Climate Action Plan draft backs ecological tax reform, carbon price floor
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
鈥淓verything for the global climate鈥�
A leaked draft of the Climate Action Plan 2050 shows the path the German environment ministry wants to take to听carbon neutrality by the middle of the century, reports the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The draft includes concrete targets and deadlines for different sectors, a recommendation for ecological tax reform, local climate protection measures, and suggests the need for an overarching concept to internalise environmental costs in market prices. In the transport and building sectors, this could see government test whether 鈥渁dditional levies on fossil fuels and heating fuels鈥� could be used to support environmentally beneficiary technology.
Read 威力彩玩法's factsheet on the Climate Action Plan 2050.
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Der Tagesspiegel
鈥淐utting emissions from coal in half by 2030鈥�
The draft version of the Climate Action Plan 2050 also lays out milestones for a coal exit, says Der Tagesspiegel. By 2030, CO2 emissions from the energy sector are to be reduced from today鈥檚 358 tonnes per year to 170-180 tonnes. This means a number of old coal-fired power stations will have to be shut down by 2030, particularly old lignite plants. The plan also implies that investment in new coal power plants and new lignite mines should be stopped, the article says. The environment ministry suggests in the draft that a commission should prepare suggestions听by the middle of 2017 on how to implement a coal phase-out .
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Carbon Pulse
"Draft shows Germany considering minimum EU carbon price"
According to a draft of the 2050 Climate Action Plan听seen by Bloomberg, the German government 鈥渇avours an emissions market that may 鈥榠nclude the adoption of a Europe-wide minimum price to set a sufficiently strong price signal,鈥欌�� Carbon Pulse reports. France backs a price floor, which it plans to implement domestically from next year. But so far, the idea has had a 鈥渓ukewarm鈥� response at a European level. Germany鈥檚 support 鈥渃ould significantly boost the proposal鈥檚 chances鈥� the article鈥檚 author, Ben Garside, writes. EU carbon prices rose as much as 6.9 percent on Thursday as Germany鈥檚 draft paper raised the prospects for political intervention and oil prices led the energy complex higher, Garside writes in a .
See the article in English听.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淏allast in the shaft鈥�
The Gorleben salt mine is becoming the sticking point in the advisory report on finding a final repository for nuclear waste in Germany, writes Michael Bauchm眉ller in the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Part of the commission, which is tasked to present the report next month, wants to ensure that every potentially suitable location in Germany can be tested further, including Gorleben in Lower Saxony. But other members of the body highlight historic failures in the exploration of the salt mine that would make a repository in Gorleben 鈥減olitically unenforceable鈥�, according one of the co-heads of the commission, Bauchm眉ller says.
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the nuclear storage question in Germany.
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dpa
"Tesla criticises German premium for electric cars"
Tesla has said that the 60,000-euro price limit on electric cars eligible for subsidy under the government鈥檚 new scheme is designed to exclude the American manufacturer鈥檚 vehicles, dpa reports. Tesla called the price limit arbitrary, pointing out that the scheme was designed in consultation with German carmakers.听
See article in German .
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Handelsblatt
"EnBW and wind power; Lull in south"
German power company EnBW is calling for regional targets for the expansion of wind power capacity, Handelsblatt reports. Last year, 42 percent of new capacity was installed in the north of the country, and 44 percent in central Germany. Only 14 percent of new installations were located in the southern states. Baden-W眉rttemberg, where EnBW鈥檚 operations are located, has just 700 megawatts of wind capacity.听 EnBW head Frank Mastiaux says the听auction process for wind power capacity under a revised renewable energy law听will perpetuate the regional imbalance, as suitable sites in the south are often more expensive to develop and maintain because they are less accessible, and suggests a target of, say, 40 percent of new capacity to be built in regions where wind farms are less likely to be taken offline.
See the article in German (behind a paywall) .
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FIZ Karlsruhe
鈥淢odelling renewable electricity supplies鈥�
Experts at the 脰办辞-滨苍蝉迟颈迟耻迟 have produced a report looking at scenarios to meet the government鈥檚 target of supplying 80 percent of German power from renewables by 2050. 鈥淢odelling power supply for 2050鈥� uses a model for the power market that incorporates technical and economic factors, and found that 鈥渉eat storage systems for CHP plants make economic sense鈥� and 鈥渓oad management for industry, commerce, retail and services provide further possibilities,鈥� according to a press release.
See the press release in English .听
