Study warns of additional regulatory burden to efficient German industry

Germany’s industry is among the most efficient in the world and can hardly improve its energy intensity record by simply abiding by new regulations, a study by the industry-sponsored research institute IW Köln says. Andreas Mihm writes in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that IW Köln’s research director Hubertus Bardt was sceptical of new efficiency directives considered by the European Union since there was no more technological leeway to improve industrial processes. Germany’s industry consumes the energy equivalent 76 kilogramme “oil units” to generate 1,000 euros in value, more than the 48 units needed in Denmark but less than the 134 units consumed in the United States, the study says. Research director Bardt says efficiency was a direct result of investments in modern technology, which is why it could only be improved by easing investments and not by imposing stricter guidelines on companies.

Find a short report on study by the IW Köln in German here.

See the CLEW factsheets What energy & climate stakeholders want from Germany’s next government and What business thinks of the energy transition for more information.