The main result of the "Climate Protection Concept 2020 for Nordfriesland, Germany" are more than 80 measures that were developed in a participatory process. These measures shall be implemented step by step also with the support of various regional stakeholders.
Taking the local renewable energy production (wind power) into account, which exceeds the local electricity demand by a factor of 2.4, Nordfriesland's CO2-emissions are at 3.3 tons per capita. Not including the amount of energy production from wind power Nordfriesland's CO2-emission were at 9,5 tons per capita and therefore only slightly below the German average of 10 tons per capita. Climate protection measures, especially the development of wind energy, also have positive effects on the regional economy. As a result, the net product of all measures amount to 434 Mio. EUR per year.
At the same time the further development of renewable energies implies new challenges especially with regard to infrastructure. The wind energy (onshore and offshore) has to be transmitted from the coast of the North Sea to the regions with the highest consumption in Western and Southern Germany. Therefore the transmission grid has to be extended. Due to the volatility of the wind, new energy storage technologies have to be developed and implemented as well.
But restricting the measures to the expansion of renewable energy production alone won't be sufficient. With more than 200 kWh/m2a private households have a specific heat demand, which largely exceeds the German average. The transportation sector, and in it especially private car use, is responsible for a large share of the local CO2-emissions, mainly due to its important role in rural and tourism areas like Nordfriesland. Therefore, another focus of the Climate Protection Concept has to be on the reduction of energy consumption. If Nordfriesland is able to tap the energy efficiency potentials in regard to heat and fuel consumption, the share of renewable energies with respect to overall local energy demand could be even higher. The measures, which shall be implemented in the upcoming years, are designed to lower the energy demand of private households and the transportation sector and to improve the conditions for the use of renewable energies.