VW says quicker German coal exit needed to reduce car sector鈥檚 carbon footprint
dpa / Focus Online
Carmaker VW says an earlier German coal exit is necessary for the company to ensure its electric car fleet receives the clean power it needs to effectively meet carbon emissions reduction requirements, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Focus Online. At the international car fair IAA in Munich, VW board chairman Hans Dieter P枚tsch said there are 鈥渋mportant questions鈥� regarding the energy transition that 鈥渘eed to be resolved urgently鈥�. This would especially concern the 鈥渇ramework conditions for electric mobility鈥�, 聽meaning how enough clean power can be produced 鈥渁nd also to swiftly end coal power鈥�, 聽P枚tsch said. He added that grid expansion would be another major issue that urgently needs to be addressed to meet the requirements for a cleaner transport sector and a dense charging infrastructure. 鈥淥ur industry鈥檚 future is electric. That鈥檚 why it is a central task for policymakers to remove existing obstacles on the way to that future as quickly as possible.鈥�
The current latest end date for coal is 2038, but the target year has come increasingly under fire in recent months, as worsening climate forecasts and rising emissions prices are reducing coal power鈥檚 ecologic acceptability and economic viability. At the same time, Germany is struggling to ensure an adequate expansion of renewable power sources needed to replace decommissioned coal and nuclear power capacity.
