Video (2018) "Factor X Settlement Inden Seeviertel"
Published
2:33 Min. 17.12.2018, Ed.: KlimaExpo.NRW
The construction sector is one of the biggest consumers of resources in Germany. With the "Seeviertel" new housing development, the municipality of Inden in the Rhenish lignite mining region, together with RWE Power, the Aachen-based Kathy Beys Foundation and the development company indeland GmbH, has set itself the goal of halving resource consumption. As the first settlement of its kind in Germany, the Seeviertel demonstrates how energy efficiency and resource conservation can be integrated into neighbourhood development right from the ground-breaking ceremony.
Berlin: On 4 May 2018, BUND presented a shutdown plan for nuclear power plants (NPPs) and coal-fired power plants. This analysis shows that the decommissioning of the most climate-damaging coal-fired power plants by 2020 and a significant acceleration of the nuclear phase-out in Germany are possible without jeopardising security of supply. "The shutdown plan is a call to action for the political actors to finally take action," explains BUND Chair Hubert Weiger at the presentation of the shutdown plan in Berlin.
In the shutdown plan, BUND has drawn up a concrete performance balance and names power plants as well as annual figures for the shutdown. The focus is on the years 2020 and 2023. This period is considered to be a particular challenge for supply security, since on the one hand it is the legal date for the phase-out of nuclear power. On the other hand, a good half of the coal-fired power plants must be taken off the grid in order to achieve the German climate target for 2020.
The BUND shutdown plan shows that this is possible and that significantly more coal-fired power plants can be taken off the grid in the short term than has been discussed so far, and that this can also be combined with a significant acceleration of the nuclear phase-out. As a result, the power surplus in Germany is declining, but the supply remains guaranteed even in hours without sun and with little wind. "In the first quarter of 2018, Germany exported on average the electricity production of five large power plants. Against this background alone, it is surprising that the new federal government has not agreed on the short-term decommissioning of the most climate-damaging coal-fired power plants," says the BUND chairman. "We want to show with our analysis that much more is possible if the political will is there."
The BUND shutdown plan shows that security of supply can be ensured if politicians do not continue to wait, but actively promote the energy transition in parallel to the shutdowns. The calculations of the power balance are mainly based on values from, for example, the Federal Network Agency or the transmission system operators. Deviations and other assumptions are justified. "With our analysis, we want to provide an important impetus for a transparent debate within the framework of the amendment to the Atomic Energy Act and the coal phase-out commission that is being constituted," explains Weiger.
In a shutdown list for coal-fired power plants, BUND proposes the units that would have to be taken off the grid first in order to achieve the 2020 climate target. It concerns all larger coal-fired power plants that were connected to the grid before 1990, in order to reduce the coal capacity on the electricity market to 20 gigawatts. As a new measure to enable a socially acceptable coal phase-out and to safeguard security of supply in extreme situations, the environmental association proposes the introduction of an additional coal phase-out reserve of six to eight gigawatts.
"The Paris Climate Agreement requires the phase-out of coal before 2030. The federal government is responsible for achieving the climate targets, it must enshrine the phase-out in law and ensure a just structural change. To achieve the 2020 climate target, it must now launch an immediate programme. Waiting any longer is irresponsible," continued the BUND chair. Due to the inactivity of climate policy in recent years, the German "climate problem" has become increasingly acute. According to the latest emission forecasts, the German climate protection target for 2020 will be missed by ten percentage points.
At the same time as the coal phase-out, the nuclear power plants can also be taken off the grid more quickly than required by law. The seven nuclear power plants that are currently still connected to the grid represent a constant safety risk for the population and must be decommissioned as soon as possible. So far, however, the federal government does not want to use the amendment to the Atomic Energy Act to really accelerate the nuclear phase-out. "BUND demands an immediate nuclear phase-out. At the very least, the current revision of the Atomic Energy Act must be used to legally prohibit further transfers of electricity volumes," says Weiger. Without this transfer, the nuclear power plants would run for a total of ten years less and the production of 300 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste would be avoided.
Getting out of nuclear power and coal and still securing the energy supply - this is possible if the energy transition is driven forward. "It is a matter of further expanding renewable energies with commitment and creating the energy-economic framework conditions for an energy turnaround that is essentially based on wind energy and photovoltaics," says Weiger. This means an expansion of flexible decentralised CHP power plants, a reduction in electricity consumption, optimised utilisation of the electricity grids and a significant increase in the possibilities for load reduction.
Berlin, 18 October 2019 - Hardly any other topic has been as prominent in recent months as climate protection. A major building block in stopping man-made climate change is the implementation of the energy transition. "Renewable energies can make a huge contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, in the electricity, transport and heating sectors," says Dr Robert Brandt, Managing Director of the Renewable Energy Agency (AEE). "The German population knows how important renewables are for this. Our new acceptance survey shows that people want the energy transition."
In the current representative survey of the Agency for Renewable Energies (AEE), which was conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov*, nine out of ten citizens (89 percent) are in favour of greater use of renewable energies in Germany. 66 percent even stated that the increased use and expansion of renewable energies was very and extremely important.
Only six per cent consider them to be less important or not important at all. "Citizens have clearly positioned themselves on the role of renewables in the climate issue," says AEE Managing Director Dr Robert Brandt: "Renewable energies are the most important part of the solution."
The approval of renewable energies is also reflected in the fact that 64 per cent of respondents would find it very good or somewhat good if renewable energy plants were located in their neighbourhood. This figure is only eight per cent for coal and nuclear power plants. "It is particularly remarkable that approval even increases if the respondents already have experience with these plants in their neighbourhood," says Brandt. For example, support for a solar park in one's own neighbourhood increases from 66 to 78 percent if there is already a solar park in the immediate vicinity. This positive effect can also be seen with wind energy and biogas plants.
The results of the 2019 acceptance survey clearly show that the German population is far more open to change than is generally assumed.
A total of around 6.4 billion euros was invested in the expansion and maintenance of the electricity grid in 2018. Although there have been protests against the construction of new overland power lines in recent months, overall acceptance of their expansion is very high.
86 per cent of respondents consider the expansion of overland power lines to be important or very and extremely important. For only eight per cent, this is less or not at all important.
However, it is not only electricity generation for private households that is crucial for the implementation of a successful energy transition in the fight against climate change, but also for industry. After all, final energy consumption for electricity totalled 530 billion kilowatt hours in 2017. 57 per cent of citizens surveyed believe that solar energy is the best source for industrial electricity, while 45 per cent consider offshore to be ideal. "Our acceptance survey this year shows that the majority of citizens are behind renewable energies," summarises Brandt. "We can and must show the renewables sector with words and deeds that the German population and politicians recognise and value their role in the much-needed energy transition."
Methodology
The AEE acceptance survey is a Germany-wide, population-representative survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Agency for Renewable Energies. A total of 1,003 people aged 18 and over were surveyed online. The survey was conducted between 10 and 13 September.
*This year, the Agency for Renewable Energies has changed the survey institute and the type of survey for its acceptance survey: Instead of the telephone survey by Kantar Emnid among people aged 16 and over, the online survey by YouGov was now conducted among people aged 18 and over. In this respect, comparability with the results from previous years is not readily possible.
Following China and the USA, India now also wants to approve the Paris Climate Agreement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the date as 2 October. It is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. India is the world's third largest producer of greenhouse gases.
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