In the media: Report sees good outlook for energy transition
WirtschaftsWoche
Report paints favourable outlook for Energiewende
After the business-owned Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW) recently warned that the transition to renewable power sources in Germany would cost 28 billion euros per year and industry representatives called the project “too expensive”, a report by consultancy A.T. Kearney now paints a very different picture, Angela Hennersdorf writes in the WirtschaftsWoche. In a report for the magazine, A.T. Kearney says that chances improved in 2014 that Germany’s energy transition to a system based on wind and solar power will succeed. The report looks at benchmarks like power outage time, power station reserves, public approval of Energiewende policies and costs. A decrease in the renewables levy on power prices for households and falling wholesale power prices were seen as positive, while only the increase in CO2 emissions from cheap coal were viewed negatively.
Read a short version of the article (by Reinhold Böhmer) in German here.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Visiting the interim storage facility”
Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks got an up-close view of the current issues for nuclear decommissioning and waste storage during a visit to the Lubmin nuclear power station, writes Michael Bauchmüller in a feature for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Dismantling the plant will take until the end of the 2020s – but only if everything goes to plan. Decontaminated waste and 6 large pressure vessels are kept at an interim storage facility on site. Nobody knows yet how exactly to dismantle the radioactive pressure vessels (plus the ones from 17 other plants), who will pay for it and where the waste will be stored permanently, the author says. Hendricks said she would press ahead with finishing the final repository at Schacht Konrad (Lower Saxony).
PV-magazine
“Germany: 35% more PV storage installations”
Support for solar power storage projects by German development bank KfW increased by 35 percent in the first seven months of 2015, compared to the previous year, PV-magazine reports. Interest in the KfW's PV storage programme is rising due to falling prices for products and customers' desire to reduce their dependence on power suppliers, the article says.
Read the article in English here.
Renewable Energies Agency
Renewables make their way into job training
There is no such thing as a job called “renewable energies”, but more and more of the classic trades are incorporating renewables expertise into their work and training schemes, the Renewable Energies Agency says. According to a report by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), 1.35 million employees in Germany are involved with renewable energies in their jobs. When the new apprentices start their dual training (on the job and at specialised schools) this autumn, the training schedule for mechatronic technicians, climate and heating technicians and electricians will include electric mobility and renewables as additional subjects, the press release says.
Read the press release in German here.
Read a CLEW dossier and factsheet about jobs and businesses in the Energiewende here.
RTCC
“Can Merkel’s visit to Brazil make waves for climate action?
Four experts say what the German Chancellor’s visit to Brazil means for the UN climate conference in Paris and how it could impact Brazil’s climate debate on the website Responding to Climate Change (RTCC).
Read the article in English here.
World Resources Institute
“What’s On the Table at Bonn Climate Talks?”
David Waskow at the World Resources Institute describes the state of play and key issues in international climate negotiations ahead of the next two-week session in Bonn, Germany, beginning next week. Time is tight for negotiators who will have to further clarify the text for an international climate agreement, due to be concluded at the UN conference in Paris in December.
Read the analysis in English here.
