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Natural gas remains the most important energy source in industry
A natural gas storage facility in East Frisia. Photo: picture alliance / dpa
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German industry mainly satisfies its hunger for energy with natural gas. It is also used as a raw material.
In German industry, natural gas remains by far the most important energy source. As the Federal Statistical Office reported on Monday in Wiesbaden, natural gas accounted for 31 percent of total energy consumption in industry last year.
Electricity accounted for 21 percent. Mineral oils and mineral oil products as well as coal each made up 16 percent. In total, industry in Germany consumed 3747 petajoules of energy in 2020, 1.9 percent less than in the previous year. Twelve percent of this was not used for energy, but for the manufacture of chemical products, fertilizers or plastics, for example. The last time it fell below the annual value in 2009 was 3712 petajoules.
The chemical industry was the largest energy consumer with a share of 29 percent. Metal production and processing made up 22 percent, coke production and mineral oil processing required 10 percent. In the chemical industry, however, more than a third of the energy sources were used as raw materials for chemical products. Based exclusively on energetic use, metal production and processing had the highest share with 24 percent.