Germany has imported fossil energy worth more than 80 billion euros from abroad in 2023, according to a study by the Öko-Institut commissioned by the Green European Parliament member Michael Bloss, which was reported by the newspapers of the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”(Friday editions).
According to the study, Germany imported coal, oil and gas worth 80.7 billion euros, representing a 20 percent increase in costs compared to the pre-war year of 2021, despite the imported energy volume decreasing. “In contrast to the European Union, the total import of energy carriers to Germany is characterized by a clear downward trend”the study says. “This decline was driven mainly by the decline in gas imports (about 50 percent) and the significant decrease in the import of hard coal.”
The Öko-Institut calculated that the total import of fossil energy for all EU states in 2023 was 315.8 billion euros, a 45 percent increase compared to 2021, although the imported energy volume also decreased slightly in the EU as a whole. “Coal, oil and gas imports are a loss-making business for society as a whole. We lose more than 80 billion euros every year to fossil companies”said Bloss to the RND.
“We must get out of this dependence much faster and use the money to invest in the domestic economy and make climate-friendly alternatives affordable by investing in the domestic economy and making climate-friendly alternatives affordable”he said, referring to the possibility of financing the Germany ticket or the expansion of renewable energy with these funds. “All the investments in the expansion of renewable energy in Germany in 2023 were 37 billion euros, less than half of the annual costs of fossil energy imports. We have the money if we didn’t export it.”
The high sums for fossil energy are “staggering”said Bloss. “315.8 billion euros a year, flowing into the import of coal, oil and gas instead of being invested in the modernization of the European power grid or infrastructure. Money that is missing for the digital and green transformation of the European economy and the strengthening of the EU’s defense capabilities”the Green politician said. “315 billion is more than the double of the EU’s budget and nearly 40 percent of the sum, which, according to Mario Draghi, is missing every year to drive forward the digital and green transformation of the European economy and to strengthen the EU’s defense capabilities.