威力彩玩法

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07 Nov 2016, 00:00
S枚ren Amelang Benjamin Wehrmann Julian Wettengel

Firms call for ambitious climate plan / Unions push for e-mobility

S眉ddeutsche Zeitung

A new draft of federal environment minister Barbara Hendricks鈥 contentious Climate Action Plan 2050 says that there would be no new coal-fired power plants or expansions of existing open pit mines, writes Michael Bauchm眉ller in S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. 鈥淲ith this, the lignite endgame begins,鈥 writes Bauchm眉ller. The new draft calls on the federal government to lobby for a floor price for auctioned EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) carbon certificates on the European level. It also includes emission-reduction targets for the individual sectors - which had been cut from earlier drafts. The Climate Action Plan 2050 is currently in consultation between federal ministries. It is not clear if it will be ready to be approved by the cabinet this week.

Read the article in German .

For background read the 威力彩玩法 article Ministry avoids concrete targets in weakened Climate Action Plan.

Leipziger Volkszeitung

The federal state of Saxony intends to forge a coalition of coal-producing German states against a possible nation-wide coal exit, the Leipziger Volkszeitung reports. Saxony鈥檚 Christian-democrat state premier Stanislaw Tillich called the aim to tackle coal in the Climate Action Plan 2050 a 鈥渃atastrophically wrong decision鈥 that would eventually cause the Energiewende to fail, according to the newspaper. Tillich vowed to 鈥渇ight for securing affordable electricity鈥 while his party agreed on an investment guarantee for lignite mining in Saxony, the newspaper added.

For more information on the regional impact of energy transition read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet German federalism: In 16 states of mind over the Energiewende.

Foundation 2掳 / Germanwatch / B.A.U.M. e.V.

A group of more than 40 companies has called for 2030-targets for all sectors in a Climate Action Plan 2050 that 鈥渃learly signals鈥 the implementation of the commitments made in the Paris Agreement. 鈥淭his is the only way that new business models and concrete decarbonisation plans can be developed,鈥 the companies write in a public appeal. They emphasise the 鈥渆conomic possibilities鈥 of climate protection efforts and call for planning security. 鈥淐limate protection through businesses creates jobs and secures the competitiveness and sustainability of Germany as a business location,鈥 says the appeal. Commerzbank, Hochtief, IKEA, EnBW, German Telekom, METRO Group and Adidas have all signed the appeal. The industry has so far mostly criticised strict climate protection measures laid out in earlier drafts of the environment ministry鈥檚 climate plan.

Find the appeal in German .

For background read the 威力彩玩法 article Ministry avoids concrete targets in weakened Climate Action Plan.

Deutschlandfunk

The squabbling in the German government over its Climate Action Plan 2050 is a result of the seriousness with which the topic is being treated, writes Bernhard P枚tter in a commentary for Deutschlandfunk鈥檚 website. 鈥淢ost other countries come up with some sort of climate plan, have it registered with the UN 鈥 and then forget about it if doesn鈥檛 suit their plans,鈥 P枚tter writes. But Germany鈥檚 governing grand coalition fights over its climate plans content and now intends to come up with a last-minute solution to present something to the world at COP22 in Marrakesh, he adds. Germany could therefore 鈥渟erve as an example how a democratic society properly argues over finding the right way for energy transition鈥, the author states.

Read the article in German .

Der Spiegel

Unions want to push car industry managers to speed up the transition to emission-free mobility, reports weekly magazine Der Spiegel. Powerful metalworkers鈥 union IG Metall plans to publish a paper on 鈥淐utting CO2 pollution in individual transport鈥, write Sven B枚ll, Horand Knaup, and Gerald Traufetter. Unions fear the shift to e-mobility will put hundreds of thousands of jobs in the car industry at risk in Germany but IG Metall demands carmakers go on the offensive to lead the transformation. 鈥淭echnical finesse to reduce emissions won鈥檛 get us any further. It鈥檚 about a system change at full throttle. It鈥檚 about a transport transition 鈥 we won鈥檛 be able to avoid it,鈥 Frank Iwer, head of the union鈥檚 planning, told the magazine. The IG Metall paper recommends diesel driving bans in cities to push e-mobility and a faster roll-out of charging infrastructure, among other suggestions.

Read the article in German .

For background on the struggle of Germany鈥檚 automotive industry to shift to decarbonised mobility read the 威力彩玩法 dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.

Reuters

A U.S. regulatory agency has found a new kind of device in Audi vehicles that lowers a car鈥檚 carbon dioxide emissions during testing, says Reuters news agency, citing a report by German weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag. The California Air Resources Board is said to have detected a software in a vehicle of the German carmaker that registers whether the car鈥檚 steering wheel is being moved and switches a carbon-dioxide reducing mechanism on or off accordingly, Reuters reports. Audi previously admitted using another cheating software that its parent company Volkswagen installed in more than eleven million of its vehicles.

Read the article by Reuters in English .

Read the article by Bild am Sonntag (behind paywall) in German .

Neue Z眉rcher Zeitung

New guidelines for the industry in the German government鈥檚 Climate Action Plan 2050 bear traces of a planned economy, writes Christoph Eisenring in Neue Z眉rcher Zeitung. He cites measures such as expanding the area of arable land reserved for ecological agriculture from about six to 20 percent until 2030, or obligations for companies to issue 鈥渃limate reports鈥, as examples of a policy approach that favours fixed goals over market mechanisms. Conflicting objectives would simply be quenched with public money 鈥 as, for instance, the remuneration for feeding renewable energy into the grid demonstrates, Eisenring writes. Berlin should instead make use of its upcoming G20 presidency to strengthen market-based tools such as the flawed emission trading scheme within the EU, the author says.

Read more on the costs of energy transition in the 威力彩玩法 dossier Energiewende effects on power prices, costs and industry.

Financial Times

Germany鈥檚 fragmented political landscape could become the driving force behind the country鈥檚 energy transition, writes Nick Butler for Financial Times. New types of government coalitions after the 2017 federal elections could include, for example, the Green Party. 鈥淭he SPD [currently in the government coalition] with its strong links to the coal industry is likely to try to preserve it, at least for now. But a centre-right coalition [CDU and Green Party] could sacrifice coal as well as setting new limits on the use of natural gas,鈥 writes Butler.

Read the article in English .

For background information, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet German elections ahead: The road to the next Energiewende government.

Handelsblatt

It has been unclear for a long time whether offshore wind turbines can produce power without subsidies, writes Franz Hubik in business daily Handelsblatt. But the industry is about to reach competitiveness, and hopes this will lead to a growth spurt, according to a new analysis by management consultancy Roland Berger. 鈥淥ffshore wind is set to take off in a big way,鈥 writes Roland Berger senior partner Arnoud van der Slot in a Blog post. 鈥淣ow the tide has turned and offshore wind is garnering enormous interest around the world.鈥

Read the Handelsblatt article in German , and a Roland Berger Blog post on offshore wind in English .

Quartz

Engineers in Germany are storing water for hydroelectricity inside wind turbines, allowing the towers to act like massive batteries when the wind stops, writes Michael Coren for online news outlet . 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first major example of the two technologies being physically integrated to supply reliable renewable energy,鈥 writes Coren.

For more information on the project read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Local stories from Germany's energy transition.

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