Rural people active in Energiewende/ UEFA Euro2024 climate targets
Almost a quarter of German households are “actively participating” in the Energiewende by using technologies such as solar PV systems, battery storages, e-cars, or heat pumps, according to the “Energy Transition Barometer 2018” published by state-owned business development bank KfW. The survey, conducted among 4,000-odd households, shows that participation is significantly lower in large cities than in the countryside, due to the higher share of multi-family residential buildings in cities. As household carbon emissions remain largely unchanged, the “existing willingness of households to contribute actively to climate action should be more effectively harnessed through targeted support,” said Dr Jörg Zeuner, chief economist of KfW Group, in a press release. While only just under two percent of the surveyed households own an electric vehicle today, 16 percent are planning to buy one, representing the highest growth rate of all technologies analysed by KfW.
Find the press release in English here, and the barometer in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The People's Energiewende.
DFB / Öko-Institut
The German Football Association (DFB) has published a sustainability concept for its bid to host the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (UEFA Euro 2024), which includes a 100 percent renewable electricity goal, as well as the plan to develop “ambitious climate protection targets.” “Germany is considered the world over as a pioneer in climate protection and has committed to the Paris Agreement. We therefore feel it only obvious that UEFA Euro 2024 also make a contribution to achieving the climate protection goals and takes suitable measures to keep the tournament’s climate impact to a minimum,” says the concept, which was developed in partnership with the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut), and not requested by UEFA as part of the official bid book. UEFA will appoint the host of Euro 2024 in September 2018.
Find the DFB press release in English here, the concept in English here, and the Öko-Institut press release in English here.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Extreme weather events like the current drought will occur more and more frequently and Germany’s agriculture sector must adapt, writes Markus Balser in an opinion piece in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. “Farmers must take the drought as a last warning and change: they must adopt a new cultivation strategy and say farewell to mass livestock farming as it is practiced today,” writes Balser. Federal agriculture minister Julia Klöckner has announced that German farmers would receive a total of about 340 million euros in financial support to offset losses from extreme weather. “The government won’t always be able to help in the long run,” adds Balser.
Find the opinion piece in German here and the govt press release in German here.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / ADAC
Customers buying a new passenger car after September 2018 might have to pay a higher motor vehicle tax because of the switch to a new emissions test called the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) based on calculations by auto club ADAC. Cars will use more fuel in the new tests, thus emitting more CO₂, which is one of the benchmarks for calculating Germany’s motor vehicle tax. “With the WLTP system […] we will have fairer data on fuel consumption and pollution,” the Federal Transport Ministry (BMVI) told the FAZ.
Find an ADAC article on the topic in German here.
For background, read the dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers and the article Germany’s car-loving transport minister faces clean mobility challenge.
PwC
The German government’s decision to grant tax relief for electric or hybrid company cars will lead to a marked increase in demand for e-cars and batteries from January 2019 onwards, writes the consultancy PwC in a press release. According to PwC’s analysis, many carmakers have so far focused on SUVs in their e-mobility strategy, because batteries are easier to build into such vehicles. Many companies today exclude SUVs –and hybrids as well – from their lists of potential fleet vehicles because of their high CO₂ emissions. “This means that demand does not yet match supply in Germany,” commented Felix Kuhnert, global automotive leader at PwC.
Find the press release in German here.
For background, read the dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers and the article Germany’s car-loving transport minister faces clean mobility challenge.
NDR
A pilot project in the city of Hamburg tests how container ship pollution in ports could be reduced by propelling them with electricity via mobile generators powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), reports the public broadcaster NDR. The LNG PowerPac, a compact unit the size of two containers produced by Becker Marine Systems, has a capacity of 1.5 megawatts and would allow ships to turn off their diesel generators while in port. About seven tonnes of CO₂ could thus be saved during an average stay in port, according to the company.
Read the article in German here.
For background, read the CLEW factsheet Germany's maritime freight emissions.
Handelsblatt
VW CEO Herbert Diess should not point his finger at other car suppliers when he calls for the start of e-vehicle battery cell production in Europe, writes Markus Fasse in an opinion piece in the Handelsblatt. Volkswagen itself also had a responsibility in this regard. “The VW head himself shies away from adventure. Entering battery cell production was considered by VW, and rejected,” writes Fasse.
Read the opinion piece in German here.
For background, read the dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
