In the media: Trend reversal - German emissions decrease
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Federal Environment Agency (UBA)
鈥淭rend reversal: Emissions decrease to lowest level since 2010鈥�
German greenhouse gas emissions have decreased in 2014 for the first time in three years, according to calculations by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). Emissions dropped by 4.3 percent year-on-year or more than 41 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. Emissions totalled 912 million tonnes last year, a decrease of 27 percent compared to the international base year 2010 and the lowest since 2010. 鈥淔inally, the trend points in the right direction,鈥� said environment minister Barbara Hendricks in a statement. 鈥淭he decrease in 2014 was due in large part to the mild winter. But another part is due to real progress in climate protection.鈥�
Read UBA鈥檚 press release .
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Renewable Energies Agency
鈥淣ot the all-clear yet: Reaching the climate protection targets requires further effort鈥�
听A comparison of scientific scenarios of Germany鈥檚 future greenhouse gas balance by the Zentrum f眉r Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff Forschung Baden-W眉rttemberg (ZSW) shows that considerable efforts are still needed to reach the CO2 reduction targets by 2020. 鈥淓ven new figures from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) showing that are decreasing again for the first time in years doesn鈥檛 mean we can let up now,鈥� Philipp Vohrer, managing director of the Renewable Energies Agency (AEE) who commissioned the analysis said.
See the AEE press release in German .
Download the analysis in German .
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dpa/afx
鈥淕reen Party: Closure of E.ON gas-fired plant in Irsching is confession of failure鈥�
The German Green party considers the operators鈥� decision to mothball the highly efficient gas-fired power station in Irsching a setback for the Energiewende. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a concession of failure if CO2-saving technologies reach their economic limits while old, climate-killing coal plants remain connected to the grid鈥�, said the party鈥檚 head, Simone Peter, according to a dpa/afx report. Main operator E.ON notified the Federal Network Agency it intends to close the Bavarian plant because it sees no prospect of operating it profitably.
Read the dpa/afx report in German .
Read a news report about the operators鈥� notification here.
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叠枚谤蝉别苍-窜别颈迟耻苍驳
鈥淐onfused Energiewende鈥�
The Irsching plant is increasingly becoming a symbol for the fact that something has gone wrong with the Energiewende, writes Andreas Heitker in a commentary for the 叠枚谤蝉别苍-窜别颈迟耻苍驳. It is not to be expected that one of Europe's most modern power stations will be switched off for good because it is much too important for the stability of the electricity grid in the south of Germany, argues Heitker. But for the operators it might be the best option to mothball the plant and reactivate it in five years鈥� time. By then, the pending redesign of the power market might have made it profitable again, writes Heitker.
Read the commentary in German .
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the pending reform of the power market here.
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Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS Potsdam)
Power to gas and power to liquid strong options but 鈥渘o silver bullet鈥�
Power to liquid and power to gas technologies to store intermittent renewable energy sources can contribute to a future sustainable energy system in Germany, according to a technical analysis by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS Potsdam). 听Those schemes 鈥渁re a strong candidate option鈥� for achieving emission targets in 2050, according to the authors. But this conclusion requires fairly extreme assumptions about the future deployment of renewable energies. This is why the authors do not consider these technologies a 鈥渟ilver bullet鈥� solution.
Find the study in English .
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Zeit Online / Eurostat
鈥淪weden 鈥� Germany 52:12鈥�
Using recent data for the year 2013 from the European statistics agency Eurostat, Zeit Online says Germany is not the 鈥渟howcase country鈥� in Europe when it comes to the share of renewables in gross final energy consumption 鈥� many countries are doing better. Some (like Sweden, Estonia, and Bulgaria) have even already reached their 2020 targets (See Figure). Final energy consumption includes energy for heating and transport as well as electricity consumption. The countries with the highest share of renewables in this category (e.g. Norway, Sweden) have traditionally a very high proportion of hydropower which is also used for heating.
See the Zeit Online article in German .
See the Eurostat data on EU plus Norway in German .
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IWR
鈥淩enewables and EU: Auctions not mandatory for legal reasons鈥�
The obligation to support renewable development through auctions or tenders rather than feed-in tariffs as used in Germany鈥檚 Renewable Energy Act (EEG) is not legally mandatory under EU competition law, Thorsten M眉ller, environment and energy lawyer from the Stiftung Umweltenergierecht, said according to IWR News. The on renewable energy promotion offers the member states a free choice between different support systems, M眉ller argues. The EU Commission鈥檚 for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 cannot restrict this freedom, he says, concluding that obliging member states to use tenders was contrary to EU law but that the rule would remain in place until a member state took legal action against the Commission in such a case.
See the IWR article in German .
See a 威力彩玩法 dossier on the changes made in the new EEG here.
