The demand for car sharing in Munich is growing

Published 27 March 2018

While two large providers are planning a merger, another company is entering the market in Munich with Oply. But it is still open when the city can actively promote the rental system.

http://sz.de/1.3921869

Keywords: Bike-/Velo-City, Mobility, News Blog Bavaria

Kostenrückgang der Erneuerbaren treibt die globale Energiewende voran

Published 11 August 2017

Declining costs of renewables drive global energy transition

According to Dr Axel Berg, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Section of EUROSOLARAccording to the author, neither ambitious climate protection goals nor an increased ecological awareness are the drivers of the energy turnaround, but rather "the exponential cost degression in renewable energy technologies, the technical innovations in storage technologies and a high level of interest from the industrial sector". In his detailed, expert contribution, he names three key technologies that, in their interaction, will accelerate the energy turnaround to such an extent that it is very likely that major players from German old industry, which for decades were considered the backbone of our powerful industrial nation, will be disrupted away by new players.

The three Key technology:

1. solar energies, especially photovoltaics and wind power

2. memory

3. renewable mobility

We would have to increase research and development efforts in Germany to tinker with new battery generations and all the high-tech. We need public showcases, the conversion of public authority vehicle fleets, showcase cities like Graz and the bundling of SMEs. In the SME sector, many new players with good ideas are waiting in the wings. Subsidies in the double-digit billions flow annually, only slowing down the wrong channels of old industry (e.g. diesel...).

Conclusion

According to Berg, citizens could look forward to the disruptive developments described. Our cities would become quieter, the air cleaner, the quality of life would increase. Mobility would become smoother and much cheaper [FNB: because only a fraction of the previous cars would be needed and the external costs would be eliminated].

It will be bitter for the old world. The car companies have a lot of money and can survive by shrinking - similar to what E.on or RWE are currently trying to do by splitting up. It will be brutal for the medium-sized suppliers who specialise in engine parts such as gearboxes, carburettors, clutches or pistons that are simply no longer needed. Or the 40,000 car repair shops in Germany alone, whose main job is to service combustion engines. The later they look for new fields of business, the harder the economic and social collapses will be.

Everything is ready for the start of information technology disruption: renewable energies, storage, digitalisation and autonomous electric vehicles. By 2030, all of this could already be accomplished.

Read the full article from 7.8.2017 here:
www.energiezukunft.eu/...

Keywords:
100% EEs, Stakeholders, Construction and operating costs, Energy storage, Renewable, Climate protection, Mobility, News Blog Europe (without DE), PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Solar thermal, Electricity storage, Transition Town, Ecology, Economics

Published 25 June 2023

Scenarios and standards for reporting support companies on the path to climate neutrality

Scientific scenarios for climate neutrality support the strategy and planning of companies on the path to decarbonisation - Using the example of buildings and heating, climate economists at DIW Berlin analyse existing scenarios for climate neutrality - Net Zero scenarios show a clear path for the transformation of companies and the financial sector - With standardised scenarios and transition plans for climate neutrality, banks, funds and insurance companies can make their portfolios fit for the future

Scenario analyses on the climate-neutral transformation of the economy strengthen the strategic entrepreneurial orientation on the path to climate neutrality. In this context, scientific scenarios and standardised reports in particular support companies in bringing their own business model in line with the path to climate neutrality and reporting on it transparently. This forward-looking information also helps the financial sector. Banks, funds and other financial institutions can use standardised scenario analyses and reports on climate neutrality to identify transformation risks in good time. Therefore, they can make their own portfolios resilient and climate neutral and invest in companies on the path to climate neutrality at an early stage, shows a study by climate economists at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). "Scenarios are a scientific starting point for companies to identify transformation levers and thus reduce their emissions as quickly as possible," says Fernanda Ballesteros, researcher in the Climate Policy Department at DIW Berlin.

Net Zero scenarios show clear path for companies with building portfolio

Ballesteros, together with Karsten Neuhoff, Head of DIW Climate Policy, and other researchers, analysed eight studies on possible climate neutrality by institutions as diverse as the Federal Environment Agency, the Federation of German Industries and Agora Energiewende. Using the example of companies with building portfolios, they worked out what the scenarios mean for corporate strategy on the path to climate neutrality.

"If the climate neutrality target is brought forward to 2035, the reporting on a resulting stress test scenario must be comparable to the core scenario." Karsten Neuhoff

"In the scenarios, the annual renovation rate increases from the current level of around one percent to at least 1.5 to two percent or well over two percent by 2045," write the authors of the DIW study. "The share of technologies based on renewable energies already reaches 46 to 55 per cent in 2030 and rises to 94 to 100 per cent by 2045, with heat pumps being the dominant technology with around 50 per cent," results the analysis of the scientific studies. After heat pumps, district heating follows as the central technology in the scenarios with a share of about 20 to 30 per cent. "The Net Zero scenarios show a clear path," says Ballesteros. "A company with a building portfolio can use the scenarios to see what it needs to implement in the building sector to reduce emissions and become climate neutral."

Standards for comparable reporting strengthen the financial industry

It is crucial for the climate-neutral transformation of the economy that companies document the transformation with comparable transition indicators. "With standardised scenarios and uniform reporting, companies can also show and explain deviations from net zero scenarios," says Karsten Neuhoff, Head of the Climate Policy Department at DIW Berlin. "This also supports new techniques and innovative strategies, which is why the German government should also advocate internationally for the standardisation of forward-looking reporting standards and scenario frameworks." In order for the financial sector to also use this information for analyses, comparable reporting on a company's core scenario in the current political environment is required, for example climate neutrality in 2045. However, a company's transition plan should also be resilient to changes in climate policy. Neuhoff: "If the goal of climate neutrality is brought forward to 2035, the reporting on a resulting stress test scenario must be comparable to the core scenario."

Background: EU and G20 negotiate standards for forward-looking climate reporting

In the Climate Protection Act, Germany has committed itself to gradually achieving climate neutrality by 2045. Companies from industry and the service sector must therefore change their production and business practices, and financial institutions must adjust their assessment criteria. In many cases, this requires a new strategic orientation and investments in climate-neutral products, business models and production technologies. For this, companies need capital and support from the financial sector, which plays a central role in achieving climate goals.

In order for investors, civil society organisations and public authorities to understand the investment needs, progress and potential risks of companies on the path to carbon neutrality, companies are expected to provide forward-looking reporting based on scientific evidence and standardised procedures. The science works with scenarios that also provide industrial and service companies as well as banks, funds and insurance companies with comparable information about the transition to a climate-neutral business model and resulting risks. With the help of the scenarios, companies can consider the transition risks and opportunities in their investment decisions. The scenarios enable the financial sector to decarbonise the portfolio step by step and to map company-specific transition risks and opportunities in risk management.

International climate reporting frameworks are already laying the groundwork for a common scenario framework and standards for forward-looking reporting on the path to climate neutrality. For example, the frameworks of the international Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures of the 20 most important industrialised and emerging economies (G20) and the EU, as well as the UK government's Transition Plan Taskforce. Other relevant processes are the negotiations on the planned disclosure requirements of the EU regulatory proposal CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the global sustainability reporting standards of the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board).