Party negotiators say draft treaty on climate "good compromise"
Clean Energy Wire
The head negotiators of CDU and SPD in the coalition talks have praised the decisions on energy and climate policy as “a good compromise” (Armin Laschet, CDU) and a “huge step forward” (Barbara Hendricks, SPD). Hendricks, who is acting environment minister, said on the weekend that the cap on the expansion of renewable energies was going to be lifted. Laschet said the new government wanted to make Germany a pioneer in e-mobility by making it a location for battery cell production.
See their full statements and more reactions to the draft coalition paper on energy and climate here.
A coalition of several German environmental and energy federations urges the next government to introduce a price for emitting CO2 to safeguard the country’s contribution to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The current low oil price “makes investments in energy efficiency and renewable energies economically difficult, or even prevents them,” the coalition consisting of Green Budget Germany (FÖS), NABU, BUND and the Renewable Energies Agency (AEE) and others says in a press release. The European Emissions Trading System (ETS) is “not working in the way its inventors thought it should work,” the federations say, arguing that the current price of 8 euros per tonne “does not produce sufficient results.” A uniform carbon price for all sectors, on the other hand, could “bring about significant reduction effects,” the federations say, pointing out that many German companies, such as energy company E.ON and discounter Aldi, also support the idea.
Read the press release in German here.
See the CLEW factsheet on the negotiating coalition parties’ draft treaty here.
Welt Online / eMobilitaetsblog.de
Germany would have enough power for 1 million electric cars and the power grid would be able to cope with the charging pattern of these vehicles, Michael Brecht, author at eMobilitaetsblog.de writes in an opinion piece for Welt online. Brecht rejects the thesis by consultancy Oliver Wyman and the TU Munich that an e-car quota of 30 percent could lead to extensive blackouts in Germany if the grid is not reinforced.
Read the op-ed in German here. For background see CLEW’s dossier on the energy transition and Germany’s transport sector here.
Federal Ministry of Transport (BMVI)
The financial contribution German carmakers BMW, Daimler and VW will make to the “clean air emergency programme” has been secured, acting transport minister Christian Schmidt has said in a press release. “The German manufacturers will pay the share of 250 million euros in full,” Schmidt said, urging that foreign carmakers should also pay into the fund to finance measures aimed at reducing air pollution from vehicles in inner cities.
Find the press release in German here.
See the CLEW article on Germany’s diesel summit and its relevance for climate policy here.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
German luxury car brand Porsche will ramp up its investment in electric mobility to 6 billion euros by 2022, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The carmaker previously put aside about 3 billion euros for the development of e-cars but now plans to double that figure to develop both new hybrid and purely electric vehicles, the article says. Porsche’s Mission E, its first electric car, is scheduled for release in late 2019, but Porsche CEO Oliver Blume says this does not spell the end for the Porsche cars with combustion engines. “There will also be very pure Porsche sports cars with combustion engines in the future,” Blume said, adding that diesel cars will also remain part of Porsche’s product portfolio.
Find the article in German here.
See the CLEW factsheet on Porsche’s parent company VW’s plans for e-mobility for more information.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Five people from the east German coal mining region of Lusatia who work in lignite power stations or coal mines have expressed concerns about the energy transition and government plans to shut down lignite plants in the near future. The Süddeutsche Zeitung has published a summary of their views, compiled by Cornelius Pollmer.
Read the summary in German here. See a factsheet on coal in Germany here.
Die Welt
A rise in electric heat pump sales suggests the energy transition has finally reached the heating sector, Daniel Wetzel writes for Die Welt. According to the German Heating Industry Association (BDH), sales of oil-fired heating sharply declined in 2017 and heat pumps have reached a higher market share than oil condensing boilers for the first time. “But appearances are deceptive,” Wetzel says, arguing that at current rates, the modernisation of German heating systems is nowhere near fast enough to fulfil the 2030 climate goals. Germany’s Climate Action Plan stipulates that the building sector must emit at least 40 percent less CO2 than in 2014 by the end of the next decade. “To reach this goal, 13 million old installations must be modernised, meaning 1 million per year,” BDH president Manfred Greis says. The lobby association argues that the necessary rate of modernisation can only be achieved with more tax incentives for all forms of efficient heating, including those that use combustibles.
Read the article in German here.
See the CLEW factsheet on Germany’s Climate Action Plan 2050 for background.
