Fracking's chances dwindle / 'CO2 floor would fail in Germany'
Handelsblatt
鈥淒windling chances for fracking鈥�
The proposed fracking law has been delayed and might not be adopted in the current legislative period, writes Klaus Stratmann in Handelsblatt. Energy minister Sigmar Gabriel's听Social Democrats (SPD) insist parliament should vote on recommendations for specific trial drills, and there is no compromise in sight, writes Stratmann. The environment ministry鈥檚 law proposal would allow fracking under very strict preconditions.
Read a 威力彩玩法 article on last year鈥檚 fracking law proposal here. 听听听
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Montel
鈥淔rench CO2 floor would fail in Germany鈥�
French proposals to set a domestic price corridor for carbon allowances would fail in Germany, which will have to find other tools to tackle emissions, a senior German environment agency official told Montel. 鈥淚f you create a CO2 price floor or tax, lignite would barely be affected 鈥� rather, hard coal would be replaced. The opposite would be preferable from a climate perspective,鈥� Uwe Leprich, the new head of energy and climate at Germany鈥檚 Federal Environment Agency (UBA), which is responsible for overseeing the country鈥檚 participation in the European carbon market, told Montel in an interview.听
Read the article in English .
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淟eft behind鈥�
With its subsidies for e-cars, the German government forecast a mobility revolution, and issued a desperate wake-up call to the domestic car industry, writes Markus Balser in a commentary for S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. The government fears thousands of jobs in the sector are at risk if carmakers don鈥檛 take up the challenge of e-mobility in earnest. 鈥淣ot only fossil engines, but also the concept of the private car is about to be replaced,鈥� writes Balser. In other sectors, many German companies are leaders in the global movement to decarbonise, but carmakers apply the brakes in transport. The subsidies are only a symbolic act, and what鈥檚 really needed is a profound cultural change at the companies, writes Balser.
Read a 威力彩玩法 dossier on the Energiewende in transportation here.
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dpa-AFX/Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
鈥淥nly one in seven ponders purchase of e-car鈥�
High costs, limited range and a lack of charging stations remain the most important reasons for consumers not to purchase an electric car, despite last week鈥檚 decision to support subsidies, according to a survey by pollster GfK, reports news agency dpa-AFX. 鈥淥nly one in seven people might consider an e-car when they next buy a car,鈥� according to the article. 听According to GfK, a charging system at people鈥檚 homes and a fast-charging infrastructure are the most important preconditions for e-mobility鈥檚 success.
Read the article in German .
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VDI nachrichten
鈥淓nergiewende in danger鈥�
The planned reform of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), with a switch from guaranteed feed-in tariffs to auctions, is threatening the success of the Energiewende, said Claudia Kemfert of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in an interview with VDI nachrichten. There would be less planning security for investors and the deployment corridors for new renewable capacity would be missed if companies won the auctions but then delayed the start of construction. 鈥淯nfortunately, there is a high risk that the 'Energiewende' in Germany will be slowed down,鈥� she said. Kemfert also criticised the government鈥檚 plans to introduce exceptions for small citizen鈥檚 energy projects as a 鈥渉elpless attempt to counteract the disadvantage for small players鈥�. 鈥淭he diversity of actors was the guarantee for success of the energy transition up until now. Citizen鈥檚 energy cooperatives are the big losers of this reform,鈥� said Kemfert.
Read the interview in German .
Find a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the EEG reform 2016 here.
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Hamburger Abendblatt
鈥淰attenfall: We need to reduce staff鈥�
Vattenfall鈥檚 president and CEO Magnus Hall warned of job cuts in an interview with Hamburger Abendblatt. 鈥淭he energy business is under pressure from the Energiewende. If we don鈥檛 keep up and work as efficiently as possible, neither Vattenfall nor any other energy company will be able to secure its existence for the next 30 or 50 years,鈥� said Hall.
Read the interview in German .
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BILD
鈥淓nergy madness; why we pay more and more for electricity that we don鈥檛 use鈥�
Consumers must pay for more and more power that they can鈥檛 use because of the 鈥渃haos with the Energiewende鈥�, according to mass tabloid BILD. Many wind turbines increasingly have to be turned off because the expansion of the grid cannot keep track with the growth of renewables. The renewable power station operators receive compensation for these hours and the consumers pay in the end, writes BILD.
Read the article in German .
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Handelsblatt
鈥淣uclear waste; a heavy load鈥�
鈥淭he search for a final repository was irresponsibly put into cold storage鈥� over the past decades, writes Silke Kersting in an opinion piece in Handelsblatt. According to Kersting, including the public in the discussion is now an essential step to work through inevitable controversies. The for establishing the exploration framework for a final repository is expected to release its final report at the end of June.
