Electricity demand is back to pre-pandemic levels, but fossil fuels fail to recover as renewables show consistent growth.

As a result, CO2 emissions from the power sector in H1-2021 were 12% lower than the same period before the pandemic. In H1-2021, electricity demand rose 6% vs. H1-2020 and almost fully recovered (-0.6%) to pre-pandemic (H1-2019) levels. Electricity generation from fossil fuels has not recovered and was 10% lower in H1-2021 than before the pandemic (H1-2019), despite an uptick in H1-2020.

Emissions Down as Europe’s Electricity Comes Back Cleaner | Devamı>>>

The lukewarm response to the report of the commission set up to advise on plans for the elimination of coal use in Germany is understandable. The commission’s conclusions push the end of coal use out to 2038. The plan is cautious enough to have secured the support even of those members of the commission representing the coal industry and the main coal producing regions.

Criticism of the report has predictably come from groups such as Climate Alliance Germany and Friends of the Earth, which have said that the plan will not meet the Paris climate agreement targets, and that the phasing of the reduction through the 2020s needs to be defined in detail.

The End of Coal in Germany Could Come Much Quicker Than You Think | Devamı>>>