Energiewende commission stresses need for action in transport sector
威力彩玩法
Germany is likely to miss several of its energy transition goals by 2020, including greenhouse gas reduction and transport sector goals, writes an expert commission tasked with monitoring the progress of the German Energiewende in a short interim evaluation. The "greatest need for action" was in the transport sector. It was not set to increase the renewables share or reduce final energy consumption enough to reach targets by 2020. The experts published their short assessment in time for the ongoing talks to form a new German government coalition, with the aim 鈥渢o support the upcoming political discussions regarding the effective and efficient development of the energy transition鈥�, says the paper. Germany was on-track to phase out nuclear power and increase the share of renewables in final energy and power consumption. However, the country was unlikely to reduce primary energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020. The commission included several recommendations in the short assessment, and renewed its call for a general price on carbon emissions.
Find the commission鈥檚 evaluation in German .
Find background in the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Germany鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions and climate targets article Experts call for CO2 price to retain Energiewende鈥檚 credibility.
Note: The 威力彩玩法 will publish an article on this story later today.
MDR
A cross-party alliance of eastern German state premiers has warned the federal government that a quick coal exit would have grave consequences for the region鈥檚 economy, public broadcaster MDR reports on its website. In a letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel, the heads of government of Germany鈥檚 former communist states say that more than two decades after the country鈥檚 reunification, east Germany still suffered from a 鈥渘early area-wide structural economic weakness鈥�. They said the situation would be exacerbated by ending lignite mining and coal-fired power production, which employed tens of thousands of people in the region, the MDR writes.
Read the article in German .
See the 威力彩玩法 interview with Green MP Baerbock for background on Germany鈥檚 coal use.
Die Welt
The storm 鈥淗erwart鈥� that hit Germany on the last weekend in October caused power prices to turn negative due to an excessive supply of wind power, thereby exposing 鈥渢he glaring malfunction鈥� of the country鈥檚 energy transition, Nando Sommerfeldt and Holger Zsch盲pitz write for Die Welt. Power prices during the storm temporarily fell to minus 83.06 euros per megawatt hour (eur/mWh), compared to plus 37 eur/mWh during 鈥渘ormal鈥� times, forcing power producers to pay their customers, the article says. 鈥淧rivate consumers do not benefit from negative prices but instead have to pay for it in the long run,鈥� as the government guarantees operators of renewable energy installations fixed feed-in tariffs, the authors write. Excess power needs to be consumed even when there is no demand, causing prices to turn negative. However, the problem could be remedied by providing greater storage capacities to preserve excess energy for later use, Tobias Struck of energy provider Wemag says.
Read the article in German .
See the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Why power prices turn negative for background.
Initiating the end of combustion engine technology in Germany with corresponding legislation would be in accordance with European law, environmental organisation Greenpeace says in a press release. According to a legal opinion commissioned by the organisation, Germany鈥檚 ambitious climate protection goals require the government to introduce 鈥渞egulation aimed at strengthening environmental protection鈥�, which included a national phase-out of combustion engines to foster the transport sector鈥檚 emissions reduction. Greenpeace says Germany should ban new registrations of cars with combustion engines by 2025 to guarantee a fulfilment of the Paris Climate Agreement鈥檚 goals.
Find the press release in German and the full legal opinion in German .
See the 威力彩玩法 factsheet The debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany for more information.
Rheinische Post
Germany鈥檚 environment minister Barbara Hendricks says drivers of large Super Utility Vehicles (SUVs) living in cities should opt for a different model next time they buy a car. Drivers of large cars could be 鈥渓ooked at with disapproval in cities, similar to the way smokers are looked at in inside spaces鈥�, Hendricks told the Rheinische Post in an interview. She stressed that the analogy came from an official of the ADAC, Germany鈥檚 largest motorist association. Hendricks added that the Green Party鈥檚 demand to ban new registrations of combustion engines by 2030 was unnecessary as market forces ensured that the technology will lose its appeal one way or another over the next decade.
Read the interview in German .
See this 威力彩玩法 interview with Hendricks for more information.
