Energy and Climate

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A secure and low-carbon energy supply in Germany and the EU is one of the main future challenges.

The EU imports more than half its energy supplies, and the trend is upwards. The European Commission has forecast that in 2050 the EU will have to import 84% of its oil needs and 93% of its natural gas supplies. In view of the EU’s growing dependency on imports and the concentration on such a small number of supply countries, a long-term European energy strategy is needed. The European Union took the first step in March 2009 with an action plan for a secure energy supply. This package of measures aims to diversify energy sources and transport routes as well as to make greater use of domestic energy resources.

The fact that energy production should be able to master the new climate policy challenges should also be taken into account. From 2013 on, power plants in most EU Member States will have to auction 100% of their CO2 emission rights. In Germany this will clearly entail increasing electricity prices. The BDI therefore wants to compensate energy-intensive companies for their increased electricity costs so they can keep pace with global competition. Great hopes lie in new technologies to capture carbon from fossil-fuel power plants and in storing CO2 away from the atmosphere permanently. These CCS technologies are still being developed and we currently expect them to reach market maturity by 2020.

By 2020, one-fifth of the EU’s energy consumption will be from renewable sources. This requires high investment in the expansion of renewable energies as well as in adapting and extending energy grids. In order to encourage the deployment of low-carbon technologies the BDI encourages support measures for renewable energies as long as these measures are cost-efficient and competition-neutral. To achieve an internal European energy market for renewables, EU-wide harmonisation of national support systems would be necessary.