— Germans using electricity and heat generated from wind turbines, solar panels and burning plant material reduced imports worth 5.4 billion euros ($7.9 billion) of fossil fuels last year, a government-sponsored agency said.
“Exploding'' costs for natural gas and coal as well as rising installations of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, which generate electricity from the sun, contributed to the decline in imports, the Deutschland-Hat-Unendlich-Viel-Energie agency said in an e-mailed statement today. In 2004, use of renewable power helped eliminate 1.7 billion euros worth of energy imports.
Last year, Europe's largest economy produced more than 14 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and aims to boost that figure to at least 20 percent by 2020, according to the environment ministry. Germany has promoted the use of solar and wind power by guaranteeing prices for producers as part of a plan to reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel imports.
Prices of crude oil for September delivery are up 56 percent from a year ago and reached a record of more than $145 a barrel last month.
