Merkel – Energy Transition https://energytransition.org The Global Energiewende Wed, 08 Apr 2020 13:01:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 Merkel’s Smoke and Mirrors Coal Exit Plan https://energytransition.org/2020/04/merkels-smoke-and-mirrors-coal-exit-plan/ https://energytransition.org/2020/04/merkels-smoke-and-mirrors-coal-exit-plan/#respond Wed, 08 Apr 2020 13:00:41 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=22011 A year after Germany’s 28-member “Coal Commission” presented a fragile compromise brown coal phase-out, in mid-January Merkel’s Grand Coalition government formally released their own plan. Breaking with the Commission’s recommendations by slowing down the pace of the phase-out, immediately greenlighting the new Datteln 4 hard coal plant and showering RWE and other coal operators with billions of...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2020/04/merkels-smoke-and-mirrors-coal-exit-plan/feed/ 0 Fail: Merkel’s market-friendly Climate Plan banks on fairy tales https://energytransition.org/2019/10/michael/ https://energytransition.org/2019/10/michael/#comments Thu, 10 Oct 2019 13:00:59 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20929 After months of deliberations, in late September Germany’s ruling coalition, made up of the center-right CDU/CSU and the Centrist SPD unveiled their new climate action strategy—to near universal disappointment. Now approved by the government, the plan’s architects hope a weak plan is better than none at all. L. Michael Buchsbaum summarizes Friday for Future protestors are disappointed with the...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/10/michael/feed/ 1 Sound and fury: Merkel’s Climate Cabinet and its shortcomings https://energytransition.org/2019/09/sound-and-fury-merkels-climate-cabinet-and-its-shortcomings/ https://energytransition.org/2019/09/sound-and-fury-merkels-climate-cabinet-and-its-shortcomings/#respond Thu, 19 Sep 2019 13:00:13 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20809 Despite increasing public pressure, both coalition parties within Merkel’s so-called Climate Cabinet favor taxes or market based trading schemes to tackle the climate crisis instead of new regulations to increase renewable energy or hard measures to phase out fossil fuels. L. Michael Buchsbaum takes a look Emission trading or CO2 taxation is one of the topics to be negotiated ( Public Domain) It’s...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/09/sound-and-fury-merkels-climate-cabinet-and-its-shortcomings/feed/ 0 Berlin divided over cars’ CO2 limits, hindering EU decision https://energytransition.org/2018/07/berlin-divided-over-cars-co2-limits-hindering-eu-decision/ https://energytransition.org/2018/07/berlin-divided-over-cars-co2-limits-hindering-eu-decision/#comments Thu, 05 Jul 2018 12:00:21 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=17525 As it decarbonizes its energy sector, Germany’s transportation emissions have remained stubbornly high, even increasing in the past two years. The car industry refuses to modernize even as electric vehicles gain popularity worldwide. Claire Stam of Euractiv takes a look. Germany’s transit emissions have been climbing – time to do something about it (Photo by Petra Bork, pixelio.de) The German...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2018/07/berlin-divided-over-cars-co2-limits-hindering-eu-decision/feed/ 1 Mixed Mandate: Germany’s new coal commission struggles to balance environment and jobs https://energytransition.org/2018/06/mixed-mandate-germanys-new-coal-commission-struggles-to-balance-environment-and-jobs/ https://energytransition.org/2018/06/mixed-mandate-germanys-new-coal-commission-struggles-to-balance-environment-and-jobs/#respond Mon, 11 Jun 2018 12:00:49 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=17377 Germany’s coal commission has been launched, with the goal of a gradual exit from coal. Politicans have admitted that coal-fired output needs to be halved before 2030 to meet climate targets – but have so far refused to set a date for a complete phaseout. Michael Buchsbaum takes an in-depth look. Coal produces around 40% of Germany’s electricity and employs 30,000 workers (Photo by Kateer, edited...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2018/06/mixed-mandate-germanys-new-coal-commission-struggles-to-balance-environment-and-jobs/feed/ 0 Green Tiger: Time for Germany’s coal exit https://energytransition.org/2018/04/green-tiger-time-for-germanys-coal-exit/ https://energytransition.org/2018/04/green-tiger-time-for-germanys-coal-exit/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2018 13:55:48 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=17138 To continue leading the Energiewende it started, Germany now needs to follow other progressive nations and announce a swift coal exit. But the “Coal Commission” tasked with structuring the coal phaseout seems to be dragging its feet. L. Michael Buchsbaum takes a look. Demands by the Greens and other environmental organizations for a quick coal exit have been denied (Photo by Ende Gelände, edited...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2018/04/green-tiger-time-for-germanys-coal-exit/feed/ 4 COP23: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Bonn https://energytransition.org/2017/11/cop23-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-bonn/ https://energytransition.org/2017/11/cop23-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-bonn/#respond Tue, 21 Nov 2017 14:00:37 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=16204 Climate change was again placed at the centre of global diplomacy as diplomats and ministers gathered in Bonn for the latest annual round of United Nations climate talks. COP23, the second “conference of the parties” since the Paris Agreement was struck, was a technical affair as countries continued to negotiate the finer details of how the agreement would work from 2020 onwards.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2017/11/cop23-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-bonn/feed/ 0 Why France really had to postpone its nuclear reduction https://energytransition.org/2017/11/why-france-really-had-to-postpone-its-nuclear-reduction/ https://energytransition.org/2017/11/why-france-really-had-to-postpone-its-nuclear-reduction/#comments Mon, 20 Nov 2017 14:00:03 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=16195 Just as COP23 was getting underway, French minister Nicolas Hulot said France was not abandoning its goal of switching partly from nuclear to renewables, just postponing it. Craig Morris says more time won’t help: nuclear may keep the lights on for now, but the French remain in the dark about nuclear’s conflict with wind & solar. Reactors can’t adapt to the fluctuations of wind and solar – France...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2017/11/why-france-really-had-to-postpone-its-nuclear-reduction/feed/ 27 The new German government must align the Energiewende with the European Union https://energytransition.org/2017/10/its-time-align-germanys-energiewende-with-the-european-one/ https://energytransition.org/2017/10/its-time-align-germanys-energiewende-with-the-european-one/#comments Tue, 17 Oct 2017 13:00:53 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=15907 Germany has been seen as a leader in renewable energy in the European Union, but there is still a long way to go. To revitalize both European and German energy transitions, Rebecca Bertram proposes three strategies for Germany’s new government to put in place at the EU level: better goals, binding goals, and the long-awaited coal phaseout. Europe’s energy transition could be more ambitious...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2017/10/its-time-align-germanys-energiewende-with-the-european-one/feed/ 1 Germany just re-elected Greens to power and far right to office https://energytransition.org/2017/09/germany-just-re-elected-greens-to-power-and-far-right-to-office/ https://energytransition.org/2017/09/germany-just-re-elected-greens-to-power-and-far-right-to-office/#comments Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:00:42 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=15775 Germany might remain without a new government for some time, due to fundamental differences between the parties likely building a coalition: the conservative CDU, the libertarian FDP and the German Greens. But, says Craig Morris, the rise of the far right should not be overestimated. The likely coalition includes the Greens (green, 67 seats), the FDP (yellow, 80 seats) and the CDU/CSU (black...

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