Industry calls on next German government to put efficiency front and centre of energy policy
Clean Energy Wire
The German Industry Initiative for Energy Efficiency (DENEFF) has presented proposals for climate and energy policy for the coming legislative period that according to the organisation simultaneously promote economic activity and climate action. In a new report carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) and the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut), DENEFF notes that the greenhouse gas reduction due to quantified measures will add up to more than 33 million tonnes of CO2 in 2030. That would correspond to about half of the currently projected climate target gap. At the same time, the measures would trigger an annual GDP increase of over 40 billion euros in the same year.
The proposals include overarching measures and principles for an efficient energy transition as well as specific energy efficiency policies for climate action in industry and buildings. So-called “climate mainstreaming” would help check the compatibility of all new and old laws with climate targets and adjust them if necessary, said DENEFF. The report also calls for the numerous energy sector charges, levies and taxes to be fundamentally reformed and geared towards energy and climate targets. For the building sector, DENEFF recommends a more consistent use of digitalisation to optimise the operation of buildings, increased promotion of climate-target-compatible building modernisations and the introduction of minimum standards for the rapid modernisation of inefficient buildings. For the industrial sector, it calls for carbon contracts for difference (CCfDs) for energy efficiency investments, faster tax depreciation of investments in climate-friendly technologies and additional energy-saving incentives for energy-intensive companies.
Energy efficiency is a major lever in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Germany and across the world. Germany, which aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2050, has set the preliminary target of cutting emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
