Following two months of negotiations, three political parties have agreed to form a new government in Germany, after hammering out a deal that includes plans to rapidly scale up renewables and “ideally” phase out coal power by 2030. By Josh Gabbatiss Carbon Brief Climate change was seen as an important issue in a federal election that […]
As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus crisis and its enormous economic and social impacts, Germany has pointed the way towards building back better in a way that emphasizes environmental as well as economic concerns. Its €130 billion ($146 billion) domestic stimulus is not just aimed at economic recovery, but at paving the way towards a more sustainable, […]
Wind energy provided 14% of the European Union’s electricity last year, according to figures published Thursday by the region’s wind energy trade body, WindEurope, with 11.7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity added, including 2.65 GW of offshore wind. By Joshua S Hill Cleantechnica The growth of wind energy in Europe has been a mainstay for […]
Renewable energy is expected to cover approximately 38% of German electricity consumption this year, an increase of 2% over 2017, according to the latest figures. Almost 229 billion kilowatt-hours kWh) will be generated from German renewable energy sources in 2018. Further, some months — January, April, May, and likely December — will have seen renewable […]
Germany electric utility Greenpeace Energy has proposed a takeover bid for the lignite open-cast mines and power plants currently belonging to German electric utilities company RWE, to shut them down by 2025, and replace them with renewable energy projects such as wind and solar boasting a total output of 8.2 gigawatts. By Joshua S Hill Cleantechnica […]
A recent court ruling requires that the city of Frankfurt ban older diesel cars that comply with the Euro 4 and Euro 5 standards. Current cars must comply with the Euro 6 standard, which is about to be tightened yet again in the very near future. The court ruling requires Frankfurt to act by February […]
Clean Energy Wire is reporting that renewables will account for 33% of Germany’s total electricity usage once all the numbers for 2017 are in. That’s up from 29% last year. The projections are from the German Association of Energy and Water Industries. Its CEO, Stefan Kapferer, says, “The gap between coal and renewables in Germany’s power […]
Solar panels are wonderful things, but they do take up a lot of space, especially for larger, utility-scale systems. In some densely populated countries like China and India, where loss of farmland can lead to hungry people, floating solar farms are being built to take advantage of the surface area of lakes and rivers. Researchers at the […]
SolarPower Europe, the region’s member-led solar association, published its latest market analysis for annual global solar power demand, which it predicts will reach 100 gigawatts (GW) for the first time ever in 2017. This represents a 30% growth from 2016 solar power demand levels when 76.6 GW was connected to the grid. By Joshua S Hill […]
Germany calls its plan to transition to a low or zero carbon economy Energiewende. It says it is moving ahead with the plan, which will allow it to honor the commitments it made to the world community in Paris in 2015, and is on schedule. But critics charge it is stalled and in need of an immediate […]
How much does loyalty to a major brand — or at least the status of various brands — limit the transition to electric vehicles from Tesla, Dyson, e.Go, etc.? On the other hand, how much does dissatisfaction with conventional automakers drive customers to such automotive newcomers? How much do legacy automotive brands keep the door shut to newcomers like Tesla versus […]
Germany’s Green Party will consider climate change the most important subject during talks to form a coalition government with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) Party. By James Ayre As the CDU/CSU only managed to capture around 32.9% of votes in this year’s election (down from 41.5% in the last federal election), it will […]
While it’s been known for a while now that Germany will end up missing its 2020 CO2 emissions goals — as Chancellor Angela Merkel has openly admitted as much already — the margin of the miss is going to be much greater than was previously thought, according to a new study from the think tank […]
All across the globe, aggressive mandates are being set up to transition countries away from petrol and diesel cars to electric vehicles. In fact, according to Climate Change News, “the European commission is considering implementing an electric car quota to be achieved by automakers by 2030, according to diplomats and sources familiar with the issue. With France, the Netherlands and Britain planning diesel bans by 2040, […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is cranking up the pressure on the German auto industry as it seeks to reorganize coming out of the diesel emissions scandals that shook its foundations. The strong push comes as Merkel seeks re-election and has recognized the mounting global market pressures that are coming to bear on the largely internal […]