Solar panel mandate is coming – Berlin achieves its 2020 climate target ahead of schedule

Published on: December 10, 2020 / Updated on: March 16, 2021 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Berlin's preliminary energy and CO2 balance shows a 40.7% reduction in CO2 emissions for 2019 compared to the base year of 1990. The Berlin Energy Transition Act sets a target of a 40% reduction by 2020. Despite record economic growth and a rising population, Berlin's energy consumption and, even more significantly, its CO2 emissions are declining. The phase-out of coal, Berlin's energy and climate protection program, and lower emissions from commerce and industry form the basis of this success.

Berlin achieves 2020 climate target ahead of schedule – Image: Niklas JM Hoffmann|Shutterstock.com

The preliminary figures for Berlin's energy and CO2 balance for 2019, presented by the Berlin-Brandenburg Office for Statistics, show a 1.2% reduction in final energy consumption and a 6.7% decrease in CO2 emissions compared to 2018 (polluter pays). Compared to the base year of 1990, Berlin has achieved a CO2 reduction of 40.7%. Many German states are only aiming for a 25% CO2 reduction by 2020.

In percentage terms, the temperature-adjusted changes in CO₂ emissions were highest in the sectors of private households, commerce, and services (-8.9%) and manufacturing (-17.3%). CO₂ emissions in the transport sector remained constant (+0.5%). In the renewable energy sector, district heating (+1.9%) and renewable energies (+0.9%) saw the most significant increases, while the share of gases decreased by -2.4%. Coal is now hardly used in the renewable energy sector. Primary energy consumption also fell significantly compared to 2018 (-32.0%). The share of electricity generation from combined heat and power (CHP) increased to 68.4% of gross electricity generation, while the share of heat generated in CHP fell to 58.7% of district heating generation.

Ramona Pop (Martin Rulsch) 1 , Martin Rulsch, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 4.0 , CC BY-SA 4.0

Ramona Pop, Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises:

"Berlin has set itself ambitious goals for climate protection. I am proud that we already achieved our ambitious climate target in 2019 – even before the coronavirus crisis. Thanks in particular to the coal phase-out initiated by the Senate and the Berlin Energy and Climate Program, we succeeded in reducing real CO2 emissions by over 1.9 million tons! or almost 10%! between 2017 and 2019. It is a great success that the decline in emissions in Berlin stands out so positively compared to the nationwide trend, despite strong economic and population growth. Berliners can be proud of this. My special thanks go to the companies, because above-average reductions have been achieved within the economy itself. The consistent focus on climate protection is paying off. Nevertheless, we will not rest on these good figures.

Further ambitious steps remain necessary to achieve the 2025 and 2030 climate targets. With our Solar City Master Plan, we are setting the right course for this – for example, with the solar mandatory measure passed by the Senate."

With the solar law, Berlin is taking further steps forward in climate protection.

Overall, it can be stated that the positive population increase (just under +1.0%) and the good overall economic development of Berlin (inflation-adjusted +3.0%) compared to 2018 are not reflected in an equally high increase in EEV and CO2 emissions.

The energy and CO2 balance showed CO2 emissions of almost 20.05 million tons for the year 2016.

Preliminary energy and CO2 data are available www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de