Substantial Drop in Energy Consumption in 2018 — Lowest Consumption since the Early 1970s / Reduced CO₂ Emissions

Substantial Drop in Energy Consumption in 2018 — Lowest Consumption since the Early 1970s / Reduced CO₂ Emissions

Berlin/Bergheim (Decem­ber 19, 2018) – Germany’s ener­gy con­sump­ti­on decreased sub­stan­ti­al­ly in 2018. Accor­ding to cal­cu­la­ti­ons con­duc­ted by the Arbeits­ge­mein­schaft Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen (AG Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen) – Working Group on Ener­gy Balan­ces (Ener­gy Balan­ces Group), con­sump­ti­on drop­ped by 5 per­cent to 12,900 peta­joules (PJ), or 440.2 mil­li­on tons of coal equi­va­lent (Mtce), when com­pared to the pre­vious year. Ener­gy con­sump­ti­on in Ger­ma­ny, thus, rea­ched its lowest level sin­ce the ear­ly 1970s.

Sin­ce the decli­nes in con­sump­ti­on affec­ted all fos­sil fuels whe­re­as increa­ses were only repor­ted for rene­wa­bles, the AG Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen anti­ci­pa­tes a decli­ne in ener­gy-rela­ted CO₂ emis­si­ons amoun­ting to well abo­ve 6 per­cent.

Accor­ding to the AG Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen, Germany’s decreased ener­gy con­sump­ti­on is pri­ma­ri­ly due to the increase in pri­ces, the mild wea­ther as well as impro­ve­ments in ener­gy effi­ci­en­cy. The con­sump­ti­on-enhan­cing impact of the fac­tors eco­no­mic trend and popu­la­ti­on growth, though, beca­me less rele­vant in 2018. Wit­hout the con­sump­ti­on-redu­cing impact of the mild wea­ther, con­sump­ti­on would have fal­len almost 4 per­cent below the pre­vious year’s level.

Mine­ral oil con­sump­ti­on decreased by a total of 5.6 per­cent in 2018. Sales of fuel oils recor­ded the stron­gest decli­ne. Gaso­li­ne and die­sel fuel decreased only slight­ly; in con­trast, sales of avia­ti­on fuel exhi­bi­ted a plus.

Germany’s natu­ral gas con­sump­ti­on also exhi­bi­ted a down­ward trend in 2018; it decreased by a total of 7.3 per­cent. After the cold wea­ther had led to a con­sidera­ble increase in con­sump­ti­on during the first quar­ter of the year, hig­her tem­pe­ra­tures cau­sed con­sump­ti­on to decrease in the space hea­ting mar­ket during the rema­in­der of the year. The decli­ne in con­sump­ti­on during the enti­re year was also influen­ced by the con­tin­ued increase in power gene­ra­ti­on from rene­wa­bles as well as the pri­ce trend.

Hard coal con­sump­ti­on in Ger­ma­ny decreased by 11.2 per­cent in 2018. With more than 16 per­cent, the use of hard coal for the gene­ra­ti­on of power and heat in power plants exhi­bi­ted a par­ti­cu­lar­ly strong decli­ne. The increase in both the power gene­ra­ti­on from rene­wa­ble sources as well as the increase in fuel cos­ts, par­ti­cu­lar­ly CO₂ pri­ces, con­tri­bu­ted to this decli­ne. The con­sump­ti­on of coke and coking coal in the Ger­man steel indus­try was below the pre­vious year’s level.

Lig­ni­te con­sump­ti­on went down for the sixth time in a row in 2018. The decli­ne in 2018 amoun­ted to 1.9 per­cent becau­se the power gene­ra­ti­on from lig­ni­te decli­ned as well. Due to the trans­fer of power plant units into their stand­by mode for back­up pur­po­ses, the use of lig­ni­te for power gene­ra­ti­on will decrease by a total of 13 per­cent by 2020 when com­pared to 2015.

