In the media: "The end of coal is imminent"
ZDF heute.de
鈥淐limate levy on coal: Gabriel puts his foot down鈥�
With pressure and criticism from coalition partner CDU-CSU increasing, Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has defended his proposal of a climate levy for old coal-fired power stations, TV station ZDF reports. 鈥淭he fact is, these suggestions have of course been agreed together with Chancellor Merkel,鈥� 听Gabriel said. Now, the Chancellor's own CDU is obviously trying to scrap the emission reduction target (-40% by 2020), the Minister said. There would be no coal exit, no mines or power stations in the Rhineland or Lusatia would have to close, Gabriel reiterated, saying: 鈥淎s a Minister for Economic Affairs as well as chairman of the Social Democrats, I would never ever push for policies that could lead to these feared structural ruptures.鈥�
Read the article in German .
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Reuters / Sandbag
Alternative to coal levy presented 鈥� cancellation of ETS allowances
Georg N眉脽lein, deputy head of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag said it would be cheaper for Germany to directly buy CO2 allowances from the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to save an extra 22 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas, instead of implementing the climate levy suggested by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Reuters reports. The climate levy would cost the national economy up to 5 billion euros while buying the 22 million CO2 allowances would only amount to 150 million euros, N眉脽lein said. This money would be paid 听by all consumers through听a surcharge, he suggested. Buying up allowances would further the European climate targets, but the German 40 percent reduction target would probably still be missed, Reuters writes.听
Environmental NGO Sandbag published a short analysis of the Christian Democrat鈥檚 proposal, saying that this would not be a plausible alternative to the proposed climate levy. 鈥淭argeted policies to deliver real emissions reductions are more important than the indirect reductions implied by cancellation of emissions allowances," they write.
See the Reuters report in German .
See the Sandbag analysis in English and their comparison of the German climate levy and the UK Carbon Price Floor .
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淭he end is imminent鈥�
The fight over coal will culminate in opposing protests planned for this weekend, writes听Michael Bauchm眉ller in an op-ed for the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Environmental听activists will form a human chain around the mine in Garzweiler, while trade union members will meet in Berlin to demonstrate against the 鈥渟ocial black out of entire regions,鈥� he writes, adding that 鈥淕ermany is experiencing the end of a life-long lie.鈥� For years, members of the government conjured the future of coal while pushing for climate protection at the same time. But we now see the beginning of the end of coal, Bauchm眉ller says. Coal power stations and mining operations will disappear. 听This trend has already begun because there are no new brown and hard coal-fired power stations planned, while renewable power is cheaper than new coal plants. Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has proposed a 鈥渧ery clever鈥� measure that demands a climate levy from the oldest lignite-fired power stations, he says. This proposal will not cause a structural rupture, rather the trade unions themselves would be at fault听if they succeeded in thwarting Gabriel鈥檚 plans. The coal exit would then occur later and more abruptly, he says. Chancellor Angela Merkel should follow Gabriel鈥檚 lead and ahead of the G7 meeting in June become the 鈥渃limate chancellor鈥� she was once known as, the author writes. But currently she is watching silently as Gabriel鈥檚 ideas are shot down by her own party and countered with sometimes outrageous suggestions.
Read the op-ed in German .
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DENEFF/pwc
Study spots 鈥渢ender shoots鈥� in efficiency industry
Companies specialising in energy efficiency continue to grow rapidly and the industry has become more optimistic about future prospects, according to a poll by the German Industry Initiative for Energy Efficiency (DENEFF) and business consultancy pwc. On average, businesses in the sector increased sales and staff by eight percent year-on-year, according to poll results. 鈥淟ast year, the sombre mood in the industry left us a bit perplexed, but now we can clearly see tender shoots," commented Volker Breisig from pwc, who stressed the significance of the government鈥檚 National Action Plan (NAPE) for energy efficiency for the industry. But the association also warned current growth rates were still completely insufficient if Germany鈥檚 national efficiency and climate targets are to be met. The authors estimated on the basis of last year鈥檚 poll that the industry had total sales of 162 billion euros and employed 850,000 people in Germany in 2013.
Find the press release about the poll in German .
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tagesschau.de
鈥淩eform of renewable law misses central target鈥�
The energy ministry has failed in its aim of distributing the costs of the Energiewende more equally, writes J眉rgen D枚schner on tagesschau.de. Last year鈥檚 reform of the renewable energy act was intended to reduce industry rebates but instead, more companies receive the discount on electricity costs now than before the overhaul 鈥� their numbers increased by almost 100 to a new record of 2,180. 鈥淭he burden on consumers who have to pay the full green energy surcharge rose to a record 1.37 cents per KWh because of industry rebates. For a four person household, this adds up to 60 euros per year,鈥� writes D枚schner. 鈥淕abriel has in actual fact never reduced the number of entitled companies and now even wants to increase it further,鈥� writes D枚schner, who says a planned new law will have this effect.
Find the article in German . 听
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Zeit Online
鈥淏avaria threatens legal action against power lines鈥�
If no compromise on the new power lines to transport wind power from the north to the industrial south were reached, Bavaria could legally challenge the federal government's grid plans, Bavaria鈥檚 finance minister Markus S枚der said. Last week S枚der had presented a reform of regional planning laws that could also be used to prohibit power lines through new protected landscape. According to the current legal status, the federal government is in charge of grid planning 鈥� something that the Bavarian government agreed to in 2013.
Read the article in German .
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shz.de
鈥淚ndignation over end of 50 offshore wind 辫补谤办蝉鈥�
The German government won鈥檛 permit the construction of 50 offshore wind parks in the North Sea for which investors have been seeking approval, Henning Baethge reports on shz.de. If additional offshore installations came online, the target of 6.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020 would be exceeded, the government agency has told the project planners. The criticised the planning stop, saying that if the government wanted to ensure offshore development continues after 2020 it would have to ensure security for planning and investment in the sector.
See the article in German .
