Key Indicators of Climate Change and the Energy Sector, and Employment Effects from Renewable Energy Technologies

In 2012, greenhouse gas emissions in Austria amounted to 80.2 million tons CO2 equivalents (excluding emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry). Greenhouse gas emissions were 3.3 percent lower than in 2011 (CO2 emissions –3.7 percent). The decline was driven by a reduction in fossil fuel consumption and an increase in the use of renewables (especially hydropower). The Austrian Kyoto target of reducing emissions to 68.8 million tons CO2 equivalents could not be achieved solely by domestic measures. In 2012, the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions showed again for industrial and commercial producers (31.2 percent) and the transport sector (27.3 percent). This report focuses on the (potential) economic co-benefits of an increased use of renewables and surveys research on the employment effects of renewable energy technologies. Co-benefits may improve the social acceptance of the support of renewables, thereby enlarging the basis for intensified climate protection.