Renewable energy sources delivered a fresh record in Germany in the first half of 2019 with a share of 44 percent in electricity consumption as stormy weather boosted wind power production on land and at sea,
utility association BDEW said.
The second summer in a row with record temperatures has fuelled worries about the global climate crisis in Germany and sparked a sudden interest in room cooling systems, which remain a rarity in the central European country. Researchers say the share of households with air conditioning systems could quadruple by 2030, partially offsetting energy savings associated with lower heating demand.
The largest part of Germany’s government support to coal and coal-fired power production and consumption goes to measures focusing on the transition away from the fossil fuel,
according to a study conducted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). In 2016-2017, Germany provided fiscal support for coal-fired power consumption by industry of about 172 million euros annually
via tax reliefs, writes ODI, but spent almost 2 billion euros per year on transition support. The report also highlights that
Germany stopped supporting hard coal mining at the end of 2018.
The full report looks at the situation in all G20 countries. ODI found that, overall, the G20 countries’ support for coal power plants doubled in three years, despite
their pledge a decade ago to phase out subsidies to all fossil fuels.
Germany has officially set in motion a gradual withdrawal from coal, joining other major economies in a global farewell to the climate-damaging fossil fuel. The
coal commission recommended shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 at the latest. The phase-out is expected to cause billions of euros in costs for the public, as the country’s coal exit commission agreed on far-reaching measures to financially assist the affected regions and coal workers and to invest in dozens of infrastructure and training projects. The government has said it aims to maintain the mining areas as “energy regions” and to develop corresponding infrastructure for the production and storage of energy from renewable sources. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government coalition
has to decide how to implement the non-binding proposal and draft the necessary legislation. Many details have yet to be worked out and ultimately decided upon by parliamentarians in a process that could drag on into 2020.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
‘car summit’ this week was too narrowly focussed on electric mobility and industry interests,
writes Dieter Fockenbrock in a commentary for the business daily
Handelsblatt. “There is a danger that this is only about the problems of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen,” writes Fockenbrock. “But actually, the car companies should question their own business model. Do we still need mass manufacturers in the future, who dump millions of new cars on the market every year? The companies are pretending to just replace the combustion engine with an electric drive and everything would be fine.” Fockenbrock argues the real question is how to reduce and optimise traffic while making people more mobile. According to the car industry lobby group
VDA, ‘car summit’ participants have agreed to work out a “master plan” to improve charging infrastructure in order to reduce obstacles to the rollout of electric vehicles. Decisions are to be taken in a further meeting in autumn. Fockenbrock says the agreement suggests building charging infrastructure with state support is the most important task at hand. But he warns: “The government should hold back and not do the car industry’s bidding. Since when are filling stations (whether fuel or electricity) a government affair?”
Germany’s influential carmakers have all announced ambitious plans to increase the share of e-cars in their product portfolio over the next years. They have called on the government to support the shift through buyer’s premiums for e-cars, tax rebates and by building a dense network of charging stations. The government is under pressure to bring about changes in the transport sector, which has
not significantly reduced its greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.
A wealth of numbers and statistics describe the energy generation and consumption of nation states. This factsheet provides a range of charts (and data links) about the status of Germany’s energy mix, as well as developments in energy and power production and usage since 1990. [UPDATES graphs on electricity and primary energy with latest data by AGEB]
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