About this article
Published Online: Aug 15, 2024
Page range: 562 - 567
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0145
Keywords
© 2024 Alexander Eisenkopf et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the German Energy Efficiency Act, politicians are intervening directly in business activities by imposing energy-saving requirements. The act sets precise targets for future energy consumption in Germany as a whole and obliges companies above a certain energy consumption level to set up energy management systems or to draw up implementation plans for energy-saving measures identified as economically viable. Government bodies have an annual obligation to save energy; this is unnecessary, as the relevant signals for energy savings result from EU emissions trading. It is also dysfunctional, as it undermines entrepreneurial freedom of action and leads to a de facto planned climate economy.