"Squandering Germany's role as climate pioneer" / Weak wind tender
Handelsblatt
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 politicians and companies are squandering the country鈥檚 leading role in climate protection even though the energy transition can benefit the economy, according to a ten-page special report in business daily Handelsblatt by Silke Kersting and Klaus Stratmann. Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 resistance to stricter EU car fleet emission limits is 鈥渟ymptomatic for the relegation of an ecologic superstar,鈥� write the authors. 鈥淛udged by yesterday's noble ambitions, Germany is on the path to a failed state in climate policy [鈥 even though it is unnecessarily expensive in many areas, the Energiewende shows the enormous economic growth potential slumbering in the battle against climate change.鈥�
Find the article in German (behind paywall) .
For background on the Energiewende鈥檚 effects on the economy, read the dossier German industry embraces Energiewende transformation challenge.
Federal Network Agency (BNetzA)
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 latest tender for new onshore wind power installations failed to attract enough bids to award the full offered amount of 670 megawatts, the country鈥檚 grid regulator said. The average support rate for the accepted bids with a total amount of 363 megawatts was 6.26 ct/kWh, slightly higher than the average rate of 6.16 ct/kWh in the previous round in August. The tender for ground-mounted solar PV installations meanwhile saw strong competition, said the head of the grid regulator, Jochen Homann in a statement. With bids of 551 megawatts, the auction was three times oversubscribed. The regulator accepted bids with a total capacity of 192 megawatts. The average weighted support rate was 4.69 ct/kWh, slightly higher than the 4.59 ct/kWh from the previous auction.
Find the Federal Network Agency鈥檚 press statement .
Wirtschaftswoche
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 coal exit commission faces a huge task, but progress is slow, write Horand Knaup and Max Haerder in business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. 鈥淧articipants lament that a lot of time and energy is wasted on questions of organisation and discussions about headlines,鈥� the authors write. According to the article, commission members are beginning to get nervous because the question is still open as to whether the coal exit should be geared towards the more ambitious Paris Climate Agreement or towards the less ambitious national climate targets. But environmentalists recently got a boost from their victory in the fight over Hambach Forest, the recent IPCC report, and the Green鈥檚 strong showing in Bavaria鈥檚 elections, according to the article.
Find background in the article Commission watch 鈥� Managing 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 coal phase-out.
Die Welt
About 100 members of coal miner labour union IG BCE held a demonstration in front of the private home of anti-coal mining acitivist Antje Grothus, who also is a member of 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 coal exit commission, newspaper Die Welt reports. Grothus, who heads a civil society organisation that wants to prevent the demolition of villages that stand in the way of coal mines in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said she felt 鈥渢hreatened鈥� by the group of protesters that shouted slogans against her and reportedly also knocked on her home鈥檚 windows before police intervened and sent the protesters away. The IG BCE later condemned the actions of some of its members, saying the protest in front of Grothus鈥檚 house had neither been officially registered nor planned. 鈥淲e believe this form of protest is wrong and distance ourselves from attacking others personally,鈥� the labour union said in a statement on Twitter. IG BCE head Michael Vassiliadis, himself a member of the coal exit commission, wrote Grothus a letter in which he said this kind of 鈥渋ntimidation鈥� was not in accordance 鈥渨ith our idea of settling political differences in a democracy.鈥�
Find the article in German .
Find background in the article Commission watch 鈥� Managing 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 coal phase-out.
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
VW is responsible for one of the largest industrial frauds in the post-war period and still tries to profit from it, writes Angelika Slavik in a commentary in S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. The carmaker is offering up to 10,000 euros for the trade-in of an old diesel model and the purchase of a new car to avoid expensive hardware retrofits. 鈥淚nstead of investing several thousand euros to make a dirty car a little cleaner, they prefer to sell a new car at a higher discount, earn some money and get rid of the problem.鈥� Slavik concludes that 鈥淰W only ever does as much as is necessary to maximise its own benefit.鈥�
Read the commentary in German .
For background, read the factsheet "Dieselgate"- a timeline of Germany's car emissions fraud scandal and the factsheet Dieselgate forces VW to embrace green mobility.
Die Zeit
The car industry lobby often claims that it provides one in seven jobs in Germany, but the true number is one in 25, write Matthias Breitinger and Tina Groll in an analysis for weekly magazine Die Zeit. But the carmakers are better positioned in e-mobility than many believe. Every second electric car sold in Western Europe is made by a German carmaker, and one in three e-mobility patents is German, according to the article.
Read the article in German .
Find plenty of background in the dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
