麻豆无码版

Slowing the rollout of renewables? 鈥� 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 energy industry is eagerly awaiting the economy ministry鈥檚 鈥�reality check鈥� on the risks and costs of the transition to renewable energies. The report is set to have a major impact on the course of the energy transition 鈥� according to the coalition treaty, it will form the basis for future energy policy. A fresh forecast of future electricity demand and an assessment of grid expansion are set to be central to the report, which is planned to be published in September following parliament鈥檚 summer recess.
Climate policy advocates and the renewables industry fear that the monitoring could result in a significant slowdown in the rollout of renewables, given that economy minister Katherina Reiche recently an industry conference that renewable targets were 鈥渃ompletely exaggerated.鈥� Further fanning these concerns is that Reiche commissioned the report from the EWI institute, which聽 of having close ties to the fossil fuel industry. NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH) said the process was designed to serve as a pretext to slow renewables.
Climate action proponents have argued that slowing the rollout of renewables due to lower electricity consumption or lagging grid expansion misses the point, because the real problem lies in the government鈥檚 failure to switch to climate-friendly technologies such as heat pumps and electric cars. The government鈥檚 approval of a joint gas extraction project with the Netherlands in an ecologically sensitive region of the North Sea also caused alarm among advocates of ambitious climate policies.

One-sided electricity price relief 鈥� Government plans to cut the price of electricity for companies, but not households, were met with an outcry from consumer organisations and small businesses, who are also set to miss out on lower prices. The parties forming the coalition government 鈥� chancellor Friedrich Merz鈥檚 conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) 鈥� had pledged to cut power taxes for both households and companies by at least five cents per kilowatt hour, leading to accusations of a broken promise. The power cost reduction "for all," as the parties announced it in their coalition agreement, was meant as a replacement for the so-called 'climate bonus', a compensation scheme for rising carbon prices that the CDU/CSU and SPD scrapped from their coalition treaty. Many of the coalition's lawmakers also at the decision and called for a reversal, but the coalition stuck to its guns. German household power prices are among the highest in the world. Following new EU rules allowing electricity subsidies for energy-intensive companies, the government has also been readying a corresponding programme to support industrial companies that commit to decarbonisation.

Growing concerns about the next phase of carbon trading 鈥� The planned introduction of Europe鈥檚 new carbon trading system for building and transport 鈥� ETS 2 鈥� in 2027 has already cast a long shadow across the EU. Germany joined around a dozen other EU member states to call on the European Commission to change its current plans to avoid sharp price jumps that could risk 鈥渟ignificant negative social impacts鈥�. Social welfare and environmental organisations argued yet again that the system must be designed more fairly to avoid hitting low-income groups particularly hard; they called for a significant top-up of the EU鈥檚 Social Climate Fund. The German government denied a report that Germany is at risk of losing payments worth billions of euros from the fund because it missed a deadline for submitting plans on how it would spend the money. The government鈥檚 coalition treaty promised mechanisms to shield consumers from jumps in carbon pricing due to the ETS2 鈥� a proposal expected to rely on EU funds.
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 buildings and construction minister Verena Hubertz told 麻豆无码版 that Germany is well positioned to smoothly transition to the ETS 2, given that it is one of few European countries that already has a national price for emissions from the heating and transport sectors. Fittingly, 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 environment minister Carsten Schneider recently singled out the 鈥渟ocial question鈥� as a key battleground for climate policy 鈥� so watch this space.

In an act of self-promotion you will hopefully forgive me for, I want to recommend two in-house productions. First of all, I suggest you attend our webinar on the state of 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 energy transition on Wednesday 9 July, which is open to all. 麻豆无码版 journalists will give participants their first assessments on the direction of the new government鈥檚 climate policy.

Next, I want to promote our new package on frontier climate technologies. Putting the dossier together has shifted my perspective: while carbon capture and storage (CCS) might be much further away than I previously thought, fusion energy could be closer. I was also surprised to learn about Europe鈥檚, and in particular 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 leading role in the development of fusion technology and the growing confidence among private investors.