In the media: EU rules may thwart coal reserve plan
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
鈥淓U casts doubt over lignite 肠辞尘辫谤辞尘颈蝉别鈥�
The European Commission has doubts about whether the German government鈥檚 plan to put some old lignite power plants in a so-called capacity reserve is in line with EU state aid rules, Hendrik Kafsack reports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing unnamed sources in the Commission. The plan, which is part of a power market reform package, foresees compensating companies to keep the plants on stand-by in case of power shortages. This would be considered state aid and therefore subject to EU approval, the FAZ writes. It was 鈥渧ery questionable鈥� that the necessary conditions were in place, according to the paper.
Read the FAZ report in German .
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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
鈥淒ubious Aid鈥�
Support for keeping power plants on stand-by in case of power shortages is right, but creating a reserve with lignite plants is the wrong way, FAZ Brussels correspondent Hendrik Kafsack writes in a commentary. There are better alternatives in the form of gas-powered plants, he writes. 鈥淭herefore one has to hope that the EU Commission 鈥� as it is considering - blocks the support for a lignite reserve,鈥� he writes.
Read the FAZ commentary in German .
Find background on the debate about the reserve and the alternative of a climate levy here.
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Handelsblatt
鈥淕abriel is destroying E.ON and RWE鈥�
Economy and energy minister Sigmar Gabriel鈥檚 policies are driving the country鈥檚 largest utilities E.ON and RWE over the edge, writes Wolfram Weimer in an opinion piece in the Handelsblatt. His plans to secure utilities鈥� financing for the nuclear phase-out and clean-up are taking the companies down, Weimer writes. An ultimate consequence of Gabriel鈥檚 strategy could be that taxpayers will have to foot the bill of the nuclear exit. 鈥淣ot only the stock market has realised this week that the government is on track to systematically destroy E.ON and RWE,鈥� Weimer writes, arguing that the policy decisions have made it impossible for the two to earn back the money they invested in the past.
Read the piece in German .
Find background on the big utilities鈥� struggle with the Energiewende in a 威力彩玩法 dossier here.
Find a dossier on the challenges of the nuclear exit here and a factsheet on the payment issue here.
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Der Spiegel
Government advisor sceptical about climate summit success
The climate summit in Paris in December could fail because politicians have not grasped the urgency of the problem, climate economist Ottmar Edenhofer told the magazine Der Spiegel in an interview. Edenhofer, who heads the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), said that while everybody was talking about decarbonising the world economy, in reality the opposite has happened. 鈥淲e are witnessing a renaissance of coal,鈥� he said. Edenhofer criticised the German government鈥檚 plans to put old lignite power plants in a capacity reserve as 鈥渉ighly inefficient.鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 nothing but a new, hidden subsidy for coal and therefore the opposite of what we need,鈥� he said. Overall the long-term success of Germany鈥檚 Energiewende as a climate policy measure was still pending, Edenhofer said.
Read an abstract of the interview in German on Spiegel Online .
Find background on Germany鈥檚 climate targets in a 威力彩玩法 dossier here and a factsheet here.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淭he 鈥楨鈥� of the past鈥�
The car trade fair IAA in Germany is proof of the current 鈥渄ire reality鈥� of electro-mobility, writes Michael Bauchm眉ller in an opinion piece for the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung, demonstrated by the fact that the new e-cars and their accessories are only in one of the ten exhibition halls at the auto show. 鈥淕ermany wants to be the leading market, but the producers are still betting mainly on combustion engines, as are most of the buyers,鈥� Bauchm眉ller writes. But if countries are serious about climate action, the future of the road will be electrical.
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Der Spiegel
German car industry loses out on key e-mobility component
Germany鈥檚 car industry likes to celebrate itself as the example for the sector but it is faltering on e-mobility, while the future of driving is being invented elsewhere, writes Christian W眉st for the magazine Der Spiegel. Batteries are still a big issue, W眉st writes, adding Germany has lost out to Asian countries when it comes to development and production. 鈥淭he country that once invented the car has no influence anymore over the development of the key component on which the success of electro-mobility hinges,鈥� W眉st writes.
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The Korea Herald
鈥淕ermany pioneers renewable energy to thrust economic growth鈥�
鈥淓urope鈥檚 industrial powerhouse Germany is transforming its energy supply by switching to renewable sources", writes Joel Lee in the Korea Herald. "Rather than slowing down the country's economy, which grew by 1.4 percent last year,听Germany's green transition reduced energy demand by 5 percent and created additional 300,000 jobs, he writes. The German term 鈥淓nergiewende鈥� -- meaning energy transition -- sums up the Teutonic solutions causing tectonic shifts in the direction of sustainable development: dismantling of nuclear power, switching to renewable alternatives and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.鈥�
Read the full article in English .
