E.ON continues to seek damages / Shell sees potential in natural gas
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
German utility E.ON continues to seek compensation from the German government for the abrupt decision to temporarily shut down two nuclear power plants after the disaster in Fukushima in March 2011, writes Marcus Jung in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. E.ON is appealing a court ruling from the regional court (Landgericht) of Hanover from July and demands 382 million euros in damages.
Read the article in German here.
Find out more in the CLEW factsheet Legal disputes over the nuclear phase-out and the CLEW dossier The challenges of Germany’s nuclear phase-out.
Hamburger Abendblatt
Chairman of the Shell Companies in Germany Stijn van Els sees great potential for natural gas in the German power and transport sectors, he told Hamburger Abendblatt in an interview. “Using natural gas for electricity generation leads to half the amount of CO₂ emissions as from coal power plants. With this in mind, it is downright paradoxical that hard coal and lignite continue to dominate the German power sector at significantly more than 40 percent, and more money is spent every year on subsidies for renewable power generation while CO₂ emissions stagnate,” van Els said.
Read the full interview (behind paywall) in German here.
For background read the CLEW factsheet Germany’s energy consumption and power mix in charts.
Bundestag / Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Federal economy minister Sigmar Gabriel does not support setting an end date for coal-fired power generation in Germany, he said in the plenary of the German Bundestag, reaffirming his position that had held up the government’s Climate Action Plan 2050. “Yes, I did not name a coal-exit date on purpose. […] You know why? Because I think it decent to provide those affected with realistic outlook for them and their children first,” said Gabriel. He said that the importance of coal in the German power mix would decrease, but that the country needed to ensure that industrial jobs were kept. Gabriel praised Germany’s Climate Action Plan as the world’s most detailed. “In terms of climate protection, our wording is not as spineless as that of the rest of the world.”
Read the Bundestag protocol in German here (p. 20273).
Also read the CLEW article Businesses should make proposals to reach climate goals- govt official and the CLEW factsheet Germany’s Climate Action Plan 2050.
Deutsche Welle/dpa
Peruvian farmer Saúl Lliuya is suing German utility RWE in the District Court of Essen, saying the company’s carbon emissions drive climate change and threaten his home town Huaraz, writes Gero Rueter for Deutsche Welle. Lliuya says global warming is melting a glacier nearby his town. “As a result, water levels in the mountain lake above the city are increasing, meaning that his family home could be swept away by a 30-meter high flood wave,” the article says. Lliuya is supported by environmental organisation Germanwatch. A victory for the plaintiff seems unlikely and the court will make an announcement in December, Rueter writes.
Read the article in English here.
Handelsblatt
E-mobility start-ups in the automobile sector will not pose a threat to established carmakers, because industrial serial production is too expensive and complex, writes Markus Fasse in an opinion piece for Handelsblatt. “Up until now, the million-fold reproduction of a prototype is an art only mastered by the established auto industry,” Fasse writes. Manufacturers like VW were late in starting the shift to e-mobility, but can now bank on a global network of production sites and “knowledge of the delicate interplay of suppliers,” according to Fasse. However, IT companies like Apple have an advantage on software for autonomous driving. “In the end, the two industries will meet where it is most useful to the customers: at eye level.”
Read the article (behind paywall) in German here.
For background read the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Renewable Energies Agency
The Renewable Energies Agency has published the 2016/17 status report on the energy transition in the individual German federal states. “The federal states have an important ‘hinge function’ and can significantly advance the Energiewende through setting their own regulatory frameworks, targets and incentives,” the organisation says in a press release. The report contains an overview of the individual strategies, stats and other information on energy and climate in the federal states.
Find the individual chapters of the report in German here and all the info on this website.
For background read the CLEW factsheet German federalism: In 16 states of mind over the Energiewende.
