New brochure from the Federal Environment Ministry: for first time, renewables' share of final energy consumption higher than 10 percent
Last year another chapter was added to the success story of renewable energies in Germany. This is documented in the latest version of the publication "Renewable Energy Sources in Figures" which has now been presented by the Federal Environment Ministry.
According to the figures, based also on the recently published 2009 annual statement of account for the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), electricity generation from wind, biomass, hydropower, solar and geothermal energy had a 16.3 percent share of Germany's electricity consumption. This is considerably higher than 2008 (15.2 percent). In terms of total consumption of heat, electricity and fuels, the renewables' share exceeded the 10 percent mark for the first time in 2009 (10.4 percent, compared to 9.3 percent in 2008).
Despite the economic crisis, in 2009 investments in installations for the use of renewable energies in Germany reached a record high of over 20 billion euros. Total value added from renewables (investments and operation) amounted to 37.5 billion euros - an increase of nearly one quarter against the previous year (2008: 30.6 billion euros).