Industry, researchers and energy agency urge government action on energy transition

Germany must urgently address a whole range of difficult choices to get the country’s energy transition on track for 2050 targets by triggering rapid investments in low-carbon technologies, according to a joint initiative by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), science academy ESYS and the German Energy Agency (dena). All relevant policy areas – renewable energies, demand and generation flexibility, renewable synthetic fuels, new transport technologies, energy-efficient buildings, avoiding industry emissions and holistic control of the energy transition – require policy attention, according to the three organisations, which independently of each other tabled comprehensive studies on the long-term perspectives of Germany’s energy transition last year. “The studies show the feasibility of the energy transition, but also highlight the enormous challenges ahead,” the BDI’s Holger Lösch said at a press conference.

The organisations said Germany needed to speed up the roll-out of renewable energies to at least six gigawatts net annually, extend and update its power grid, increase the rate of building renovations substantially, and take first steps to make synthetic fuels available in large amounts. “Implementation delays would push up costs significantly, and would mean that decisive technologies and infrastructures are not available in time.” The organisations also said the government should embark on a fundamental overhaul of taxes and levies during the current legislative period, which should result in a CO2 price for all sectors.

Only last week, new energy state secretary Andreas Feicht said Germany would not get a price on carbon emissions during the current legislative period. While the current complex system of energy fees, taxes and surcharges is hindering innovations necessary to drive the energy transition forward, the government will not pass any legislation and will only study concepts and proposals, Feicht said.