The German Energy Olympics
Olympic and Paralympic fever has really got me this summer. Every evening finds me sitting in front of the TV watching even the most obscure sports with my fingers permanently crossed.
Not much besides the Games, captures my spare-time attention. But a few days ago, a news item did manage to drag my mind away from Rio.
It featured the release of figures about German energy consumption for the first half-year 2016.
Those data aren’t usually thrilling. But this time things were different. The report pointed out that natural gas demand rose by almost 7 percent. That’s huge, even allowing for the strong position gas has in the German energy mix. Together, oil and gas account for more than 55 percent of energy used. They are part of the 80 percent figure for fossil fuel consumption.
Can that be right? Isn’t Germany the country of the “Energiewende”? Aren’t the 25,000 installed wind turbines already covering 100 percent of the nation’s energy needs?
Well, to come back to the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games… It’s not about who wears the best outfit or has the best advertising programme (and at this point I bite my tongue to avoid making make any comparisons between the billions of subsidies for renewables and doping in sport). What wins every time – at the Games and in real life – is a combination of reliability, consistency and performance.
And therefore it is no surprise that this year German energy medals go to oil (Gold) and gas (Silver)!
Source: AGEB “AG Energiebilanzen” – German working Group on Energy Balances (Energy Balances Group)
https://www.ag-energiebilanzen.de
About Ulrike Schopp
Ulrike Schopp is Public Relations & Communications Advisor for Bundesverband für Erdgas, Erdöl und Geoenergie e.V. (BVEG – the German oil and gas association). She has over 10 years’ experience in the industry. Before joining the BVEG, Ulrike was with ExxonMobil in Germany, where she held several public affairs roles, with primary focus on upstream communications and media relations. Ulrike is an Economics graduate.
