'Germans want more climate action' / Belgians keep nuclear plants running
WWF Germany
鈥淕ermans want more climate action鈥�
German citizens would like to see more engagement in the fight against climate change, environment organisation WWF Germany says, referring to a representative survey by research institute YouGov. The concerns among Germans about climate change have grown in the past five years, WWF said in a press release. 54 percent of participants said that Germany should be doing more or a lot more to fight global warming, 32 percent said the country is doing enough. 78 percent deemed it important that Chancellor Angela Merkel push for more ambitious climate targets within the EU. A majority of 70 percent agreed that coal power should be phased out as soon as possible or in the medium term by 2035.
Read the press release in German .
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淕erman-Belgian nuclear fission鈥�
驰别蝉迟别谤诲补测鈥檚 official request to the Belgian government by German environment minister Barbara Hendricks to temporarily take two nuclear reactors off line is unprecedented, writes Michael Bauchm眉ller in the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Belgian nuclear supervisory body FANC reacted 鈥渟urprised鈥� and rejected the claims that the two reactors were not safe. 鈥淥ur conclusions remain unchanged, no matter what Minister Hendricks says.鈥� In a separate opinion piece, Bauchm眉ller criticises deficits in the European nuclear monitoring regime: 鈥淭he consequences of a nuclear accident are borderless. The precautions in the EU are not.鈥�
Read the article in German .
Read the opinion piece in German .
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Agreement on the future of e-mobility
After today鈥檚 summit, the leadership of the federal government coalition groups presented a resolution on concrete features of a funding structure for electric cars. In a press release, the Social Democrats (SPD) confirmed yesterday鈥檚 rumours and announced the agreements on points like tax exemption for pure e-cars, setting up a charging infrastructure and drafting a new law on automated driving. Not on the meeting鈥檚 agenda, however, was a possible buyer鈥檚 premium for new electric cars. This is to be discussed at a summit of auto industry representatives with Chancellor Angela Merkel and economics minister Sigmar Gabriel at the end of the month.
Read the SPD press release in German .
Find the coalition resolution in German .
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Die Welt / Handelsblatt
鈥淩WE chief executive: 鈥榙isaster鈥� at power utility鈥�
Utility RWE AG鈥檚 chief executive Peter Terium is asking the federal government for help in light of the company鈥檚 鈥渢ense financial situation,鈥� reports Handelsblatt. Terium firmly counts on the decision to create a capacity market to ensure 鈥渟afe and weather-independent鈥� prices for power production, writes Daniel Wetzel in Die Welt.
He warned of the collapse of conventional power production if wholesale electricity prices did not go up, and added that this would endanger supply security for times with little wind or sunlight. Terium sees RWE as an integral building block of the energy transition: 鈥淲e want to make this company the number one Energiewende enterprise in Germany.鈥� At the meeting, the shareholders voted to support RWE鈥檚 decision to suspend dividend payments.
Read the Die Welt article in German .
Read the Handelsblatt article in German .
Find a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on RWE鈥檚 plans for a new renewable subsidiary here.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淪ecret data鈥�
Employees of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) claim they are under pressure from the auto industry and have gotten little support from government bodies like the听Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWi) in carrying out their mandate to investigate the German car emissions scandals, according to internal UBA documents, like emails, obtained by the听S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. 鈥淢y impression is that the BMWi is concerned about听industrial policy issues,鈥� reads a UBA-e-mail referring to the hands-off attitude of the economics ministry, the paper writes. Another e-mail makes reference to possible legal threats from car companies, although the car companies rejected these claims when asked by the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung.
Read the article in German .
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WirtschaftsWoche
鈥淣ew business models to trigger growth鈥�
The installation of solar pv modules on houses has slowed in Germany but new business models, such as solar power for tenants, online sales and combination offers could revive the German solar sector, writes Dieter D眉rrand in WirtschaftsWoche. According to research institute Trendresearch, as much as 2,000 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity could be installed again next year, and between 2014 and 2018 it could increase to 2,400-2,600 MW annually. The driver of this development would not be generous feed-in tariffs, because they are a thing of the past, but innovative business models that make it easy for customers to come by a solar roof that gives tenants and landlords the opportunity to save on their power bills.
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Manager Magazin
鈥淐hinese lure BMW鈥檚 electric stars away鈥�
Chinese e-car start-up Future Mobility has hired four former engineers from German car maker BMW (located in Bavaria), Manager Magazin reports. One of them, Carsten Breitfeld is head of the new Chinese company 鈥� he worked on BMW鈥檚 hybrid sports car i8 before. 鈥淭he Bavarians are losing in one go a lot of electric mobility expertise,鈥� author Wilfried Eckl-Dorna writes.
Read the article in German .
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Carbon Pulse
鈥淎bsorption threshold of EU鈥檚 MSR may be too high in light of lignite plant risks 鈥揳nalysts鈥�
The troubles in Germany鈥檚 lignite sector could upset the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) of the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), writes Mike Szabo on Carbon Pulse. Closures of unprofitable plants would significantly depress demand for emissions certificates (EUAs), meaning the threshold to trigger the MSR may be too high, according to the article. 鈥淚n theory, the elimination of this demand could mean the MSR will stop absorbing EUAs from the market at a time when it is still handling excess supply,鈥� Szabo says.
Read the article in English .
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Bayerischer Rundfunk
鈥淏avaria undermines the energy transition鈥�
The Bavarian state government decided in 2011 that all power for public buildings would come from renewable sources, but experts say that the state is ignoring advice from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) regarding the quality of renewable power, Bayerischer Rundfunk reports. Without the quality control, the power can be bought from 鈥渄ecades old Norwegian hydropower plants鈥� instead of being sourced from new renewable installations in Germany, which would further the energy transition at home, the article says.
Read the article in German .
