CO2 price would trigger efficient energy transition in transport – commentary

A price on CO2 emissions would be a far superior solution to the government’s “command economy” approach to advance the energy transition in the transport sector, because it would trigger a fair competition between different technologies, writes Daniel Delhaes in a commentary in Handelsblatt (in German, paywall). “The state would provide infrastructure efficiently and would have money left to cushion social dislocations,” according to Delhaes. “The government should learn from the energy policy mess and regard the [mobility] commission as an opportunity. It can think out of the box and develop new strategies in order to lower emission on rails, roads, waterways and in the air.”

An internal working paper drafted by Germany's mobility commission has stirred public controversy. Transport minister Andreas Scheuer, whose own ministry had appointed the commission, swiftly dismissed its proposals for a motorway speed limit and fuel tax hikes. Germany’s transport sector is the only area that has not reduced its greenhouse gas emissions at all since 1990. Emissions increased by two percent between 1990 and 2016. The National Platform Future of Mobility mirrors the procedure of Germany’s coal exit commission and is to suggest measures for emission reductions that can become part of climate action law package later this year.