2008 I 2009 Sustainability Report - Econsense

ing the various items in Germany's "integrated
energy and climate programme". The
binding climate protection target is minus
30% compared to 1990 levels – or minus 40 %
if the EU targets are upgraded. Germany's
political decision-makers have long since
agreed to aim for the higher target anyway,
however, and have adopted a whole package
of measures to meet this target. To date,
Germany has succeeded in achieving a
reduction of 18%.
The amended EEG renewables legislation
came into force in Germany at the beginning
of 2009. It confirms the priority feed of electricity
from renewable sources into the network,
and this electricity will continue to be
financed by the network operators based on
predefined remuneration rates varying
according to size of facility and source of
energy (wind, water, solar, geothermal or
biomass). The remuneration rates are to be
adjusted; the rates for offshore wind energy,
for example, will be considerably higher in
future in order to promote the construction
of new installations at sea. The share of renewables
in total German energy consumption
is to be increased to 30% by the year
2020 (compared to the current figure of
15%). The amendment of the compensation
mechanism for the added cost of renewables
is extremely welcome. It has been greatly
simplified – and this limits financial risks
while reducing costs.
As the expansion of the electricity networks
has not matched the rapid pace of growth of
renewable sources of energy, there is a growing
risk of bottlenecks and instability. The
German Electricity Grid Expansion Act is designed
to address the potential problems in
the transport networks.
The share of electricity generated in highly
efficient power plants – using heat-and-power
cogeneration concepts – is also to increase.
The amended German Cogeneration Act also
came into force at the beginning of 2009.
Now, industrial cogeneration activities are
being subsidised for the first time, even
when no power is fed into the public net-
work, as is the construction of heating networks.
At the same time, however, annual
support is still capped at 750 million €. The
aim is to grow the share of electricity from
combined heat-and-power plants to 25%
by 2020. This would be double the current
figure.
The German Renewables Act stipulates a pro
rata consumption of heating energy from
renewable sources for new buildings. If the
homeowner decides in favour of geothermal
energy, environmental heating or biomass,
these must account for at least half of all
heating energy consumption. The minimum
figure for solar heating is 15%. The German
Energy Efficiency Ordinance governing maximum
energy consumption in new buildings
now also contains stricter provisions. Reduced
energy consumption in old buildings
is promoted by schemes like the "market incentive
programme" or the "CO 2 building
modernisation programme". The proceeds
from emissions trading have been used to
significantly up the overall funding volume.
These measures are designed to reduce primary
energy consumption in Germany by
17% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. In order
to meet this target, primary energy productivity
needs to be doubled – or, put another
way – to improve by 3% a year. Between
1990 and 2005, however, the increase was
just 1.7%, despite the collapse of the inefficient
structures in East Germany. The target
is certainly ambitious; this also applies, if
not even more so, to the secondary target –
an 11% reduction in energy consumption, a
variable that has increased modestly yet regularly,
at least in the years prior to the onset
of the economic crisis. While it is true that
energy-consuming appliances are doubtless
becoming more and more efficient, there are
also significant countertrends: the increasing
presence of computers and Internet connections
in modern households, for example,
the ever-increasing size of refrigerators
and TV screens, and the growing spread of
consumer electronics. Quite apart from this,
electricity is also often used in the form of
"efficient energy". Electrically driven thermal
energy pumps help to save primary energy,
for example. The same applies to the soonto-be-launched
electromobiles in the transport
sector. As a result, there are serious
doubts as to whether we will be able to
achieve the 11% target. Moreover, at the end
of the last legislative term, political differences
prevented the adoption of new energy
efficiency legislation by the coalition
government.
There are also well-founded doubts regarding
the targeted growth in the share of electricity
generated in combined heat-andpower
plants. If subsidies remain at the
current level, it is unlikely that the target will
be met. A further problem is the exceedingly
slow pace at which existing buildings are being
modernised. In contrast, the prospects
for meeting the targets for electricity from
renewables are favourable. The precondition
for this, however, is that the construction of
new wind energy installations at sea picks up
pace following a delay of several years and
that the industry succeeds in replacing old
and small wind turbines with new, highpowered
wind energy installations throughout
Germany.
All in all, the measures planned to date will
not be sufficient to meet the 40% target laid
down by the German government. This is
the conclusion reached by nearly all the
studies conducted to date. The German Environment
Agency recently predicted a reduction
in greenhouse gas emissions of 35% at
most. A study conducted by the EUtech institute
in Aachen and commissioned by
Greenpeace arrived at a figure of less than
30%. On climate protection grounds and in
order to avoid uncontrolled price rises as
well as to ensure supply reliability, it is
therefore both expedient and necessary to
reach agreement on the significant extension
of the operational life of the nuclear
power plants in Germany beyond the exit
date that is currently planned.
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