the organization in charge of their inventory, Citepa.
German Green Minister of Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during a press conference in Berlin, December 13, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Tobias SCHWARZ)
The decline in Germany is “largely attributable to a sharp decline in coal-fired electricity production,” notes the expert group. While the use of coal increased in 2022 to compensate for the cessation of Russian gas flows to Germany, its use fell last year to its level of the 1960s.
The share of this fuel has fallen to 26% of the electricity production mix compared to nearly 34% in 2022.
Operators have partly switched to gas, the price of which fell during the year. The use of this polluting fuel increased by 31%.
The country also imported more electricity in 2023, half from renewable energies and a quarter from nuclear power.
But this result was also obtained by the rise of renewables. Their share in electricity production stood at 55% last year, after 48.42% in 2022. Wind turbines contributed the most, with a share of 31%. Photovoltaics represented 12% of production.
This increase in power is explained by faster deployment, thanks to laws adopted by the government to speed up authorization procedures.
Last year, 14 GwH of photovoltaic power were installed, a record, while Germany wants to reach 80% of electricity from renewable sources in 2030. The Germans have never installed so many solar panels on their houses: one million in 2023, double the previous record of 2011.
And new wind capacity has doubled over one year, to reach 7.7 GWh. Unheard of here too, even if this figure is clearly “below” the limit set by law.
– Can do better-
But the picture is not entirely green. According to Agora Energiewende experts, only 15% of the reduction in emissions achieved this year is “sustainable”, linked to real structural changes.
The Schwelgern blast furnace at the ThyssenKrupp factory in Duisburg, western Germany, February 4, 2021 (AFP/Archives/Ina FASSBENDER)
And for good reason: the year was marked by a fall in production for German industry, a large consumer of energy. The sector, a pillar of the economy, is weighed down by a drop in domestic and international demand, and by energy prices which remain too high compared to its competitors since the war in Ukraine.
Production of the most energy-intensive activities, such as chemicals, steel and paper, has fallen by around 20% compared to its pre-conflict level. Emissions from the industrial sector have logically decreased by 20 million tonnes, or 12% over one year.
Housing and transport also remain the poor performers of the energy transition, failing, as in past years, to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions.
Germany needs an “investment offensive”, according to Agora Energiewende, which calls for “securing the spending” necessary for the climate transition.
A court decision in November canceled a 60 billion euro investment fund for the future in the name of German constitutional rules of budgetary rigor, reducing the government’s room for maneuver.
© 2024 AFP
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