Putin & Merkel to talk gas / Thousands relocated due to mine expansion

More than a dozen villages are to be demolished and thousands of families relocated to make way for the expansion of Garzweiler opencast lignite mine, Stefanie Glinski reports for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Located in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the lignite mine is operated by Essen-based utility RWE. Villages across Germany are being bulldozed to make way for the mining of lignite, which RWE admits is a particularly environmentally harmful fuel source, Glinski writes. "Our expectation is that Garzweiler will be open until the middle of the century," Guido Steffen, RWE press officer, told the Thomas Reuters Foundation. "Germany is making radical changes, but even in the long run, in order to provide energy, we can't forgo conventional power plants."

Read the article in English here.

For background, read the article Commission watch – Managing Germany’s coal phase-out and the factsheets Germany’s coal exit commission and Germany’s three lignite mining regions.

Germany's Council of State Governments (Bundesrat) has expressed fears that lignite mine operators have not set aside enough money to cover the future costs of decommissioning, demolishing, and renaturing mined land, spurring more widespread concern, particularly among Green Party politicians, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Lignite mine operators also fear their liabilities could be comparable to those of nuclear power plant operators, the article says. RWE has set aside money for clean-up and restoration but warned against making its obligations to do so stricter. “This would mean that we would no longer be able to make entrepreneurial investments in renewable energies,” company spokeswoman Stefanie Schunck said. “That will harm not only RWE, but the entire energy transition,” she said.

For background, read the factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?

In the fight against pollution from diesel cars and with EU fines looming, five German model cities want to make their public transport systems better and cheaper. At a press conference with transport minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) and environment minister Svenja Schulze (SPD), the cities’ mayors also presented plans to cooperate with the largest local employers to motivate employees to commute using means of transport that are more environmentally-friendly than private cars. Additionally, the cities announced plans to build new bicycle lanes, shift local freight transport to electric bikes and cars, and improve the flow of traffic.
The five model cities are part of the government’s “Ad-hoc programme for clean air” that is meant to avoid diesel driving bans. They were chosen because they have different levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution and therefore could serve as showcases for improving air quality in some 70 German cities that grapple with excessive pollution levels, according to the government. The federal government has set aside 130 million euros to support initiatives that can be implemented in the short term “and have a measurable positive effect on air quality”.

Read the transport ministry’s press release here.

Read the article One year after German “diesel summit,” air quality challenge remains for background.