Mehr Sozialprodukt mit weniger Energie: Es gibt nichts umsonst!

Economic growth guarantees prosperity and employment. In the interest of climate protection Germany is also aiming to significantly reduce its energy consumption. The Federal Government is committed to increase the real gross domestic product by 26 % between 2006 and 2020 and to reduce primary energy consumption in the same period by 17 %. Although long-term economic growth is possible with falling energy consumption, it does imply changes: structural changes and investments, which will initially require funding. In a simple model, it can be shown that the government’s ?hyper-decoupling“ of economic growth from energy demand will lead to an increase in the overall expenditure resulting from energy consumption between 2006 and 2020 of more than 60 % (the optimistic scenario) or 150 % (the less optimistic scenario). The accelerated use of modern energy technologies can help to set in motion the desired process to protect the environment and, at the same time, limit the resulting burden on the consumer. Here the intensified support of research and development of modern technologies will play an important role.