Phasing out conventional cars / A 'close call for RWE'
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)
State secretary Baake says Germany must stop registering fossil fuel vehicles by 2030
At a panel discussion Tuesday, state secretary for energy听Rainer Baake听said Germany鈥檚 transport sector will have to be entirely decarbonised by 2050 to achieve the country's听climate goals. Because the expected serviceable life of a vehicle is around 20 years, Germany must stop registering new fossil-fuelled cars by 2030, 鈥渙therwise we will end up with bad investments we will regret," Baake said.
He added that by the same logic, no new fossil fuelled power plants should be built, as they usually run for at least 40 years and the power sector must also go carbon-free by 2050. This applies especially to lignite and coal plants. 鈥淲e might need a few more gas-powered power plants, but these will have to run on power-to-gas in the future,鈥� Baake said. 鈥淲hoever starts new opencast mines today, creates stranded assets of the future.鈥�
Find a 威力彩玩法 dossier on the Energiewende in Germany鈥檚 transport sector here.
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Handelsblatt Online
鈥淚t will be a close call鈥欌��
RWE is facing a 鈥渟erious crisis鈥� and the worst is yet to come, the company's management told Handelsblatt Online in an interview. 鈥�2018/19 will be a close call. We will have to economise even more,鈥� said Rolf Martin Schmitz, future head of RWE AG,听warning of cutbacks and layoffs in the near future. According to a separate article in Handelsblatt Online, Germany鈥檚 Energiewende is responsible for the company's 鈥渨orst crisis in the history鈥�. RWE has spun off its fossil power operations from renewables, grid and retail operations and decided to suspend 2015 dividend payments to shareholders.
The interview comes as the government's expert commission on financing the nuclear clean-up prepares to publish its report on how costs could be allocated 鈥� an additional burden for RWE.
Find the Handelsblatt article (behind paywall) in German .
Find the interview in Handelsblatt (behind paywall) in German .
See 威力彩玩法's dossier on how utilities are coping with the Energiewende here.
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Spiegel Online
鈥淎lmost every other electric car in Germany disappears without trace鈥�
More than 12,000 pure electric cars were registered in Germany last year, an increase of 45 percent, reports Nils-Viktor Sorge in Spiegel Online. But the total number of such vehicles on German roads rose by only around 6,500. According to experts, 鈥渧anishing鈥� cars, like the Kia Soul EV, are only registered in Germany for a short time before being sold on to other countries like the Netherlands and Norway. 鈥淭he short-term registration helps Kia to brighten up its EU CO2 fleet emissions,鈥� says Sorge.
Find the article in German .
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manager magazin
鈥淲rong-way driver鈥�
The transport minister鈥檚 resistance to plans for a new badge for low emission vehicles - which could facilitate local bans on emission-heavy diesel cars in city centres - is anachronistic, writes Lutz Reiche in manager magazin. 鈥淭he threat of a transport collapse in city centres can only be avoided by a reduction in the number of cars and clever new mobility concepts,鈥� writes Reiche. He says opposition to the clean car badge is reminiscent of problems with introduction of catalytic converters and filters. Reiche argues the time has come for transport minister Alexander Dobrindt to recognise that diesel engines are not clean, and force the car industry to move to low-emission engines.
Environment state secretary Jochen Flasbarth 听plans for the new badge could become reality in the course of this year.
Read the comment in German .
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Die Welt
Transport ministry鈥檚 hydrogen initiative 鈥渉ot air鈥�
The transport ministry鈥檚 plans to roll out hydrogen fuelling infrastructure raise questions over whether the government has a coherent plan for the Energiewende in transport, writes Nikolaus Doll in die Welt. Government policy doesn't line up with carmakers' focus of research. The result is that Germany is being left behind on all听alternatives to conventional engines 鈥� hybrids, pure e-cars, and fuel cells. 鈥淭he transport minister would be well advised to focus on the support for e-cars, instead of... spending money on fuel cell cars,鈥� car expert Ferdinand Dudenh枚ffer told the paper.
Some 400 hydrogen fuel stations are planned in Germany by听2023, costing 350 million euros.
Read the article in German .
Find the ministry鈥檚 hydrogen plans in Tuesday鈥檚 News Digest here.
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Frankfurter Rundschau
鈥淯tilities want to pay less; expert commission on financing the nuclear clean-up delays final report鈥�
Nuclear operators RWE, E.ON, EnBW and Vattenfall have stepped up pressure on the expert commission on financing the nuclear clean-up, reports Joachim Wille in Frankfurter Rundschau. At a commission meeting, the chairmen of the affected utilities failed to agree to the current proposal of paying 18 billion euros into a new public fund to finance the nuclear clean-up. Wille says this will delay the publication of the commission鈥檚 final report from this week to the end of April.
Find the 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the nuclear clean-up costs here.
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Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
鈥淓nergiewende? S铆!鈥�
Germany and Mexico are to deepen their cooperation on the energy transitions of both countries, according to the economics and energy ministry. Economics minister Sigmar Gabriel and Mexican energy minister Pedro Joaqu铆n Coldwell have given the go-ahead for a new "energy partnership", the ministry said in a press release. The two countries will share expertise on topics such as support mechanisms for renewables, the reform of the power and gas markets, and regulatory questions.
The German state-owned听KfW听development bank announced in a press release that it has signed financing agreements with Mexican development banks totalling around 220 million euros to 鈥渉elp Mexico reach its ambitious climate protection goals鈥�. Mexico enacted its 鈥淟ey de la Transici贸n Energ茅tica鈥� in December last year.
Read the BMWi press release in German .
Read the KfW press release in English .
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State Government of Schleswig-Holstein
鈥溾�榃e need equal opportunity for citizens鈥� energy鈥欌��
In response to the proposed reform of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), the north German state Schleswig-Holstein is to propose measures to increase opportunities for citizens鈥� energy projects. 鈥淭he special provisions proposed by economics minister Sigmar Gabriel are not acceptable,鈥� says Schleswig-Holstein鈥檚 energy transition minister Robert Habeck in a press release.
The federal economics ministry announced its plans for EEG reform, including the switch from feed-in tariffs to听to auctions for renewables, early this year. Habeck say the new rules will put small citizens鈥� projects at a disadvantage, compared to those of big companies. Schleswig-Holstein will introduce a joint proposal in the Bundesrat with the states of Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt.
Read the press release in German .
Find the 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the reform of the Renewable Energy Act here.
