UPDATE 1-German energy use may fall nearly 6 pct in 2009

* Economic crisis takes its toll on consumption

* Mandatory use of biofuels curbs mineral oil's market share

(includes details, table)

FRANKFURT, Nov 4 (Reuters) - German energy use in 2009 may
fall by just over six percent from 2008 levels, industry
statistics group AGEB said on Wednesday, based on preliminary
figures it has accumulated for the first three quarters of 2009.

"The sluggish economy continues to leave its mark on energy
consumption," it said in a statement, putting recorded
Jan.-Sept. consumption at 331.7 million coal equivalent units,
which was down 6.4 percent from a year earlier.

"But in view of a slight recovery we expect a minus of just
under six percent for the full year," AGEB added.

Europe's biggest economy consumed 477.8 million tonnes in
the full year 2008.

AGEB said mineral oil consumption to September was down
three percent due to the slowdown but also because the addition
of biofuels is now mandatory, losing mineral oil market share.

Natural gas usage dropped by seven percent in the nine
months as the manufacturing industry and power stations used
less gas, it said.

Coal usage dropped by 22 percent as the iron and steel
industries and coal-base power generators felt the bite of
recession.

The rising contribution of biofuels also helped push the
overall consumption of renewable energies 2.1 percent points
higher in Jan.-Sept, AGEB said.

AGEB offered the following details for energy usage in the
first nine months of both years and for total shares of
individual energies within the total primary energy mix --
ENERGY SOURCE Q 1-3 '09 '08 PERCENTAGE PCT SHARE IN

(million tonnes CHANGE YR/YR YR TO DATE

coal equivalents) '09 '08
Oil 119.4 122.8 - 2.8 36.0 34.6
Natural gas 70.1 75.4 - 7.0 21.1 21.3
Hard coal 35.6 45.7 - 22.1 10.8 12.9
Lignite 37.9 39.1 - 3.0 11.4 11.0
Nuclear Energy 36.9 41.2 - 10.4 11.1 11.6
Renewables 29.4 28.8 + 2.1 8.9 8.1
Others * 2.4 1.6 ... 0.7 0.5
---------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL 331.7 354.6 - 6.4 100.0 100.0
* includes foreign power trade balance
(Reporting by Vera Eckert; editing by James Jukwey)