01/10/2024
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
Despite the high greenhouse gas reduction of 46 percent compared to 1990 in the previous year, significant investments must be made in climate protection, demands the think tank Agora Energiewende for 2024.
2023 was an extreme climatic year, warned the German Director of Agora Energiewende to journalists on January 9. Simon Müller recalled: "The global average temperature reached an alarming record of 1.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels". This underlines the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels. Although CO2 emissions in Germany fell sharply in the previous year, only 15 percent of this reduction was permanent. (We reported.)
According to Agora, the reason for this was a very good wind year, which meant that renewable energies contributed 5 percent more to electricity production and covered more than half of demand for the first time. In addition, coal-fired power generation fell for cost reasons and energy-intensive industry reduced its production by 11 percent. As these two factors could change quickly, the German government must continue to pursue an effective climate policy in the electricity sector in 2024 and extend it to industry, buildings and the transport sector.
Hardly any progress in the building sector
"Electrification as a core strategy has not yet gained momentum," summarized Fabian Huneke for the building and transport sector. The co-author of the current Agora Energiewende study noted that the initial boom in heat pump sales had collapsed again. Katharina Hartz, co-author of the study, praised the fact that tradespeople had undergone further training and manufacturers had built up production capacities for the triumphant advance of heat pumps.
However, rising electricity costs, partly due to grid charges, and the poor energy efficiency of many residential buildings are slowing down the switch to electric heating. The building sector continues to emit too much CO2 due to the combustion of oil, natural gas and coal for heating. In 2023, this was 8 million tons more than the target permitted in the Climate Protection Act.
Transport continues to miss climate gas reductions
The transport sector missed its CO2 emissions target for the third year in a row, by 12 million tons in 2023. With the abolition of the purchase premium, sales of electric cars also slumped again. Urs Maier from Agora Verkehrswende suggested a bonus-malus system. A higher vehicle tax for combustion engines could finance the purchase premium for electric cars without burdening the federal budget. A cost-neutral change to the company car privilege would also be possible, which would support electrification and a lower weight for newly purchased vehicles, said Maier.
In the energy sector, Simon Müller called for a framework to be put in place quickly so that the new backup power plants can be built. They should use natural gas and later climate-neutral hydrogen instead of nuclear power and coal in order to secure the power supply even in times when there is too little wind and sun. The Agora study acknowledged the acceleration in the expansion of photovoltaic systems, which reached a new expansion record in 2023.
Expanding renewable energies and electricity grids
Significantly more permits have been issued for onshore wind power, meaning that expansion could also pick up speed here. "However, mainly in the wind power strongholds of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg," Müller qualified. The other federal states would also have to follow suit in terms of wind power.
Although the expansion of the electricity grid has received more approvals under the coalition with the traffic light system, it will still take years to bring renewable electricity from the north to consumers in the south. Against this backdrop, Müller warned against restricting climate protection due to the federal government's difficult budget situation.
Climate protection is an investment in the future
Even too little investment in climate protection will be expensive, Müller reminded the audience. If Germany fails to meet its targets under the EU's Effort Sharing Regulation, it will have to buy emission allowances from other EU member states or pay penalties. A way should therefore be found, be it via a special fund or a change to the debt brake, to trigger the necessary investments in climate protection now, Müller demanded. These are not new burdens for future generations, but investments in Germany's future viability.
In addition, there is enough private capital that will flow into the right areas given the right framework. For low-income households, however, there must be social compensation that also enables them to benefit from the energy transition, Müller demanded. Industry, especially energy-intensive sectors such as steel, cement and chemicals, must be supported in order to introduce climate-friendly technologies. "If these industries move abroad, it will weaken Germany's economic power and won't help climate protection one bit," Müller reminded.
The Study by Agora on the demands for 2024 is available online.
Author: Susanne Harmsen
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