Diesel popularity drops - study / Germany’s first wind park turns 30
Aral AG
Forty-one percent of German drivers say they plan on buying a new or used vehicle in the coming 18 months, according to a study conducted by fuel and petrol station brand Aral AG. This rate is the highest since the first such study in 2003. Most survey respondents plan to buy a petrol car (52 percent), while preference for diesel engines has dropped from 31 percent in 2015 to 18 percent today. The popularity of hybrids (15 percent) and all-electric cars (5 percent) has grown since the last survey in 2015. Only six percent of respondents plan to buy small cars (about a fourth of respondents in 2015), while the popularity of limousines (34 percent) and SUVs (15 percent) has grown significantly. Tesla is seen as the most environmentally-friendly carmaker, followed by Toyota and BMW. For the study, 1,003 participants were surveyed online in March 2017.
Find the study in German here.
Find background in the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Tagesspiegel
The Greens’ call for an end to the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2030 was meant to deliver a “wake-up call to the German industry", said Cem Özdemir, co-head and one of the two leading candidates for the Green Party in the upcoming elections, in an interview with Tagesspiegel. "With this demand, we will head into coalition talks. In the end, there must be a fixed end date”, said Özdemir. The German car industry faces serious planning and scheduling problems because of the federal government’s zigzag course on the future of mobility, said Özdemir. “I don’t want German cars to become a niche product, while the cars of the future are being built in China or the US. That will only work if the government provides clear guidelines.”
Read the interview in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier Vote2017 - German elections and the Energiewende and the factsheet The debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany.
Even if US sanctions lead to a cancellation of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the Baltic LNG liquefied natural gas terminal projects, Europe’s import capacities are sufficient to meet demand, writes Aurora Energy Research in a brief. While “the overall impact [of the sanctions] on European markets is negligible”, the share of Russian gas could decrease significantly if it cannot be re-routed through Ukraine, the brief shows.
Read the brief in English here.
For background, see the News Digest entries Germany and Austria say US sanction plans against Russia threaten Europe’s energy security and Merkel calls US gas sanctions against Russia “irregular behaviour”.
Association of German Transport Companies (VDV)
The increase in public transport passengers in Germany shows the potential for further growth of the system, which in turn could make it “problem solver #1” in reducing transport sector emissions in cities and metropolitan areas, said Jürgen Fenske, president of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), in a press release. Public transport passenger numbers rose by 1.5 percent in the first half of 2017, compared to the same period last year. Fenske called for a special funding programme for public transport to be able to lower pollution in cities by shifting transport to buses and trains.
Find the press release in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s transport sector.
Resonator (Helmholtz Association)
Radio and podcast moderator Holger Klein interviews Holger Hanselka, president of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), about the current state of Germany’s generational Energiewende (energy transition) project in a German online podcast for Resonator, the science podcast of Helmholtz Association.
Listen to the podcast in German here.
For general background, check out CLEW’s Easy Guide to Germany’s Energiewende.
dpa / WirtschaftsWoche
In 1987, Germany’s first wind park began operation in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, reports the news agency dpa in an article carried by WirtschaftsWoche. Thirty turbines with a total of 1,000 kilowatt capacity were installed. Today, four modern turbines stand in their place, writes dpa.
Read the article in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossiers The history of the Energiewende and Onshore Wind Power in Germany.
klimaretter.info
The high number of citizens’ energy projects among successful bids in the second round of wind power auctions - which can be attributed to a single project developer, UKA – has led to renewed criticism of the current auction regulations, writes Jörg Staude for klimaretter.info. Citizens’ energy projects currently do not have to submit the so-called immission law license to take part in auctions. Industry players wonder whether the special rules will ultimately lead to many winning bids not being realised. As of 2018, citizens’ energy projects will also need to obtain the immission law license to enter the auctions.
Read the article in German here.
For background, read the CLEW article Citizens’ energy projects dominate first onshore wind power auction and the CLEW factsheet High hopes and concerns over onshore wind power auctions.
