CO2 emissions from Germany's energy industry are on track to meet the targets set out in the country's climate protection act, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) said on Tuesday.
Emissions amounted to 247 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents this year, 10 million metric tons below next year's target, according to BDEW estimates.
As economic recovery from the pandemic began this year, "CO2 emissions picked up again, but are still falling in the long-term view," BDEW's annual report showed. Last year, the economic slump caused by COVID-19 massively reduced electricity consumption, leading to significant CO2 savings (221 million tons).
"The energy industry remains on track with its climate targets," said Kerstin Andreae, chairwoman of the executive board of BDEW.
Wind energy remained the most important energy source in the German electricity mix, generating a total of 117.3 billion kilowatt hours, BDEW said.
Germany's new government seeks to generate 80 percent of the country's electricity from renewable sources by 2030, a significant increase on the previous target of 65 percent.
"This is feasible, but also very ambitious and requires an enormously fast pace in the coming years," said Andreae. Germany's added photovoltaic capacity of 5.8 GW this year would need to be more than tripled every year from now on in order to achieve this target, she added.
Editor: Kelly
