Cost and efficiency in the field of environmental and energy policy

Environmental and energy policy must create new challenges for itself with respect to the protection of the climate and the conservation of resources. The instruments of air pollution control policy in Germany have led to considerable improvements in air quality and to a cost-benefit ratio greater than one - it was on the whole effective and efficient. The political implementation of market-economy instruments to encourage energy saving is yet to be realised. The Heat Use Ordinance, a market-economy instrument within a framework of legal requirements, would enable emissions and production costs to be reduced simultaneously. (orig.)