German greenhouse gas emissions at lowest level for 70 years
According to a study, fewer coal-fired power plants and the economic downturn have pushed German greenhouse gas emissions to their lowest level in 70 years. According to preliminary calculations, emissions in 2023 had fallen by almost ten percent compared to the previous year and would still have amounted to 673 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the Agora Energiewende think tank announced on Thursday.
The annual target of a maximum of 722 million tons of CO2 anchored in the Climate Protection Act was thus clearly undercut. Nevertheless, Agora warned that only 15 percent of the reductions could be secured in the long term through more wind and solar power, for example. The transport and building sectors had missed their targets once again. Without new instruments, the target agreed under international law for 2030 will be missed, as the government has also admitted.
According to the figures, Germany has now blown 46 percent less CO2 into the air compared to 1990. By 2030, the target must be 65 percent. The core instrument for this is to be a conversion of the energy supply to renewable energies. Germany is now making faster progress than before: according to Agora, more than half of electricity consumption was covered by wind, solar or hydropower for the first time in 2023. Accordingly, fewer lignite-fired power plants were in operation. "With the historic high in renewable energies, the energy industry has recorded a climate policy success that brings us closer to the 2030 target," said Simon Müller, Director of Agora Energiewende Deutschland. However, the decline in industrial emissions is not sustainable: "The slump in production caused by the crisis is weakening Germany as an industrial location."
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Despite the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many sectors in Germany, such as transport and buildings, continue to struggle to meet their targets. Over the years, the German study found that the economic downturn and fewer coal-fired power plants contributed to German emissions reaching their lowest level in 70 years, standing at 673 million tons of CO2 in 2023.
Source: www.ntv.de
