Searching for blame in nuclear decision / Boiler efficiency
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
鈥淕rid fees push up power price鈥�
An internal analysis by the federal grid agency reveals that the systemic costs of the Energiewende will push up grid fees, reports Helmut B眉nder in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The country is gradually implementing reforms to rein in the power surcharge consumers pay to finance renewable energy, but in the meantime, grid fees are rising rapidly, writes B眉ndner. Some business consumers in eastern Germany can expect an increase of more than 20 percent in 2016, while grid fees paid by households will increase by almost six percent to 7.27 cents per kWh on average, according to the agency鈥檚 paper. B眉nder says the reason for the increase is investment in grid extensions, costing billions of euros, as well as costs for stabilising the grid to deal with fluctuations in wind and solar power generation.
Read the article in German .
Find the 威力彩玩法 dossier on Germany鈥檚 power grid here.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淭he emissions game鈥�
Tricks to reduce emissions, as well as the manipulation or gilding of specifications, are widespread in the car industry and not just a VW problem, argues Ulrich Sch盲fer in a commentary for the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. The problems are endemic and were only possible because good test results pleased politicians, car buyers and inspectors alike. Whoever wants to address the problem in earnest must look beyond VW, argues Sch盲fer. 鈥淭he real question is whether the climate goals for the car industry are really realistic, or whether they are impossible pipe dreams,鈥� writes Sch盲fer.
听听
Die Tageszeitung 鈥� taz
鈥淪tanding around in the rain鈥�
Appearing in front of an investigating committee last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed the federal government's role in the decision to shut down nuclear power stations days after the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011 was political - but that states bore the responsibility for finding a legal way to implement the decision, 听writes Ingo Arzt in the taz. The committee is trying to find who is liable for claims awarded by a Hessian court to RWE in 2014, which ruled that Hesse unlawfully ordered the RWE plant shut-down without consulting the operator, the taz says. RWE had sued the state for 235 million euros. The judge also found that the 2011 shut-down order was based on a legal paragraph that was not applicable, according to the paper. 听The Hesse state parliament has set up an inquiry to find out whether the federal government is liable, rather than Hesse, because Merkel made the decision in Berlin. The inquiry could have implications for other, similar lawsuits.听
Read the article in German .
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet about the legal disputes over the nuclear phase-out here.
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Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)
鈥淓fficiency label for central-heating boilers helps save energy鈥�
Plumbers, chimney sweeps and energy advisers will attach efficiency labels to around 13 million old central heating boilers in Germany over eight years, of the according to a press release by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), announcing the completion of the legislative process for the new labels. Already familiar to households from home appliances, the label is meant to motivate consumers to replace boilers by calling attention to those that are inefficient. The average boiler in German homes is almost 18 years old, which means 70% of those in use fall into the highly inefficient categories C, D and E, according to the press release.
Find the press release in German . 听
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COP21 鈥� Road to Paris
AFP
鈥淏arbara Hendricks calls for recognition of climate refugees鈥�
German environment minister Barbara Hendricks says the UN should allow for a new category of climate refugees, AFP reports. Without an effective climate policy, drought and flooding would destabilise states, forcing people to flee, she said in an interview. Many climate refugees who had already lost their livelihoods due to global warming were currently discredited as economic migrants, the minister said. Hendricks wants industrial nations to take responsibility for this issue, because, she says, the industrialisation of developed countries has caused and is still causing global pollution.
Read the report in German .
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Die Tageszeitung - taz
鈥淐limate action, born in the U.S.A.鈥�
We have to cast off the misconception that climate action is a German invention and that the US doesn鈥檛 care about it, says Bernhard P枚tter in an opinion piece for taz. President Obama has set new standards by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. Meanwhile Germany has just decided to give subsidies to redundant brown coal plants, P枚tter says. Three weeks before the UN climate conference in Paris, Germany鈥檚 鈥渃limate chancellor鈥� Angela Merkel should take Obama as an example.
