Federal government generates record revenue from ETS

The new German government is gaining leeway in climate protection thanks to record revenues from the sale of CO2 emission rights. In view of rapidly rising prices for the certificates, the sale to energy suppliers and industry in 2021 brought in €5.3 billion, more than twice as much as in the previous year, the Federal Environment Agency reported on Wednesday. In addition to this revenue via the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a further €7.2 billion was added by the new national levy on gasoline, heating oil, and gas. It had made, for example, the liter of gasoline more expensive by about eight cents for motorists. From this year, the national CO2 price will rise to €30 per metric ton of CO2, which will then make gasoline about ten cents more expensive. In 2021, the federal government used around €4.7 billion of the funds to reduce the levy for green electricity subsidies (EEG) that consumers have to pay.