German e-car sales double / Energiewende at sea
Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA)
Sales of e-cars in Germany almost doubled in March, according to statistics by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). Registrations of new fully electric vehicles rose 98.5 percent year-on-year to 2.191 units (0.6 percent of total registrations), while plug-in hybrids went up 77.4 percent to 2.288 units (also a share of 0.6 percent). New registrations of petrol cars increased 21.8 percent, while diesel sales fell 2.8 percent.
Find the press release in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Reuters / VDMA
Germany’s economy ministry (BMWi), together with industry associations VSM and VDMA, has started an initiative intended to implement energy transition in maritime traffic, news agency Reuters reports. At the 10th National Maritime Conference in Hamburg, the initiators said emissions in the shipping industry will be lowered by employing more efficient diesel engines as well as efficient hybrid and gas engines. Energy supply in German harbours would be covered by renewable sources, while energy demand was going to be optimised via better digital connection between shipping companies and cargo logistics providers, Reuters writes.
In a separate press release, engineering federation VDMA said ship engine producers viewed liquefied natural gas as a long-term surrogate for heavy oil. CO2-neutrality could be achieved by 2050 by gradually introducing electricity-based synthetic fuels produced with renewable energy sources, it added.
Read the article in German here.
Find the press release in German here.
ZDF Berlin direkt
The chief of the German chancellery, Peter Altmaier, says Germany can still meet its own national 2020 climate protection goals despite increased emissions in 2016. He told public TV channel ZDF’s show “Berlin direkt” that he would “not give up on the goal” of outperforming common European emissions reduction targets in Germany by 2020. Altmaier said Germany would surely meet common European goals but fulfilling national aims was more difficult because of their greater ambition. Recent emissions increases were linked to Germany’s economic growth, which at the same time had produced “millions of new jobs” and greater export volumes. Germany already “demands a lot from its citizens” in the form of greater power costs to advance renewables expansion. The country has to remain an industrial location despite its commitment to climate protection, Altmaier added.
See the video in German here (availability depending on your location).
For background, see the CLEW article Germany “stands by existing climate targets” and the CLEW dossier The energy transition and climate change.
pv magazine
Wind and PV power systems installed in Germany produced about 12.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in March, reports Sandra Enkhardt in pv magazine. This is the largest production from wind and solar energy sources ever registered in the country, according to provisional numbers released by renewable energy industry institute IWR.
Read the report in English here.
For background, see the CLEW factsheet How can Germany keep the lights on in a renewable energy future?
Deutsche Welle
Germany's ambitious greenhouse gas reduction plans are facing a major obstacle: an apparent addiction to coal, reports Irene Banos Ruiz for Deutsche Welle. Mining company RWE is planning the expansion of some of Europe's biggest coal mines, Garzweiler and Hambach, while climate activists occupying a nearby forest try to prevent it from getting cut down in “Germany's biggest coal battleground”.
According to an analysis by climate NGO Sandbag published this week, German lignite plants make up seven out of 10 of Europe’s biggest CO2 polluters.
Read the report in English here.
For background, read the CLEW factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?.
tageszeitung (taz)
Germany might prevent the adoption of stricter EU emission rules for lignite plants, reports Malte Kreutzfeldt in left-wing newspaper tageszeitung (taz). According to the environment ministry, it remains undecided whether Germany will oppose the new rules in a vote scheduled for 28 April. The environment ministry and the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) both argue the new rules would require expensive investments at lignite plants with little benefits. Environmental organisations say they are outraged because old lignite plants seem more important to the government than citizens’ health.
Read the article in German here.
Siemens AG / Windkraft-Journal
Siemens Wind Power and Gamesa have finalised their merger to become “a global market leader in the area of renewable energies”, Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said in a press release. The shared enterprise of German engineering heavyweight Siemens’s wind power branch and the Spanish turbine maker will form an on- and offshore wind power provider “with an unrivalled global presence”, the press release added.
Fifty-nine percent of the new company will be owned by Siemens. while Gamesa stockholders hold 41 percent, according to Windkraft-Journal. Siemens Wind Power-Gamesa has an installed capacity of 69 gigawatt worldwide and a revenue of 9.3 billion euros, it adds.
Find the press release in English here.
Find the article in German here.
Federal Environment Agency (UBA)
The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has issued a study that compares climate protection strategies in six European countries. Researchers from the Fraunhofer ISI in Karlsruhe and Ecologic Institute in Berlin analysed national long-term climate scenarios in France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and identified differences in targeted ambition and approach.
Find the study in English here.
