© Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy; based on data from AGEB 10/2016.

From 2008 to 2015, primary energy consumption in Germany declined by 7.6 per cent, falling from 14,380 PJ to 13,293 PJ. This trend can be put down to a number of factors: one is gross domestic product - as the economy grows, companies consume more energy. The same applies to the population: the more people that live in Germany, the higher the energy demand will be. Last but not least, the weather conditions also have an influence in this regard: if the winter is extremely cold, more energy is needed for heating.

The fifth monitoring report entitled “Energy of the future” (available in German only), which was adopted by the Federal Cabinet on 14 December, lays out the factors that have contributed to the decline in primary energy consumption. If one excludes weather-related changes, energy efficiency gains have had the biggest impact on primary energy consumption in the period from 2008 to 2015. Energy consumption fell by 1,721 PJ during this period thanks to the efforts made to improve energy efficiency. In contrast, the positive development of the economy contributed to increased energy consumption. The German population grew by some 825,000 people, which alone led to a slight increase in energy consumption. However, this increase in energy consumption was more than offset by the efforts made to increase energy efficiency.

Primary energy consumption still too high

Nonetheless, energy consumption in Germany is still too high: by 2020, primary energy consumption is to fall by 20 per cent compared with the reference year 2008. The decline of 7.6 per cent is not enough to reach this goal. In 2015, primary energy consumption rose slightly, up 0.9 per cent to 13,293 PJ, an increase on the low level recorded in the previous year. Economic growth and the cold weather were some of the reasons for this increase.

Monitoring: Annual stocktaking

How far have we come with the energy transition? What are the effects of the measures taken? Will we achieve our targets, or do we need to do some fine-tuning? The annual monitoring report of the Federal Government entitled “Energy of the future” seeks to answer these questions. It condenses the statistical information on energy that has been collected into a smaller, more manageable number of selected indicators. The data provide an overview of the current state of the energy transition in terms of a secure, economic and environmentally compatible energy supply. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has the lead responsibility in this matter.

The monitoring process is supported by an independent commission of four renowned energy experts. Working on a scientific basis, the commission comments on the Federal Government’s reports. The monitoring report and the comments by the expert commission will be submitted to the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat.