Germany asks Belgium to switch off nuclear plants / RWE turmoil
BMUB / Deutsche Welle
鈥淕ermany asks Belgium to hit the switch on disputed Tihange and Doel nuclear reactors鈥�
Environment minister Barbara Hendricks submitted an official request to Belgian authorities asking for two nuclear reactors to be taken off grid until further security checks can be completed. Hendricks's request is based on a report from Germany's independent Reactor Safety Commission (RSK), which concluded that security reserves at the two reactors were sufficient for normal operation, but might be insufficient in the event of a fault. 鈥淭herefore, I think it is right to take the sites off the grid, at least until further investigations are concluded,鈥� said Hendricks in a press statement. 鈥淚t would be a strong signal for prevention. And it would show that Belgium takes their German neigbours' concerns seriously.鈥� For security reasons, the reactors were taken off line in 2012, but re-started operations last December.
Find the press release in German .
Read a Deutsche Welle article in English .
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Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Handelsblatt
鈥淭urmoil at RWE 尘别别迟颈苍驳鈥�
Environmental activists stormed the stage at RWE鈥檚 annual shareholder鈥檚 meeting, reports Handelsblatt. The protesters criticised the company鈥檚 nuclear and coal power generation and shouted 鈥淵our time is over鈥�. At the meeting, RWE chief executive Peter Terium later warned of the 鈥渆conomic collapse" of conventional power generation if electricity prices remained at historic lows, writes the Wall Street Journal. Terium also defended the decision to suspend dividend payments for the first time in 50 years: "The fact that the supervisory board unanimously approved this proposal shows that this decision, while difficult, was necessary,鈥� quotes Reuters. RWE shareholders will vote on the decision to suspend dividends later in the day and local municipalities suggested that they might not formally back the management.
Read the Wall Street Journal article in English .
Read the Handelsblatt article in German .
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Germanwatch / BUND, et al.
鈥淐ivil society calls for tightening national climate targets鈥�
A group of over 40 NGOs is calling for a tougher climate protection regime in Germany, including setting an emissions reduction target of 95 percent by 2050 and enacting a coal phase-out by 2035. Weeks before the environment ministry will publish a Climate Action Plan 2050, the organisations tabled their own 鈥淐limate Action Plan 2050 of the civil society鈥�. The plan suggests every sector should be given an emissions target. It also calls for specific medium term targets, as well all separate laws for climate protection and efficiency. Antje von Broock from Friends of the Earth (BUND) said that Germany had to work hard to reach its 2020 climate targets, otherwise it would be much harder to achieve later decarbonisation goals.
Read a press release by the NGOs in German .
Read the Climate Action Plan 2050 of the civil society in German .
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the government鈥檚 Climate Action Plan 2050 here.
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Brandenburg government / Mining union IG BCE
Mining state 鈥� Energy policy must not squander opportunities of Vattenfall sale
Attempts to protect the climate must not squander the chances the Vattenfall sale offers to east Germany鈥檚 lignite mining region, according to the affected German state of Brandenburg. 鈥淚 expect a public commitment to German lignite from the federal government,鈥� Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Woidke, a Social Democrat, said on Wednesday. 鈥淭here must be no further ideologically motivated interventions in the lignite 蝉别肠迟辞谤.鈥�
Woidke, who hails from the mining area of Lusatia, said his state will only support the government鈥檚 Climate Action Plan 2050 if it does not involve additional measures to curtail lignite. At an event by mining union IG BCE, Woidke added he squarely rejected the proposals by think tank Agora Energiewende for a coal phase-out. He said the Vattenfall sale was a step forward for the mining region of Lusatia, not least because with buyer EPH, there was finally a new partner for talks about the region鈥檚 future. Woidke and IG BCE head Michael Vassiliades demanded the focus for the Energiewende must now be on developing power storage and extending the grid, rather than pushing renewables.
Find a 威力彩玩法 article on the Vattenfall sale here.
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the Climate Action Plan 2050 here.
