Industry emissions almost unchanged / Wind-powered lamps
Federal Environment Agency
“Emissions trading: industry’s emissions almost unchanged in 2015”
The CO₂ emissions of German energy intensive industry remained virtually unchanged for the second year in a row in 2015, according to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). In the iron, paper, and steel industries emissions even increased. The UBA blamed the development on the low CO₂ price. “The industry has to make its contribution, too,” said UBA president Maria Krautzberger.
Industry is responsible for about 27 percent of German emissions under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The remaining 73 percent is produced by energy industry, which showed a small drop of 1.7 percent to 332 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent despite rising electricity exports.
Find the press release in German here.
The Local
“Wind-powered lamps to light German island's streets”
The German North Sea island of Juist has introduced a pilot project with self-sufficient wind-powered street lamps, reports Emma Anderson for The Local. With an abundance of wind, Germany’s north is the ideal place for such a system, while the region often does not supply enough sunlight for existing solar solutions, according to Anderson. With a comparably low price tag of 4,000 euros per lamp, small local communities would also benefit from not having to run cables underground. The system’s batteries are fully charged after half a day of moderate wind and then last up to ten days. Windless periods of this length are unlikely along the coast. The autarky of the system could make it a model even for developing countries, writes Anderson.
Find the article in English here.
Federal Ministry for the Environment / Der Tagesspiegel
“The poor help the poor”
The environment ministry will invest 30 million euros until 2019 to continue free counselling on energy consumption for low-income households. Some 1,200 specially trained “energy-saving helpers” visit households to tell people about ways to save energy and money. Households can save an average of 150 euros per year, according to the ministry. The helpers themselves are former long-term unemployed. The structure means “the poor help the poor”, writes Dagmar Dehmer in Der Tagesspiegel in an article on the programme called "Municipal power-saving check". More than 210,000 households have so far taken part in the programme, which started in 2009.
Find the press release of the environment ministry in German here.
Read the article in German here.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“Steel alliances”
ThyssenKrupp’s German steel plants have been made very efficient so they can turn a profit, writes Helmut Bünder in a commentary in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. But an alliance with Tata Steel, which is currently under negotiation, would also be felt in Germany. Bünder argues: “But we don’t need to fear a job cull like in Great Britain – at least not if the crisis restores reason to climate policy.” He said it was an important signal that economy minister Sigmar Gabriel supports the industry. “Let’s hope it arrives in Brussels.”
Ministry of Education and Research
“Secure, affordable and clean”
The government has launched a 400 million euro research initiative with 230 partners from industry, civil society and scientists to find technological and economical solutions for transforming Germany’s energy system. The key research areas are the development of power grids, storing renewable energies, adjusting industry processes to a fluctuating energy supply, and the better interaction of all sectors of the energy system. “We will show that a secure, affordable and clean energy supply is possible without giving up prosperity and jobs,” research minister Johanna Wanka said. Companies like Siemens, utility E.ON and grid operator TenneT have won partnerships in the four “Kopernikus” projects.
Read the press release in German here.
Read a CLEW dossier on technology and research in the Energiewende here.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“The power piggy banks”
Despite a much higher share of fluctuating renewable power in the German grid, the demand for so-called “balancing energy” that keeps the network stable has not increased, writes Lukas Weber in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. This is mainly because the prognosis for supply and demand in power has become more accurate, he says. The future power system is nonetheless in need of storage facilities, Weber learns from industry representatives. These can be different kinds of batteries, for which prices will fall considerably in the coming years, or mechanical solutions with compressed air or pumped hydro power.
Handelsblatt
“The battle against carbon dioxide”
French proposals for a minimum price on emission certificates are rejected by German industry, reports Klaus Stratmann in business daily Handelsblatt. “Minimum prices would be an inadmissible market intervention,” Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, head of the German Steel Federation, told the author. Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said minimum prices would solve two problems: Firstly, that prices are too low because market participants have been disappointed by politics, and secondly, that national efforts to protect the climate lower prices further.
Die Welt
“What would need to happen so you buy a Tesla?”
The new Tesla “Model 3” has created a small wave of e-mobility enthusiasm in Germany but the share of e-cars remains tiny, writes Philipp Vetter in Die Welt. A buyer’s premium is still under discussion and would help increase the number of e-cars, but experts believe the money could be used more efficiently to boost e-mobility by improving the charging infrastructure, writes Vetter. He concludes: “Experts agree that an offering of attractive e-car models is more decisive than financial support.”
Read the article in German here.
Tageszeitung/epd
“Lignite opponents occupy open-cast mine”
Anti-lignite activists occupied part of Vattenfall’s open-cast mining equipment to draw attention to the local and global consequences of using brown coal for power production, reports press agency epd.
Find the report in German here.
