Support programme for excess heat usage saves 1.4 million tonnes CO2 as of 2020

A support programme by Germany’s energy and economy ministry will save some 1.4 million tonnes in CO2 per year as of 2020, the ministry said in a press release. By initiating 1,300 projects in industrial companies to use waste heat from their production processes, 15 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved by 2030, helping the sector achieve its climate targets. The ministry started the programme in 2016 and said the total investment triggered by it would amount to 2.5 billion euros.

Germany’s industrial sector has a CO2-reduction target of 49 to 51 percent by 2030 (compared to 1990) and therefore has to reduce emissions from annually 283 million tonnes CO2 to around 143 million tonnes. Between 1990 and 2016, it achieved a 33.5 percent reduction.