No grid fee alignment across Germany / Automated driving reform
Economy and energy ministry (BMWi)
There will be no nationwide grid fee alignment in Germany according to a proposal by the economy ministry approved by the government cabinet, contrary to聽earlier press reports. However, the proposal for a grid fee reform will gradually abolish payments to decentralised power generators.聽Outgoing minister Sigmar Gabriel said the law was a further step to distribute costs more justly. These currently receive compensation because they don鈥檛 require long-distance transmission grids, lowering costs. Grid fees across Germany vary significantly.
Find the press release in German聽.
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet聽Power grid fees 鈥� Unfair and opaque?
Th眉ringische Landeszeitung
Outgoing economy minister Sigmar Gabriel runs an election campaign at the expense of eastern German power consumers, some of whom pay grid fees twice as high as consumers in the west, writes Norbert Block in a commentary in Th眉ringische Landeszeitung. He says Gabriel broke his promise to align grid fees across the country in his reform proposal because it might have cost his party votes in the upcoming elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, where power prices would have risen.
Read the comment in German聽.
The grid reform proposal threatens to undermine the economics of decentralised power stations, according to utility association BDEW. 鈥淭he government risks that controllable and flexible decentralised power generators are pushed out of the market,鈥� said association head Stefan Kapferer in a press release, adding that combined heat and power systems, run-of-river and storage installations, as well as some conventional plants, would be affected.聽
Municipal utility association VKU said a reform was needed to distribute the costs of the Energiewende more evenly. Association head Katherina Reiche said the current proposal would weaken combined heat and power systems essential for reaching Germany鈥檚 climate targets.聽聽
Find the BDEW press release聽.
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet聽Combined heat and power 鈥� an Energiewende cornerstone?
Federal government / Transport ministry
The government cabinet has approved a law proposal to enable highly automated driving on German roads. 鈥淲e are enabling drivers to take their hands off the wheel during highly automated driving, to surf the internet or check e-mails, for example,鈥� said transport minister Alexander Dobrindt.聽
The law states that human drivers remain fully liable, however. It also stipulates that it must be possible to deactivate automated systems at all times and will require a 鈥渂lackbox鈥� to help determine whether an accident was caused by a human or technical error. 鈥淭his means the driver is not replaced by the system while driving,鈥� according to a press release.
Read the federal government press release in German聽聽and the transport ministry release聽.
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 dossier聽The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Spiegel Online
The law for automated driving is not detailed enough and creates legal insecurity for drivers, according to critics. Green party transport expert Stephan K眉hn told Spiegel Online that it lacks a definition of what drivers are allowed to do while their car is on autopilot. The law implies that the driver has to keep an eye on traffic at all time, according to the article. Consumer group vzbv said carmakers should be made responsible for autopilot accidents.
Read the article in German聽.
Bild
Carmakers鈥� claims about the pending transport revolution are overblown, writes Stefan Voswinkel in mass-tabloid Bild. Whereas the companies promise realistic e-car driving ranges of 500 kilometres, that distance shrinks dramatically under adverse circumstances. Only a new generation of batteries will solve the problem, but these won鈥檛 hit the market before 2025. 鈥淪o e-mobility will remain what it is today: Expensive and interesting only for short distances,鈥� according to Voswinkel. He adds that fully autonomous driving won鈥檛 be possible in inner cities within the next 20 years. 鈥淭he car of tomorrow is today鈥檚 car. The future won鈥檛 begin before the middle of the next decade.鈥澛�
Read the article in German (behind paywall)聽.
Neue Z眉rcher Zeitung
Germany鈥檚 Energiewende might not be an export hit but it helps other countries questioning their own energy policy, Giorgio V. M眉ller writes in Swiss newspaper Neue Z眉rcher Zeitung (NZZ). According to聽figures from the World Energy Council, a majority of 42 surveyed countries do not consider the German energy transition as a role model; many countries outside of Europe do not even take note of it, M眉ller explains. 鈥淏ut generally, Germany鈥檚 Energiewende has gained in relevance around the world 鈥� although more as a warning example,鈥� he writes.聽High costs听补苍诲听lacking integration聽into international structures are the main reasons others do not want to follow聽Germany鈥檚 climate protection approach聽and instead favour more energy efficiency and a聽global price for CO2聽as more efficient measures to mitigate climate change, M眉ller writes.聽
For background on the cost debate, see the 威力彩玩法 article聽Government lacks overview of Energiewende costs 鈥� auditors and the 威力彩玩法 dossier聽Germany's energy transition in the European context聽for more information on international integration.聽
威力彩玩法
The G20 Sustainability Working Group under German leadership aims to develop a 鈥楪20 Climate and Energy Action Plan鈥� in the run up to the Hamburg summit in July, Eva Kracht of the German environment ministry (BMUB) said at an event by Climate Transparency in Berlin. 鈥淚ssues of climate and energy are an integral part of the broader G20 agenda. To align our economies with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement could be a major innovation programme,鈥� said Kracht. Details of a possible action plan will be discussed at . The outcome of the talks was unclear and depended in part on the policy of the incoming U.S. government, Kracht told 威力彩玩法.
Handelsblatt
Germany鈥檚 environment minister Barbara Hendricks regards the new US administration鈥檚 sceptical view of climate protection as a聽monition for Germany and Europe to foster international efforts to curb global emissions, Dana Heide writes in Handelsblatt. 鈥淓urope should carry on聽together with China聽and other industrialised and transitioning countries,鈥� Hendricks said. The environment minister said she was 鈥渧ery confident鈥� that Europe and China鈥檚聽Emissions Trading System听(ETS) could be combined in the near future. 鈥淢aybe in five years, maybe in ten years, maybe even earlier than in five years,鈥� she explained.聽
Read the article in German聽听(behind paywall).
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Feri / WWF
In spite of the Trump administration鈥檚聽apparently benevolent stance towards fossil fuel companies, the persisting 鈥渃arbon bubble鈥� continues to pose a risk to capital markets, Markus Fr眉hauf writes in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). According to a study conducted by German fund manager Feri together with environmental organisation WWF, a resolute聽implementation of the Paris Agreement鈥檚 climate protection targets聽could force investors to reconsider their stakes in companies dealing in oil, natural gas and coal, he explains. 鈥淭he cogwheels of regulation with respect to climate protection are beginning to interlock on capital markets,鈥� Feri鈥檚 founder Heinz-Werner Rapp told FAZ. The carbon bubble鈥檚 threat was still 鈥渃onsiderably underestimated especially by German investors,鈥� the study said. But since several countries, such as France, the Netherlands 聽and the Scandinavian countries, were starting to make a disclosure of climate risks in investment portfolios compulsory, many stocks could face 鈥渁 devaluation of 40 to 50 percent,鈥� Rapp warns. Feri points at the example of German utilities E.ON and RWE, which in the course of the Energiewende experienced a major drop in value.聽
Read the article in German聽聽and the Feri and WWF study in German聽.
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 dossier聽Utilities and the energy transition.
Energypost
Germany can meet its energy sector climate goals with a CO2-price floor between 50 and 75 euros, write Fabian Huneke, Carlos Perez Linkenheil and Simon G枚脽 from the Berlin-based independent energy market specialist Energy Brainpool, in a contribution for energypost. But if neighbouring countries don鈥檛 take similar measures, more than half of the reduced CO2- emissions would be shifted abroad, lowering the effect from a European perspective.
Read the contribution in English .
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 dossier The energy transition and climate change.
