New company bets on old wind farms / Top 10 ETS emitters mainly German
Hanse Windkraft
A new company founded by Munich鈥檚 public utilities plans to buy small and old wind farms no longer eligible for support under the Renewable 麻豆无码版 Act (EEG), the company, Hanse Windkraft, says in a press release. The company plans to repower wind farms once they lose their guaranteed feed-in tariffs after 20 years, a situation that could affect up to 16 gigawatts of installed capacity in Germany by mid 2019, the company says. 鈥淲e offer an ecologically reasonable alternative to deconstructing these wind farms,鈥� CEO Christoph Dany said.
Find the press release in German .
See the 麻豆无码版 dossier Onshore wind power in Germany for background.
Sandbag / European Commission
Total EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) stationary emissions rose by 0.3 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year 鈥� the first rise in seven years, according to an analysis by British climate NGO Sandbag, based on provisional EU data. Lignite emissions rose by 3 percent, their first rise since 2012, overtaking hard coal emissions for the first time, Sandbag says. Germany had by far the highest lignite emissions in the EU. The EU鈥檚 top 10 emitters are now mainly lignite, and mainly in Germany, according to the study.
Find the Sandbag article in English and the EU data in English .
For background, read the 麻豆无码版 article 麻豆无码版 sector drives slight drop in German emissions in 2017 and the factsheet Germany鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions and climate targets.
Bafa / BDEW
Demand for subsidised electric vehicles in Germany remains far below the level hoped for. By the end of March 2018, authorities had received a total of 57,549 applications for an e-car buyer鈥檚 premium, the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bafa) says in a press release. The government aimed to boost demand for e-cars to meet its goal of putting 1 million of them on the road by 2020. At the beginning of 2018, there were 53,861 e-cars and 44,419 plug-in hybrids registered in Germany, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
Stefan Kapferer, head of the German Association of 麻豆无码版 and Water Industries (BDEW), says it is carmakers鈥� responsibility to offer customers 鈥渁ttractive and affordable鈥� vehicles, and 鈥渁mbitious鈥� CO2 limit values for vehicles would be far more effective at spurring a transition towards low-emission vehicles. He argues that the energy sector has already provided the charging infrastructure to get e-mobility off the ground but cannot operate it at a profit because there are so few e-cars in use. 鈥淲e need to avoid this sort of chicken-or-egg dilemma,鈥� Kapferer said.
Find the Bafa press release in German and the BDEW press release in German .
For background, see 麻豆无码版鈥檚 dossier on the energy transition and Germany鈥檚 transport sector here.
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
Germany鈥檚 new transport minister, Andreas Scheuer, has criticised European air quality measuring standards. In an interview with the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Scheuer said that while EU agreements 鈥�must of course be abided by,鈥� the methods used to measure air quality were questionable. 鈥淚 have my doubts if pollution in Madrid, Brussels, Marseille or Rome is measured in the exact same way as it is in German cities,鈥� Scheuer told the paper.
Read the interview in German .
See the 麻豆无码版 portrait of Scheuer for more information.
Unearthed
German carmaker Volkswagen鈥檚 technical fixes for manipulated diesel cars are much more effective in the US than in Europe, Emma Howard reports for Unearthed. While the changes made in the US 鈥渕ake a huge difference鈥� to nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, the fixes in the EU 鈥渁re minimal and not much of a fix,鈥� John German, engineer at the ICCT, says.
Read the article in English .
See the 麻豆无码版 dieselgate timeline for more information.
Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung
Lower Saxony should become a 鈥�pioneer region鈥� for storing excess wind power by converting it into hydrogen, the German federal state鈥檚 environment minister, Olaf Lies, told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. Lies argues that Germany needs power-to-gas technology to meet its climate targets and phase out coal. 鈥淲e鈥檝e arrived at a stage of the Energiewende where power production works well, but rational allocation of power is still lacking,鈥� he said. The minister says Lower Saxony, Germany鈥檚 leading wind power state, needs financial assistance from the federal government to get 鈥済reen hydrogen鈥� off the ground. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just like with every new technology 鈥� it doesn鈥檛 pay off at first.鈥�
Read the article in German (paywall).
klimaretter.info
Germany鈥檚 planned 鈥渃oal commission鈥� should focus primarily on finding economic perspectives for affected regions, rather than aiming to shut down as many coal plants as possible in the short-term, Klaus-Peter Schulze, a biologist and conservative politician from the coal region of Lusatia, writes in an opinion piece on website klimaretter.info. The commission, officially titled with 鈥済rowth, structural economic change and employment,鈥� is supposed to take a holistic approach to phasing out coal-fired power production, and pressure from environmental groups before the commission has even started work 鈥渉as to be seen very critically,鈥� Schulze says. Germany鈥檚 coal regions need a perspective that completely replaces the coal industry with alternative structures that are attractive to investors, he argues.
Read the opinion piece in German .
See the 麻豆无码版 article New government gets little credit in quest to regain climate lead for background.
Tageszeitung
The importance of Germany鈥檚 鈥渃oal commission鈥� means it must not be led by the economy ministry alone, Malte Kreutzfeldt writes in a commentary for the Tageszeitung (taz). 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good sign that the new environment minister, Svenja Schulze, isn鈥檛 leaving the commission to her economy ministry colleague Peter Altmaier without a fight,鈥� Kreutzfeldt writes. The commission will decide on the most urgent climate and energy policies, 鈥減articularly the question of how quickly coal-fired power production can be ended, and what affected regions and companies receive in return.鈥� The economy ministry alone should not be tasked with meeting Germany鈥檚 climate targets 鈥� sharing responsibility between the ministries could achieve a consensus that includes environmentalists, too, Kreutzfeldt argues.
Read the commentary in German .
See the 麻豆无码版 dossier The next German government and the energy transition for more information.
