Energy supply in Germany and the EU against the background of global developments
by Dipl.-Volksw. Wolfgang Reichel, Executive Chairman of the German Hard Coal Association, Essen Even before the European Union was enlarged by ten more member countries on 1st May 2004 the EU was the world’s largest energy importer and second only to the USA as the world’s biggest energy consumer. EU enlargement was accompanied by a further 14% rise in primary energy consumption (PEC) (1). Coal’s contribution to the European energy mix has also become much more important with the accession of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
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This contrasts with current developments on the global energy-resource markets. Five theses - Natural-resources markets follow laws of their own because of their high and long-term capital lock-up: for example, supply is concentrated and developments are cyclical with high amplitudes - Globalisation is a well-known phenomenon in the raw-materials business. High-grade products have always been in global demand and have long been the subject of trade between nations. - Every block of deposits is finite, but the physical depletion of a particular resource has, for many years, been a regional event, not a global one. - Natural resources have always been subject to political influence. The reasons for this are many and varied, but the simplest explanation is: raw materials and energy are essential to life. - Rohstoffe sind seit jeher und bis heute Gegenstand politischer Einflussnahme. Die Gründe dafür sind vielfältig, aber die simpelste Erklärung ist: Rohstoffe und Energie sind lebensnotwendig. See here for more information. (German version) |
Source: German Hard Coal Association.
Dr. Detlef Riedel
Rellinghauser Str. 1
45128 Essen
Tel.: +49 (0) 201/177-08
Fax: +49 (0) 201/177-4288
E-Mail: kommunikation@gvst.de
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