Citizens want clarity on the transport and heating transition

25.04.2025

Source: E & M powernews

The Ariadne project reports on its 2024 dialog events, in which representatively selected citizens named requirements for the transport and heating transition.

The Kopernikus project Ariadne, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, regularly seeks dialog with the public. The aim is to make the energy transition transparent and socially just. The researchers are now presenting their findings from the dialogs on the 2024 heating and transport transition in two reports.

According to the results of the "Citizens' Deliberation", participants want more factual information on regulatory measures such as the carbon price, a socially fair distribution of costs and transparency in the financing of climate protection measures.

Knowledge gain for researchers and participants

The Ariadne Citizens' Deliberation aims to facilitate a direct exchange between science and society. To this end, randomly selected citizens from all over Germany are invited to discuss and weigh up arguments, individual perspectives and motives together. The insights gained are intended to contribute to the further development of scientifically developed policy measures in such a way that they are socially viable.

The aim of the dialogue is to better identify and counteract disinformation about the energy transition and climate protection. According to the Ariadne researchers, the participants showed great interest in the heat and transport transition in June 2024 and appreciated being part of an objective discussion on the transformation. The researchers themselves also gained valuable insights into the level of knowledge and experiences of the population.

Heat transition in the discourse

"It was noticeable that the participants already had a lot of prior knowledge about the heating transition and were able to discuss the replacement of heating systems or the energy-efficient refurbishment of houses based on their own experiences," explains Ariadne researcher Noah Kögel from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). "The topics of carbon pricing and climate money, on the other hand, were much more abstract and complicated to get to grips with, which is why the focus here was less on exchange and more on knowledge building."

Citizens are unsettled by the difficult political and media communication of the Building Energy Act - among other things, they criticize the lack of planning security. It became clear that the CO2 price does not currently play a significant role in their investment decisions. Many complained about a lack of financial resources for necessary investments and a high bureaucratic burden for funding. Instead of a climate fee, the participants were in favor of earmarking the CO2 price revenue for a specific purpose, for example for the expansion of renewable energies.

Skepticism puts the brakes on e-mobility

When it came to transportation, the discussions revealed considerable scepticism towards e-mobility. In general, the participants would like more information on purchase prices, ranges, charging infrastructure and the environmental friendliness of electric vehicles. Local public transport must clearly be cheaper in competition with cars, as otherwise there would be no incentive to switch. To this end, the expansion of bus and rail transport should be financed through higher parking fees or a congestion charge, for example, and the Deutschlandticket should be financially secured in the long term. In general, the discussants wanted cost transparency and a socially fair distribution of the burden. "We can see that successful examples from other countries are a good way of reducing reservations among citizens," explains Katja Treichel-Grass, Head of Ariadne Citizen Liberation at PIK.

Social justice required

In principle, the participants in the Citizens' Liberation are not indifferent to climate protection. They were open to changes in transport policy and building heating, as long as they are comprehensible, fair and effective. More factual information is needed in both areas, for example on the use of revenue from CO2 price or other fee increases.

Regulatory measures, such as regulations within the framework of the Building Energy Act, are only acceptable to them if they are designed in a socially fair manner, for example through appropriate support programs. They should not be at the expense of low-income households or, especially in the area of transport, at the expense of people living in rural areas. Citizens expect clear political signals instead of a stop-and-go policy, as with the promotion of electric cars.

The Ariadne Report on the transport transition and the Ariadne Report on the heating transition are available for download as PDF files.

Author: Susanne Harmsen