Germany’s energy transition slowed down by the general elections
Germany’s energy transition slowed down by the general elections
By Valéry Laramée de Tannenberg
2017년 9월 1일
source Firenews
독일의 에너지 계획이 앞으로 있을 총선 때문에 페이스를 잃고 있다
Germany’s energy transition is losing pace as the upcoming elections on 24 September are taking precedence. EURACTIV partner Journal de l’Environnement reports.
More than 60 million Germans are going to cast their ballot in the election and choose who they want to send to the Bundestag, the German parliament’s lower chamber, among 4,828 candidates.
The winning party will form a new government – either alone or in a coalition. Angela Merkel’s advantage seems beyond doubt but her energy and climate strategy is far from clear.
Launched at the start of the century and progressively reviewed, the Energiewende (“energy transition”) needs new impetus.
An ambitious goal
Energiewende is a highly ambitious goal. Germany plans to reduce 80% of its greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2050, on a par with France and the UK.
To achieve this, it has to develop its sustainable energy capacity, reduce consumption of energy, improve energy efficiency, and transition to electric cars.
Germany’s own target includes closing all nuclear power station by 2022 – a goal imposed by a strong anti-nuclear movement and by an adverse public opinion following Fukushima.
Fifteen years after its inception, Germany’s energy transition is slowing. But it has a number of achievements under its belt: between 1990 and 2016, CO2 emissions have dropped by 26%. Primarily the result of closing heavy industry in the former East Germany after the reunification.
Sustainable energy production, particularly with regards to electricity, has seen an exponential growth. Almost non-existent in the 1990s, wind and solar power, as well as biofuels, now provide one-third of Germany’s demand for electricity.
In 2015, the renewables sector employed 330,000 people.
However, electricity production (responsible for 30% of German CO2 emissions) is still largely dependent on carbon. Coal and charcoal still produce 4 out of 10 volts, and carbon emissions have dropped by 6% only since 2000.
To finance the development of sustainable energy production and of the electricity grid, consumers have been charged. The price of electricity (kilowatt/hour) for consumers has risen by 50% between 2007 and 2017.
That said, the average energy bill for a German family (€978/year) remains lower than for its Danish (€1,121/year) or American (€1,110/year) counterparts.
To reduce energy costs and the growing opposition to wind turbines parks, Merkel’s government reduced in 2014 the recourse to state aid (as France did in its own law on energy transition) and capped at 2,5 Gigawatts per year the capacity of land-based wind power.
The objective is to maximize the production of sea-based wind turbines (6,5 Gigawatts per year).
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