Energy transition - heat and transport are part of it

Author: Dr. Roger Corradini, Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft e. V. (as of April 2017) The German project "Energiewende" is one of the most challenging projects of society and politics. Nevertheless, only partial successes have been achieved so far. The efforts of the transformation seem to be limited exclusively to one sector. Thus, even in the most current balance year 2015, the trend of a further increasing share of renewable electricity generation in Germany continues exclusively.

Between 2012 and 2015, an increase in the RE share from 23.7% to 32.6% was achieved while the electricity demand remained more or less constant (see Fig. 1).

The situation in the heating and transport sectors is much less positive. The share of renewable heat generation has stagnated for years at a significantly lower level - at around 13%. The share of renewables in the transport sector is even lower, at around 5%. It can thus be stated that, contrary to the successes in the electricity sector, a transport turnaround or heat turnaround is still not discernible.

While final energy consumption in the electricity sector is of roughly the same order of magnitude as in the transport sector, more energy is consumed for heat supply than for the other two sectors combined. The "heat turnaround" thus has a particularly key role to play in the success of the energy turnaround in Germany. The potential for this is considerable, but also significantly more complex and therefore not as obvious as in the electricity sector. In terms of an energy rationality that takes into account reasonable (ratio) and economic (rational) aspects in equal measure, ultimately only a holistic energy transition across all sectors can lead to success.