FRANKFURT - German primary energy consumption gained 4.3% year-on-year in the first six months of 2021 after the start of economic recovery from the pandemic and cooler weather drove demand, industry statistics group AGEB said on Tuesday.

Issuing January-June 2021 statistics, AGEB also said that slow wind speeds meant that more coal was burnt to offset shortfalls of renewable power, which drove carbon dioxide emissions up 6.3% year-on-year.

Europe's biggest economy in the period used 211.2 million tonnes of coal equivalent, an industry standard measure, up from 202.4 million a year earlier.

In the first three months, consumption had lagged that in comparable 2020 by 0.8%.

Primary energy refers to raw energy sources such as fossil fuels and renewables not converted into other forms.

Consumption of mineral oil products dropped by 12.1% because of a downturn in aviation and road traffic.

Deterred by high prices, householders have also not replenished their heating oil tanks ahead of winter.

Natural gas consumption increased by 16% in the six months, reflecting more usage in industry processes, heating and electricity provision.

The power sector also saw higher volumes generated from nuclear energy.

In the table, figures are rounded and expressed in million tonnes of coal equivalent.*

ENERGY SOURCE H 1, H1, PCT CHANGE PCT SHARE OF

2020 2021 YR/YR TOTAL IN H1

2021

Oil 68.7 60.4 - 12.1 28.6

Natural gas 55.8 64.6 + 15.6 30.6

Hard coal 14.2 17.4 + 22.7 8.2

Lignite 13.3 17.8 + 33.5 8.4 Nuclear energy 11.8 12.6 + 7.0 6.0

Renewables 35.8 35.5 - 1.0 16.8 Foreign power - 1.1 - 0.9 ... - 0.4 trade balance

Others 3.9 3.9 + 1.9 1.9

TOTAL 202.4 211.2 + 4.3 100 *One million tonnes coal equivalent unit equals 29.308 petajoules

(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Barbara Lewis) ((vera.eckert@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 2201 33654; @EckertVera;))