Com­pared to the pre­vious year, nuclear ener­gy exhi­bi­ted a slight reduc­tion in power gene­ra­ti­on amoun­ting to 0.3 per­cent.

Rene­wa­bles enhan­ced their con­tri­bu­ti­on to the total ener­gy con­sump­ti­on in 2018 by a total of 2.1 per­cent. Wind ener­gy had a plus of 7 per­cent. Solar ener­gy exhi­bi­ted a plus of 16 per­cent. Bio­mass remain­ed at the pre­vious year’s level and hydro power recor­ded a minus of 16 per­cent.

Com­pared to the pre­vious year, the con­tri­bu­ti­ons of the diver­se ener­gy sources to the natio­nal ener­gy mix have shifted fur­ther in 2018: Fos­sil ener­gy expe­ri­en­ced an over­all decli­ne so that the Ger­man ener­gy sup­p­ly was able to redu­ce its car­bon inten­si­ty even fur­ther. A cha­rac­te­ristic fea­ture, howe­ver, con­ti­nues to be the broad ener­gy mix. Oil and gas account for almost 58 per­cent of the dome­stic ener­gy con­sump­ti­on. Hard coal and lig­ni­te coll­ec­tively cover­ed slight­ly more than one fifth of the con­sump­ti­on. Rene­wa­bles increased their share to 14 per­cent.

Substantial Drop in Energy Consumption in 2018

Development of Primary Energy Consumption in Germany in 2018 Estimated Changes in Percent
Total 12,900 PJ or 440.2 Mtce (Preliminary)

Berlin/Bergheim – In 2018, pri­ma­ry ener­gy con­sump­ti­on in Ger­ma­ny fell 5 per­cent below the pre­vious year’s level. Accor­ding to preli­mi­na­ry cal­cu­la­ti­ons con­duc­ted by the Arbeits­ge­mein­schaft Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen (AG Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen) – Working Group on Ener­gy Balan­ces (Ener­gy Balan­ces Group), con­sump­ti­on pea­k­ed at 12,900 peta­joules (PJ), which trans­la­tes into 440.2 mil­li­on tons of coal equi­va­lent (Mtce).

Source: Arbeits­ge­mein­schaft Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen

Renewables Become the Third Most Important
Energy Source

Structure of Primary Energy Consumption in Germany in 2018
Total Volume 12,900 PJ or 440.2 Mtce
Proportion in Percent (Previous Year in Parentheses)

Berlin/Bergheim – The con­tri­bu­ti­ons of the diver­se ener­gy sources to the natio­nal ener­gy mix have shifted fur­ther in favor of rene­wa­bles in 2018. An over­all decli­ne was recor­ded for fos­sil fuels. The Ger­man ener­gy sup­p­ly, thus, redu­ced its car­bon inten­si­ty even fur­ther. A cha­rac­te­ristic fea­ture, howe­ver, con­ti­nues to be the broad ener­gy mix.

Source: Arbeits­ge­mein­schaft Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen

Primary Energy Consumption
in Germany 1995 — 2018

in Petajoules (PJ)

Berlin/Bergheim – In 2018, ener­gy con­sump­ti­on in Ger­ma­ny pea­k­ed at 12,900 peta­joules (PJ) which trans­la­tes into 440.2 mil­li­on tons of coal equi­va­lent (Mtce). It, thus, fell 5 per­cent below the level that had been rea­ched in 2017. The decli­ne in con­sump­ti­on affec­ted all fos­sil fuels as well as nuclear ener­gy. Rene­wa­bles exhi­bi­ted an increase of about 2 per­cent.

Source: Arbeits­ge­mein­schaft Ener­gie­bi­lan­zen

Arbeitsgemeinschaft
Energiebilanzen e.V.

Reinhardtstr. 32
10117 Berlin

Ansprechpartner
Uwe Maaßen
u.maassen@ag-energiebilanzen.de

www.ag-energiebilanzen.de