Ministry investigates BMW fraud allegations/ New government in spring?
威力彩玩法 / Tagesspiegel
German authorities will look into accusations by Environmental Action Germany (DUH) that carmaker BMW had used an illegal 鈥榙efeat device鈥� to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in one of its diesel models. 鈥淭he Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) was instructed by the transport ministry鈥檚 fact-finding committee to look into these accusations immediately after their publication,鈥� the transport ministry told the 威力彩玩法. According to DUH, the exhaust cleaning mechanism of the car at issue is throttled as soon as the engine exceeds 2,000 revolutions per minute, and is completely switched off beyond 3,500 rpm. DUH said this was illegal because it interfered with normal driving conditions, report Henrik Mortsiefer and Jens Tartler in the Tagesspiegel.
Read the Tagesspiegel article in German .
See 威力彩玩法鈥檚 dieselgate timeline and the factsheet Early e-car starter BMW plans new mobility sprint 聽for background.
Bloomberg
BMW plans to increase its plug-in hybrid and battery car sales by 50 percent to about 150,000 in 2018, reports Elisabeth Behrmann for Bloomberg. 鈥淲e鈥檒l definitely boost sales by a mid-double digit amount,鈥� Klaus Fr枚hlich, who heads development for BMW, told reporters in Munich. 鈥淭his is to stay ahead of the competition that鈥檚 starting to do its own rollout.鈥�
Read the article in English .
See the factsheet Early e-car starter BMW plans new mobility sprint, 聽and the dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers for background.
Hamburger Abendblatt
A new government is unlikely to be formed in Germany before spring 2018, Olaf Scholz, deputy leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. Scholz, who also is mayor of Hamburg, Germany鈥檚 second largest city, said that 鈥淚 don鈥檛 expect a federal government, in whatever constellation, to be formed before spring鈥�, adding that Germany nevertheless remained politically stable with its current acting government coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD.
Find the article in German (behind paywall).
See 威力彩玩法鈥檚 Coalition Watch and the 威力彩玩法 article Government gridlock for background.
dpa / Hamburger Abendblatt
The problems blocking the formation of a new government in Germany have put the brakes on one of the most ambitious energy transition projects in the country鈥檚 north, the news agency dpa reports in an article carried by the Hamburger Abendblatt. The project dubbed NEW 4.0, which is meant to prove that both the city of Hamburg and the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein can cover 100 percent of their energy needs with wind energy and other renewable sources, cannot currently receive any investment in absence of a federal regulatory framework, the article says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got no one to contact鈥�, says Jens Kerstan, Hamburg鈥檚 senator for the environment. Germany鈥檚 federal government provides around 46 million euros for the project, which combines several measures aimed at improving the management of power production and consumption, while another 60 to 80 million euros are contributed by the participating companies, which currently have no legal admission to transfer their money to where it is needed, the article says.
Read the article in German .
See the 威力彩玩法 article Government gridlock and the 威力彩玩法 factsheet The long road to a new government coalition in Germany for background.
Prognos / vbw
The energy transition in Germany does not achieve most of its goals, and its progress has slowed down over the last few years, a study conducted by the consultancy Prognos and commissioned by the Bavarian Industry Association (vbw) has found. Improvements in energy efficiency 鈥渃learly fall behind鈥� targets, Prognos says in a press release. The country鈥檚 energy-related CO2 emissions have been stagnant since 2014, and have exceeded the target levels for seven years in a row, Prognos says. Meanwhile, Germany鈥檚 security of energy supply remains high, the national grid was expanded without additional delays last year, and renewables expansion has been progressing at a far greater pace than previously envisaged, bringing about new challenges for energy infrastructure, the press release says.
In a separate press release, vbw head Alfred Gaffal said that 鈥渢he Energiewende got stuck鈥�. By 2025, the project鈥檚 costs are expected to reach 520 billion euros, and the price of electricity is projected to increase, Gaffal argued. The head of the industry lobby group said that Germany鈥檚 failure to meet its emissions reduction targets showed that the country must not tighten its reduction goals, as it had 鈥渁rbitrarily鈥� done in its Climate Action Plan 2050. Gaffal said that the technological and economic feasibility of the plan鈥檚 targets was not properly assessed, and these targets were not aligned with the relevant European standards either. 鈥淲e need a European energy market with common rules鈥�, Gaffal said, adding that climate policy should not 鈥渙verburden the economy and the citizens with green dreams鈥�.
Find Prognos鈥檚 press release in German , the study in German , and vbw鈥檚 press release in German .
Find background in the 威力彩玩法 article Germany鈥檚 energy use and emissions likely to rise yet again in 2017.
Reuters
German policymakers could agree to a European carbon floor price of 20 euros per tonne, Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of French oil company Total, has said according to Reuters. Back in September, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested a minimum CO2 price of 25 to 30 euros per tonne, but Pouyanne said such an increase would be 鈥渢oo fast and too hard鈥� to accept for some countries in Europe. 鈥淎t 30 euros, everybody runs away. At 20 euros, there is a chance that the Germans will go along鈥�, Pouyanne said, arguing that Germany was concerned that its coal industry and major industrial companies would object to a greater increase from the current price of 7.5 euros per tonne.聽 A price of 20 euros per tonne was 鈥渟ufficient鈥� to facilitate the switch from coal to gas-fired power production in Europe, Pouyanne added.
Read the article in English .
See the 威力彩玩法 article German carbon tax most efficient way to meet climate goals 鈥� study for more information.
Die Welt
Gearing the financial system towards sustainable or 鈥檊reen鈥� investment is increasingly becoming part of Germany鈥檚 climate protection policies, but politicians should be wary not to repeat the mistakes made in the country鈥檚 energy transition legislation, Hermannus Pfeiffer writes in an opinion piece in Die Welt. Projects like the Green Finance Cluster in Germany鈥檚 financial centre Frankfurt am Main show that sustainable banking is beginning to gain a foothold in the country鈥檚 financial system, and alongside the institutional investors, such as churches or labour unions, more and more private investors seek to invest their money in so-called green bonds, Pfeiffer says. However, many companies and industry groups that endorse the shift to sustainable investment, such as Deutsche Bank, Siemens, or the industry association VDMA, are primarily interested in maximising their profits this way, he argues. Policymakers should ensure that companies subscribe to green projects not only 鈥渋f there are lucrative deals and billions in state money鈥� in sight, he says.
Read the article in German .
