Germany and Europe in danger of falling behind on renewables due to regulation, bureaucracy – dena head
Clean Energy Wire
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest report on renewable energies has shown that Germany and Europe could fall behind due to overregulation and bureaucracy, said German Energy Agency (dena) head Andreas Kuhlmann. “The global momentum for climate protection acts like a burning glass, drawing attention to the encrusted over-regulated structures and excessive bureaucracy,” said Kuhlmann. He said it is “not enough to be world champion in setting ambitious climate targets” - Europe must change its framework conditions to “not lose touch with the leading group in the industrial policy race for climate technologies”. The focus should now be on accelerating planning and approval procedures, grid expansion, and the rapid ramp-up of hydrogen production and the corresponding infrastructures much stronger than already planned, said Kuhlmann.
In its Renewables 2022 report, the IEA said the current global energy crisis is driving a sharp acceleration in installations of renewable power, with total capacity growth worldwide set to almost double in the next five years, thereby overtaking coal as the largest source of electricity generation. Energy security concerns caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had motivated countries to increasingly turn to renewables to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.
