CO2 reductions from new cars slowing down / Conservation vs. Energiewende
Die Welt
Emission reduction from new cars in Germany is slowing down despite ambitious climate targets and “alleged efforts” of the car industry, writes Nikolaus Doll in Die Welt. A study by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) showed that low petrol prices and high demand in SUV and off-road vehicles was thwarting the car manufacturers’ efforts to reduce their fleets’ emissions and was reducing the acceptance among buyers for alternative fuels. Futhermore, CAM’s results are based on the official emission tests but, as the VW scandal has shown, these often had little to do with reality, CAM head Stefan Bratzel told Die Welt.
Read the article in German here.
See a CLEW dossier on the energy transition in the transport sector.
Deutsche Welle
Germany’s transformation from conventional to renewable energies (Energiewende) is creating conflict with nature conservationists, writes Oleg Ködding-Zurmühlen on Deutsche Welle. In Bremerhaven on the North Sea coast, Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) have stopped the construction of an offshore terminal by obtaining a court order, arguing that the port for offshore wind turbines would damage a nearby nature reserve.
Read the article in German here.
Federal Parliament
The federal government wants to give 100 million people in the global south access to sustainable, renewable energy by 2030, they have stated in an answer to parliament. This is to be achieved through a range of new bilateral and multilateral energy projects, the government said. In 2014 and 2015, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has supported sustainable energy systems abroad with 4 billion euros and was thereby contributing significantly to a “global energy transition”.
Read the report in German here.
dpa
Hamburg-based company DNV GL (Det Norske Veritas / Germanische Lloyd) is leading a project to standardise floating wind turbines, dpa reports. Their work was important to lead industry in the right direction when developing the new kind of windmills that will not be fixed onto the sea floor, but can float into much deeper waters, the company said.
Read the article in German here.
See a CLEW dossier on new technologies in the energy transition.
Capital
One quarter of ailing energy utility RWE is in the hands of towns and councils which are dependent on its dividend, an article in Capital says. The shares of RWE have lost 80 percent of their value since 2010 and the dividend has been cut, making these communities wonder what to do with their shares in RWE. The involvement of the towns’ treasuries is greater than that of private investors, write Christian Schütte and Thomas Steinmann. And because their shares are organised in a holding, quick termination is not possible. Those who bide their time do not have much to lose anymore, the authors say. RWE has promised that between 70 and 80 percent of the new subsidiary Innogy will be paid as dividends.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
German farmers oppose environment minister Barbara Hendricks’ Climate Action Plan 2050 because it suggests reducing the number of cattle, the use of fertiliser and tying EU subsidies to environmental performance, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Joachim Rukwied, president of the German Farmer’s Association (DBV), said that the climate plan could reduce agricultural added value by 9 billion euros per year and endanger 200,000 jobs. Rukwied also opposes the notion of farmers producing less, and people eating less, meat. “Cattle emits per se, cars emit per se. But cattle is more essential to life,” he said.
Bayerische Staatszeitung
Electricity consumption in Bavaria has increased by 30 percent over the last 10 years, the Bayerische Staatszeitung reports, referring to data from the Bavarian statistical bureau and Verband der Bayerischen Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft VBEW. Many household appliances and industrial processes are becoming more efficient but this is compensated by more and more appliances using power and by the growing population, the article says. The demand will increase further once even more devices like cars and heat pumps are operated with electricity.
Read the article in German here.
Read a CLEW factsheet on federalism and the energy transition.
