In the media: Wind power blows past record
German Association of 麻豆无码版 and Water Industries (BDEW)/Centre for Solar 麻豆无码版 and Hydrogen Research (ZSW)
鈥淲ind power generation 2015 already exceeds last year鈥檚 level鈥�
Thanks to strong winds and the addition of new turbines, wind power generation has climbed to new records, according to the German Association of 麻豆无码版 and Water Industries (BDEW) and the Centre for Solar 麻豆无码版 and Hydrogen Research (ZSW). 鈥淲ind power generation until September already exceeded last year鈥檚 total鈥�, states a press release. Between January and September, generation added up to 59 billion KWh, compared to 57.4 billion KWh in the whole of 2014.
Read the press release in German .
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Statistics Agency (Destatis)
鈥淚ndustrial plants account for almost 9 percent of the electricity produced in Germany鈥�
German manufacturing companies generated a total of 45 TWh of electricity last year, equivalent to nine percent of the country鈥檚 gross energy production, according to Statistics Agency Destatis. 鈥淚n the first place, the industrial power plants meet internal demand, but in many instances electricity is supplied to other local units and exported to the public electricity grid鈥�, Destatis said in a press release.
Read the press release in English .
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Handelsblatt
鈥淐limate protection poses problems for industry鈥�
German and Austrian energy intensive companies are worried about the negative effects of more stringent climate protection rules, which could threaten their businesses and hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to a study by the Handelsblatt Research Institute, writes Martin Wocher in the Handelsblatt. Even though no such shutdowns or shifting of operations abroad have occurred yet, this could happen gradually, the institute concludes. Under particular threat is the steel industry, in light of EU plans to remove 1.5 billion CO2 certificates from the market as of 2019. Companies think this could cause the price to rise sharply to around 鈧�30 per tonne of CO2 from 鈧�7 now, according to the article. Because of exemptions or excess certificates on the market, companies have until now paid little or nothing for the right to pollute, according to the article. This could change dramatically, bringing costs of a billion euros a year for steel companies in Germany alone, the article says.
Read a dossier on competitiveness and the Energiewende here.
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Wind Power
鈥淲hat we can all learn from the German Energiewende"
It鈥檚 important to keep in mind that Germany is the first major industrialised country attempting an Energiewende, and therefore provides valuable lessons, writes Steve Sawyer, CEO of the Global Wind 麻豆无码版 Council, in Wind Power. 鈥淚t doesn't always get everything right the first time, and every little detail is hotly debated publicly and in depth.鈥� Sawyer says the first lesson is that political commitment is fundamental, and that politicians need to gain public support for climate protection. Clear targets, built-in reviews, efficiency, flexibility and close attention to markets are also among the key areas other countries can draw lessons from, argues Sawyer.
Read the article in English .
Find a factsheet about public support for the Energiewende here.
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klimaretter.info
鈥淎 real cost indicator is necessary鈥�
The renewable surcharge paid by consumers with their power bills is likely to rise next year, which will cause a totally misguided public uproar, writes Uwe Nestle, founder of consultancy , in an opinion piece on klimaretter.info. 听鈥淭he surcharge does not reveal anything about the costs of the renewables roll-out compared to fossil equivalents鈥�, argues Nestle. Many ageing fossil plants would have to be replaced in Germany in the coming years and could not be financed given currently low wholesale power prices. 鈥淲e would need a 鈥榝ossil energy surcharge鈥� for this task鈥�, writes Nestle. He says a new indicator for the real costs is needed, which would reveal that despite the significant increase in the surcharge in the past years, the cost efficiency of renewables has risen sharply.听 The surcharge for 2016 will be announced on 15 October.
Read the article in German .
Find a factsheet explaining the surcharge here.
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WirtschaftsWoche
"What the nuclear shut-down will cost"
Nuclear power companies' provisions for dismantling power plants and storing waste over the long term won't be enough, and taxpayers will have to shoulder some of the burden, writes the weekly magazine Wirtschaftswoche. How much is not yet known, but the outlook may be worse than thought, the magazine writes.. According to theoretical calculations by the Wirtschaftswoche, the companies would 听need to plug a hole of around 29 billion euros due to faulty assumptions on which their provisions are based. If lower-than-caculated interest rates continue, the magazine writes, then even after shutting down the plants another double-digit billion sum would have to be added. On top of that, there will be additonal costs for storing radioactive waste, it writes.听
Read the article in German.听
Read a dossier on the nuclear phase out here.
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Frankfurter Rundschau
"VW Scandal: Dieselgate shakes up the entire branch"
The VW emissions-cheating scandal has a much bigger meaning than just exposing trickery and corruption, writes Joachim Wille in a commentary in the Frankfurter Rundschau. It exposes the power of the automobile lobby in Germany to distract from the real problem: our car-centric world simply doesn't match with today's goals of health, climate protection and ecology, he says. The car lobby has tried for years to meet the demands of a more ecologically-minded public and political landscape, without actually changing the system we operate in, he says. Instead, companies try to make "clean diesel" and maintain the car-based, individual lifestyle we have come to accept as status quo, actually hindering a "traffic transition" like the Energiewende, that would shift mobility to buses, trains, bicycles and walking, he writes.听
Read the article in German .听
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klimaretter.info
鈥淭he world on a 3.5-degree path鈥�
October 1 is the deadline for countries to hand in their climate protecti