The German government released data for 2007 greenhouse gas emissions Friday that it said showed it was well on track to meet its international climate change commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
Greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for causing global warming, were 22.4% lower in 2007 than the base years of 1990 or 1995 set out in the protocol, the Environment Ministry said in a statement.
Germany pledged under Kyoto in 1997 to lower its emissions by 21% by 2012 and the figures for 2007 show that Western Europe's most populous country is now "assured" of meeting its goals for the years 2008 to 2010, it said.
It cautioned however that the reduction last year was in part due to a mild winter and because consumers scrambled to buy heating oil in 2006 before a higher tax rate came into force in 2007.
Because the results are based on when fuel is bought and not when it is burned, releasing the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, this skewed the statistics somewhat.
It said that "sadly" there was an increase in emissions from power stations, "showing that government efforts in the area of renewable energy sources were not yet enough to compensate for the increase in electricity demand."
A report in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the rise was because high gas prices and five nuclear power stations were out of action, prompting more power generation using more polluting coal.
"It is therefore expected that the figures for 2008 will not be as positive as for 2007," Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in the statement. "The figures on the whole look good but it is no reason to relax."