May 27, 2024
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
The measures adopted by politicians are not enough to achieve Germany's energy-saving targets, according to a study by Deneff.
The analysis is sobering: "Only just over half of the energy savings required by EU law will be achieved by 2030 with existing policy measures," announced the German Business Initiative for Energy Efficiency (Deneff). The target set by politicians is to reduce final energy consumption in Germany by 26.5 percent by 2030 compared to 2008. Primary energy consumption is even to be reduced by 39.3 percent.
However, the measures implemented and planned will not achieve this target, according to a study carried out for Deneff by the consulting firm Prognos. According to the association, the measures adopted by the coalition government last fall were basically "going in the right direction". However, the study shows: It's not enough.
Foremost, the final energy consumption of "buildings, industry and transport is barely falling", according to Friedrich Seefeldt from Prognos. The savings target in this area is currently being missed by around 60 billion kWh per year. On the other hand, there was praise for the energy industry. "In recent years, primary energy consumption has fallen significantly, mainly due to the restructuring of the electricity supply."
According to Deneff, the most effective lever for achieving the savings targets is a higher CO2 price. Savings of 25 billion kWh could be achieved by further increasing the CO2 price to 200 euros/tonne, according to the report.
Extending the minimum energy standards adopted by the EU for the refurbishment of non-residential buildings to include the least energy-efficient residential buildings could save around 25 billion kWh. According to Deneff, this measure has been supported by consumer and industry associations in recent months.
However, "mandatory implementation of highly profitable energy efficiency measures", as proposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs itself, could bring the greatest savings: Around 100 billion kWh by 2030, if only those measures were implemented that companies are already aware of through their energy audits and energy management systems and which would also have a positive net present value over their useful life.
Christian Noll, Managing Director of Deneff: "The EU member states have legally committed themselves to these targets with the Energy Efficiency Directive. And for good reason. If we don't finally succeed in boosting energy efficiency in buildings, the public sector and companies, the energy transition will become much more difficult and expensive." The technical solutions and services have long been available.
Excerpts from the Prognos study "Gap analysis - energy efficiency targets in the EnEfG and the expected target gap" can be downloaded from the Deneff homepage.
Author: Stefan Sagmeister
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