In brief | 3 July '24

Bloomberg: German coalition nears budget deal as debt brake limits options

- Scholz’s government to deliver draft as early as Friday

- Budget sees cuts, but more spending on infrastructure, defense

Carbon Pulse: EU clears increased aid for energy-intensive companies in Germany

Energy-intensive companies facing indirect emission costs in Germany will benefit from billions worth of state aid compensation  

Financial Times: Siemens Energy plans 10,000 hires as it earmarks €1.2bn to boost electricity grid unit

Orders are surging but capital markets are becoming reluctant to fund infrastructure projects.

The Guardian: Google’s emissions climb nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand

Tech giant’s goal of reducing climate footprint at risk as it grows increasingly reliant on energy-hungry data centres.

Bloomberg: Europe’s nuclear revival lacks a key ingredient: skilled workers

Atomic power producers in France, the UK and Sweden are having trouble finding the hundreds of thousands of welders, engineers and planners needed for reactors they’re building now and ones they’re eyeing for mid-century.

Reuters: Biggest EU lawmaker group wants 2035 combustion car ban revised, draft shows

The European People's Party, the biggest lawmaker group in the European Parliament, will seek to weaken the bloc's planned 2035 phase-out of CO2-emitting cars, a draft document showed.