Germany consumed less energy in the first half of the year than in the previous year. Fossil fuels continue to dominate by a wide margin.
Energy consumption in Germany fell in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. According to preliminary calculations, so-called primary energy consumption fell by 3.4 percent to 5,428 petajoules in the first six months, as the Working Group on Energy Balances (AGEB) announced on Tuesday in its latest quarterly report.
“Almost half of the decline is due to the milder weather,” says the AGEB. Adjusted for the weather, energy consumption would have fallen by only about 1.5 percent. Energy statisticians see the sluggish economy as another main reason for the decline. On the other hand, this year’s leap day on February 29th had an increasing effect on consumption.
In watt hours, the determined amount of energy corresponds to 1,508 terawatt hours. To put this into perspective: According to the Federal Statistical Office, 450 terawatt hours of electricity were fed into the grid in Germany in the whole of 2023. One terawatt hour corresponds to one billion kilowatt hours. The electricity consumption of Hamburg, for example, was around 9.6 terawatt hours in 2023.
Oil and gas are the most important energy sources
Among the energy sources, mineral oil had the largest share of primary energy consumption from January to June, namely 35.3 percent. Natural gas accounted for 27.1 percent. Hard coal 7.4 percent, lignite 7.0 percent. Fossil fuels thus accounted for a total of 76.8 percent. In the first half of 2023, this figure was still 77.2 percent. Renewable energies contributed 20.7 percent from January to June 2024 (first half of 2023: 19.8 percent). The remaining shares consist mainly of electricity imports and electricity generated by waste incineration.
The statisticians spoke of “clearly recognizable changes in the structure of energy consumption.” In particular, the further decline in coal use is likely to have led to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 17 million tons in the first half of the year. For comparison: According to the federal government, a total of around 673 million tons of greenhouse gases were released in Germany in 2023.
Members of the Energy Balances Working Group are four business associations and four institutes involved in energy research.
Source: Stern
