German car industry top global R&D investor/ Record power exports 2016
German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA)
German carmakers rank first in worldwide research and development, accounting for about a third of the automobile industry鈥檚 total global R&D investment, according to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). The country鈥檚 manufacturers invested 38.6 billion euros in 2015 (2014: 34.3 billion euros). 鈥淲ith enormous will to innovate and invest, the German auto industry goes down the path of e-mobility and digital transformation. [鈥 It thereby makes a significant contribution to secure the competitiveness of the automobile location Germany,鈥� says Matthias Wissmann, president of VDA, in a press release.
Read the press release in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
tageszeitung (taz)
In 2016, Germany will again have exported a record amount of electricity, as levels have already exceeded the 2015 total, writes Bernward Janzing in tageszeitung (taz). The country will have exported about 50 billion kilowatt hours by year鈥檚 end, most of it to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Poland (in this order), according to the data provided by research institute Fraunhofer ISE.
Read the article in German .
For more data on Germany鈥檚 electricity read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Germany鈥檚 energy consumption and power mix in charts.
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
Looking at the recent constitutional court ruling on Germany鈥檚 nuclear exit, the decision by federal economy minister Sigmar Gabriel to pay lignite power plant operators for mothballing their facilities might have been exaggerated, says Klaus T枚pfer, founding director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), in an interview with S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. According to T枚pfer, the court made clear that governmental authorisations, such as power production from nuclear or fossil sources, can be revoked without infringing property rights. 鈥淚n my view [Gabriel鈥檚 decision] goes beyond what the Federal Constitutional Court deemed necessary. With this decision [鈥 somebody is compensated so that he stops damaging,鈥� says T枚pfer.
Read the interview (behind paywall) in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 article Germany's constitutional court backs speedy nuclear exit.
German Energy Agency
Alternative drives and fuels play only a minor role in company car fleets, according to a survey by German Energy Agency (dena). 鈥淥nly 10 percent include such low-emission vehicles [and] only 3 percent have electric vehicles,鈥� writes dena in a press release. Diesel continues to dominate in company business fleets: 57 percent of the fleets consist mainly of diesel cars, only 19 percent do without. 鈥淐ompany fleet managers have a big influence on the passenger car market,鈥� as fleets made up almost two-thirds of newly registered cars, according to Andreas Kuhlmann, dena鈥檚 chief executive.
Read the press release in German and find the survey results in German .
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Energiewende enters a new phase with more emphasis on new technologies and e-mobility 鈥� driven by citizens 鈥� than on the nuclear exit and the switch to renewable energies, German utility EnBW鈥檚 CEO, Frank Mastiaux, tells Bernd Freytag and Susanne Preuss for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 鈥淭hat offers a completely different landscape of opportunities and risks for the company,鈥� says Mastiaux. EnBW will transform from a simple energy supplier to a provider and operator of infrastructure 鈥� even beyond the energy sector, write Freytag and Preuss. In 2016, EnBW for the first time earned more with the power grid and renewable energies than with conventional generation.
Read the article in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 dossier Utilities and the energy transition.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Car suppliers whose sales depend largely on the combustion engine face a difficult future after the emissions scandal and analysts predict stock prices will remain relatively unchanged over the coming year, writes Martin Gropp in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Suppliers that already work in the field of e-mobility, like engineering company Bertrandt, have more potential to profit, even from the early days of the transformation.
For background read the 威力彩玩法 dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Renewable Energies Agency (AEE)
Wind and solar power continue to face large cost reductions, according to a meta analysis of 15 studies on energy technology investment costs by Renewable Energies Agency (AEE). 鈥淢ore good news for the Energiewende is that also for storage technologies one can expect drastically falling investment costs in some instances,鈥� writes AEE in a press release.
Find the press release in German and download the analysis in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 dossier New technologies for the Energiewende.
