Germany’s emissions stagnated in 2017 despite higher energy use

A growing population and the economic boom pushed up Germany’s total energy use by almost one percent last year, but the country’s CO₂ emissions likely stagnated due to the rising share of renewables and an increase in gas use, according to energy market group AG Energiebilanzen (AGEB). Energy-related CO₂ emissions “rose marginally at most,” according to AGEB’s press release. In its more detailed review of the past year, AGEB says emissions could have even decreased slightly “in a best case scenario.” The group had said in November that preliminary calculations suggested that emissions would “rise slightly” in 2017.

A strong rise in wind and solar power output pushed up renewable energy production by more than 6 percent, the AGEB calculations show. Gas consumption also rose by around 6 percent, because it was increasingly used for power generation. In contrast, hard coal use dropped by more than eleven percent, while lignite use decreased by a mere 0.6 percent.

Find the press release in German here.

For background, read the CLEW article Germany’s energy use and emissions likely to rise yet again in 2017.