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Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Government invests more money into energy research
The German government has spent 863 million euros on supporting research into modern energy technology in 2015, an increase of 5.3 percent compared to 2014, the economy and energy ministry reports. 74 percent of the funds were used on renewable energies and energy efficiency research. 鈥淭he success of the energy transition will also be judged in terms of Germany鈥檚 ability to remain a competitive industrial location with a profitable energy supply,鈥� said economy minister Sigmar Gabriel in a press release. Energy research established the necessary basis for this development, he said.
Read the press release in German .
Read the ministry report on energy research spending in German .
Read a 威力彩玩法 dossier on technologies in the energy transition here.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淢any car companies use tricks when it comes to Diesel鈥�
Following the VW scandal, many other carmakers face accusations of tweaking engines to emit nitrogen oxide (NOx) unfiltered at normal temperatures, reports S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. New findings by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) showed that the car manufacturers took advantage of EU regulations that allowed them to turn off filtering to prevent engine damages in cold conditions, writes the newspaper. Official emissions tests were then run at higher temperatures of about 23掳C 鈥� with an active filter system. Many filter systems only start to work at temperatures between 10 and 20掳C, according to the article. Unnamed government officials told the paper they 鈥渃ould never have imagined the extent鈥� to which this 鈥渢hermal window鈥� was exploited.
Read the article in German .
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淐oalition advances promotion of electric cars鈥�
The Social and Christian Democratic parliamentary groups in the Bundestag have agreed on the main features of a funding structure for electric cars, a new document shows according to S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. The plans include exemptions from vehicle tax for buyers of new e-cars, a research program on battery technology, and setting up a charging infrastructure. Discussions on a buyer鈥檚 premium were postponed to a summit of auto industry representatives with Chancellor Angela Merkel and economics minister Sigmar Gabriel at the end of the month.
Read the article in German .
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Frankfurter Rundschau
鈥淓nergy transition for fools鈥�
Government plans for a cap on renewables expansion pose a risk for the dynamic of the energy transition, writes Frank-Thomas Wenzel in the Frankfurter Rundschau. If renewables were left to grow at the current rate, Germany would reach more than 45 percent renewables in the power mix by 2025 鈥� but the economy and energy minister wants to cap it at 45 percent. Particularly onshore wind development would be throttled 鈥� and this even though it is the cheapest of all renewable technologies, the author says. Offshore wind capacity may only grow by 700 megawatt (MW) after 2020 (in 2015 it was 2250 MW), which would harm the entire industry sector in Germany, according to Wenzel.
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Die Welt
鈥淩eorganisation of the offshore wind power business鈥�
Offshore wind power company Dong Energy has welcomed the change from feed-in tariffs to auctions that is planned by the government in its reform of the Renewable Energy Act this summer. Auctions for the offshore wind sector would help to reduce prices and increase competition, Trine Borum Bojsen, managing director of the wind sector at Dong Energy told Die Welt.
Read the article in German .
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Rheinische Post
鈥淣uclear power companies haggle over money鈥�
The commission on financing the nuclear clean-up generally agreed on an additional billion-euro risk premium by utilities, reports Rheinische Post. The amount of such a premium remains to be decided. With the payment into a public fund, the nuclear power companies would be freed of their responsibility concerning final storage of nuclear waste.
Read the article in German .
Find the 威力彩玩法 factsheet on utility payments for the nuclear clean-up here.
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Frankfurter Rundschau
鈥淓missions trading can鈥檛 serve as scapegoat鈥�
Global overcapacities cause trouble in the steel industry, rather than the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), argues Green politician Annalena Baerbock in a guest commentary in Frankfurter Rundschau. Baerbock criticises economics minister Sigmar Gabriel for trying to 鈥渟core cheap points鈥� with the industry when blaming EU climate protection efforts for the dire situation of steel. 鈥淓specially for the steel sector, the trade with CO鈧�-Certificates is a veritable gold mine,鈥� adds Baerbock.
Read the commentary in German .
Read a 威力彩玩法 article on the protests by the German steel industry here.
