“This is what Germany’s energy transition 2016 looks like”

The Energiewende is a mammoth project and includes a number of risks. News agency dpa, in an article carried by Wirtschaftswoche, runs a “fact check” of common claims regarding the energy transition, namely 1) the energy transition increases power costs, 2) “Monster power lines” for green electricity spoil nature, 3) There is too much power because of the renewable roll-out, 4) The energy transition is good for the climate, and 5) If the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, the lights will go out without coal. It finds there are no easy answers to any of these claims.

Read the article in German here.

For CLEW background on these issues, consult the factsheet What German households pay for power and the article Renewable energy levy set to rise in 2017 – think tank, the factsheet Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and climate targets, and the dossier New technologies for the Energiewende.