87% of Germans support climate treaty / Energy transition costs
Fraunhofer ISE
“What does the Energiewende cost?”
The costs of a climate-friendly transformation of the German energy system from now until 2050 - when the country wants to emit 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 – have been examined by researchers at the Fraunhofer ISE. Wind and solar power play a key role in all scenarios and power consumption will increase as electricity replaces fossil fuels. Researchers calculated several different scenarios regarding the cost, based on varying assumptions regarding future fossil fuel and CO2 prices. If the price for fossil fuels remains the same until 2050 and the price for CO2 emissions stays low, cumulative costs will be 25 percent higher than continuing with today’s energy system. However, assuming that prices for fossil fuels will increase by 3 percent annually, costs for running the old system are on par with those of the transformation, while the latter reaches an 85 percent CO2 emission reduction.
Read the press release and download the study in German here.
Read a CLEW dossier on cost and prices in the Energiewende here.
Spiegel Online
“Nuclear phase-out: new commission fears billions in costs for tax payers”
A new commission has the task of securing money needed for the nuclear phase-out - including decommissioning and storage of nuclear waste - without harming the already-ailing utilities which operated the plants, Spiegel Online reports. A fund solution where utilities pay once and are then off the hook is favoured by half of the commission’s members. But the rest believe that utilities should still be responsible for further costs once they have paid into the state-operated fund. The body has to find a solution by February, with many of its members fearing that the tax payer will have to foot the bill, the article says.
Read the article in German here.
Read a CLEW factsheet on securing utility payments for the nuclear phase-out here.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Government stops solar storage support”
A government support programme for batteries that store solar power will not continue next year, a letter from energy and economy minister Sigmar Gabriel seen by the Süddeutsche Zeitung states. The scheme has supported the installation of over 3,000 solar storage devices with over 30 million euros since 2013. Conservative and green politicians, as well as the solar power lobby, had fought to keep the programme running because the batteries are not financially viable without support, writes Michael Bauchmüller. But Minister Gabriel said that state support for one technology was not compatible with his latest power market reform.
Read a CLEW factsheet on Germany’s new power market design here.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“Energy transition in Essen”
Essen-based utility RWE will soon be earning more money from wind power than from its conventional power stations, writes Helmut Bünder in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. This is partially due to the rapid decrease in power prices at the electricity exchange. If the trend continues, RWE - like E.ON before - will have to think about splitting off its conventional power section into a separate company, Bünder says.
Read the article in German here.
Energy Post
Klaus Schäfer, future CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper: “EU should set a target for gas”
The future of conventional power plants in Europe will see them provide power to specific customers and guarantee adequate capacity, Klaus Schäfer, the incoming CEO of German utility E.ON spin-off Uniper, told Energy Post. While the UK and France were establishing capacity markets for this, Germany was leaving it to the wholesale market. “I can’t see anyone investing in a new plant which is solely compensated by the wholesale market,” Schäfer said.
Read the interview in English here.
Read a CLEW factsheet on Germany’s new power market design here.
Read a CLEW dossier on utilities in the energy transition here.
PewResearchCenter
87 percent of Germans in favour of national CO2 cuts as part of international climate agreement
55 percent of German citizens regard climate change as a “very serious problem”, American think-tank Pew found. The global median is 54 percent, in the US the figure is 45 percent, in the UK 41 percent, in Poland 19 percent, in China 18 percent and in Russia 33 percent. Interviewing over 45,000 people in 40 countries, the researchers found that globally 78 percent of people support an international agreement limiting greenhouse gas emissions; in Germany it was 87 percent and in China 71 percent.
Find the full Pew report in English here.
Carl Kliem Energy GmbH (CKE)
“Almost no electricity cost increases published”
Power prices for households are likely to remain stable next year despite rising surcharges and increasing grid fees, a survey by consultancy CKE found. A total of 64 percent of power suppliers who have decided on household tariffs for next year will keep them stable, 17 percent want to reduce prices and 8 percent want to increase tariffs. Another 11 percent said they would either keep prices stable or offer lower tariffs. CKE used decisions by 36 power suppliers. Power suppliers will be able to buy one kilowatt-hour for 0.489 cent less than in 2015 due to falling wholesale electricity costs, CKE calculates.
Read the press release in German here.
Berliner Morgenpost / Der Hauptstadtbrief
“The golden calf of climate action”
After 20 climate summits that have achieved next to nothing, it seems like a “bad joke” that we are still trying to combat climate change with the same measures, Bjørn Lomborg from the Copenhagen Consensus Center writes. CO2 emissions and economic growth are closely connected and politicians in rich countries are trying to reduce them by subsidising renewables that are far from mature – this approach has failed as Germany’s energy transition shows, Lomborg says. Subsidising renewables will harm other industries and reduce economic growth, he predicts. Developing countries which have far more important priorities than climate change (e.g. better education, better health system, better jobs) will not follow the German example, Lomborg writes.
Read the article in German here.
Read a CLEW dossier on the energy transition and competitiveness here.
COP21
UNEP
Emissions Gap Report 2015
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has published its sixth Emissions Gap Report, finding that if all 119 submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are fully implemented, the world would be on track to a temperature rise of around 3°C by 2100.
Get the report in English here.
World Resources Institute (WRI)
“Assessing The Post-2020 Clean Energy Landscape”
If Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and the United States stick to their plans, their annual power production from renewable sources will more than double by 2030, according to the WRI. The European Union will achieve a 112 percent increase by 2030, the researchers calculated after assessing the world’s top eight greenhouse gas emitters.
Read the report in English here.
Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Climate agreement position paper
A climate agreement in Paris has to integrate a number of crucial elements to open a new chapter in international cooperation, a position paper by the Wuppertal Institute says. Among them are a complete exit from fossil fuels by the middle of the century, a transparent and robust reporting and evaluation process, and ambitious climate action targets that are increased every five years. The Wuppertal Institute also suggests that a “club” of particularly ambitious countries should take the lead.
Read the position paper in English here.
