Berlin: Carbon dioxide emissions in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, dropped to their lowest level in seven decades as the use of coal declined unexpectedly sharply in 2023 and economic pressures weighed down production by energy-intensive industry, according to a study released Thursday.
Germany aims to cut its emissions to Net Zero by 2045 and is working to ramp up the use of solar and wind power.
The Agora Energiewende think tank said its preliminary calculations show that Germany emitted 673 million metric tons of CO2 last year, a decline of 73 million metric tons compared with 2022 and the lowest level since the 1950s. The figure was 46 per cent below the country’s emissions in 1990.
On Tuesday, Germany’s Federal Network Agency said that renewable energy sources accounted for more than half of the country’s energy production in 2023. Renewables rose to 56 per cent of energy production, from 47.4 per cent in 2022. At the same time, electricity production using black coal dropped to 8.9 per cent from 12.8 per cent, and lignite-fired electricity declined to 17.4 per cent from 21 per cent.