Rationelle Energieverwendung

Abstract

In 2008, the need for primary energy in Germany again slightly increased. This was due in part to a colder winter in 2008 and to the fact that fuel oil reserves were used up in 2007 because of the high price of energy such that fuel oil tanks in 2008 had to be refilled. The demand for energy declined in industry in November and December 2008. The discussion covers introduction; general development of energy intensity; energy and climate policy of the European Union; developments in European and national legislation; efficient energy use in industry (chemical, iron and steel producing, cement, non-ferrous, glass, paper, and foodstuffs); cross-sectional technologies; power-heat coupling; energy management; and Trend 2009. In energy intensive industries and in traditional process engineering such as in distillation processes, now as before there are possibilities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to save energy, such as by replacing fossil primary energy carriers with biogenic fuels. Primary energy use declined about 1.8% in 2008 versus 2007 and primary energy intensity improved by 2.9% in 2008 over 2007. This value must be maintained to 2020 for the federal government to reach its goal with respect to primary energy productivity. The specific end energy use in individual energy intense industries such as paper and cement has improved in the past 15 yr with further energy efficiencies still possible. The ratio between primary energy use and gross domestic product is an orienting indicator of the energy efficiency of a country within a given year. The corrected primary energy demand in Germany in 2008 was about 13,750 Pj, 3.2% less than the comparable number for 2007 of 14,210 Pj. In 2008, the GDP increased by 1.3% so that the entire economic primary energy productivity improved about 3.2% in 2008. This may be due in part to the first half of 2008 being under the influence of high fuel oil and motor fuel prices that favored measures to increase energy efficiency. Increased use of renewable energies (+0.4% points) and the break in production of many energy intensive raw material industries such as steel, cement, and aluminum played a role in the second half of 2008. The chemical industry continued to develop processes to produce chemicals and synthetic fuels from biomass. These are described. Photographs and graphs.