“Study: Renewable Energy Act might boost emissions rather than curbing them”

Germany’s Renewable Energy Act (EEG) could produce results that go against its intended purpose of cutting emissions by supporting low-carbon energy generation, EurActiv.de reports. The EEG, combined with the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), caused an excess supply of emissions certificates, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Hamburg showed, EurActiv.de writes. As Germany lowered its emissions at a rising cost of the EEG surcharge, “the emission of climate-damaging gases simply moves to a different location”, according to EurActiv.de.

Find the article in German here and an abstract of the study in English here.

For background, see the CLEW dossier The reform of the Renewable Energy Act the CLEW factsheet Understanding the ETS.