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Search our website for in-depth analysis (Dossiers), background info (Factsheets) or the latest News, interviewees (Experts) or 91tv Events. Please use AND/OR to find more terms in one document, NOT to exclude terms, quotation marks “…” to find precise terms or use the filters below. Under “Show today’s news” you will find the very latest on the energy transition.

  • Political uncertainty weighs heavily on energy policy crunch time year for Germany

    91tv Preview 2019 11 Jan 2019, 10:30 Germany will finally have to make up its mind in this year which exact path to take towards a climate-friendly economy. Pending long-term decisions on a coal exit, sustainable mobility and heating as well as a Climate ...
  • 28 Jun 2020 |
    Gas

    U.S. LNG showcases transatlantic rift on climate and energy

    28 Jun 2020, 17:00 Natural gas has a special role in the debate about the global transition to a decarbonised energy system to combat climate change thanks to its reputation as the greenest of fossil fuels. Pushed by the recent oil and gas boom, the U.S. ...
  • EEG 2.0 – A new legal framework for the German energy transition

    Germany revamps renewables law as it adapts to future with green power 01 Aug 2014, 00:00 Germany’s energy market is bracing for the most far-reaching legislative changes since green power incentives were introduced a quarter of a century ago. The ...
  • 29 Apr 2021 |

    Climate cabinet to put Germany back on track for 2030 targets

    Chancellor Merkel's coalition government aims to agree on steps and climate action law 29 Apr 2021, 12:00 [UPDATE adds 2021 Consitutional Court ruling that Climate Law is insufficient due to lack of emission reduction targets beyond 2030] Chancellor ...
  • 03 Jul 2020 |

    Europe's largest economy exits coal to reach climate goals

    Germany's coal phase-out 03 Jul 2020, 16:00 Germany has put its gradual withdrawal from coal-fired power production into law, joining other major economies in the global farewell to the climate-damaging fossil fuel. Two years of debate in society and ...
  • 08 Jul 2015 |

    Energy transition shapes foreign policy in Germany and beyond

    The Energiewende and its implications for international security 08 Jul 2015, 00:00 Energy supply is inseparable from German foreign policy, as the country relies on imports to feed its energy appetite. The Ukraine crisis has brought the risks of Germany ...
  • 22 Jun 2015 |

    The history of the Energiewende

    Energiewende – the first four decades 22 Jun 2015, 00:00 For many observers, the energy transition in Germany began with Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to phase out nuclear power, following the accident at the nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan. ...
  • 27 Sep 2021 |

    Vote21- German elections set the scene for key decade of energy transition

    Climate and COVID define campaigns as Merkel's era comes to an end 27 Sep 2021, 15:00 Germany is heading towards a three-party federal government with a significant climate action focus as the Social Democrats scored a thin victory in the federal ...
  • 06 Aug 2015 |

    Energiewende effects on power prices, costs and industry

    German industry and its competitive edge in times of the Energiewende 06 Aug 2015, 00:00 Industrial competitiveness in times of an energy transition: few issues have been watched as closely as this. So far, German manufacturers have kept their competitive ...
  • 16 Oct 2017 |

    Vote2017- German elections and the Energiewende

    Energy and climate policy in Germany's election 16 Oct 2017, 00:00 Germans have cast their vote for a new federal parliament. Incurring heavy losses, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU alliance once again prevailed as the country& ...
  • 30 Sep 2016 |

    Bioenergy- the troubled pillar of the Energiewende

    Biogas in Germany's energy transition 30 Sep 2016, 00:00 Following the introduction of feed-in tariffs for renewables in 2000, bioenergy plants sprang up like daisies across the country, providing a climate friendly source for power that’s ...
  • 06 Aug 2018 |

    How Germany is greening its growing freight sector to meet climate targets

    Cargo transport and the energy transition 06 Aug 2018, 11:00 The Dieselgate scandal has put passenger car emissions in the public spotlight in Germany, but an even bigger road polluter – freight transport – remains a sideshow. Transporting goods by road, ...
  • 18 Jan 2019 |

    City of Berlin shoots high with climate goals – but can it deliver?

    The energy transition in Germany's capital 18 Jan 2019, 12:00 Berlin’s city government has set new climate targets – some even more ambitious than Germany’s national policy. As the seat of federal government, and with its outsized international ...
  • 17 Sep 2015 |

    Taming the appetite for energy

    The Energiewende and Efficiency 17 Sep 2015, 00:00 It will take more than just making the power supply green to achieve climate targets. Germany must also tackle demand and consume less energy. In the past, energy use only fell significantly when the ...
  • News
  • 25 Sep 2017 |

    Vote2017: Politicians' comments on German election results

    25 Sep 2017, 00:00 Germans have handed Chancellor Angela Merkel a fourth term in the country’s federal election. Most likely, Merkel will have to start talks with the Free Democrats (FDP) and the Green Party to form a so-called "Jamaica coalition, ...
  • 31 Mar 2015

    In the media: Trend reversal- German emissions decrease

    31 Mar 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv   Federal Environment Agency (UBA) “Trend reversal: Emissions decrease to lowest level since 2010” German greenhouse gas emissions have decreased in 2014 for the first time in three years, ...
  • 13 Jan 2015

    In the media: Wind power record stresses the grid; utilities invest in renewables

    13 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Welt/Süddeutsche Zeitung “’Elon’ und ‘Felix’ cost consumers millions”/ “Stormy times on the power market” Heavy winds from two low pressure systems created an enormous oversupply of wind power ...
  • 16 Mar 2015

    In the media: Bild am Sonntag attacks German energy policy

    16 Mar 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv  Bild am Sonntag “Getting the green light?” Germany’s transition to a low-carbon economy is not very environmentally friendly and doesn’t make economic sense, argues Olaf Wilke in a seven-sentence ...
  • 24 Feb 2015

    In the media: Solar set to become cheapest power source

    24 Feb 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “EU wants to break Moscow’s energy power” A draft of the EU Commission’s concept for a European Energy Union (due to be published tomorrow) includes new rules for ...
  • 19 Dec 2018 |

    Preview2019- Climate Action Law “crucial” step, says Greenpeace head

    19 Dec 2018, 10:10 Germany must face several fundamental energy and climate decisions in 2019 to save the country's Energiewende and its international standing, according to Greenpeace head Jennifer Morgan. Most importantly, the promised Climate ...
  • 18 Nov 2015

    Taking stock of the Energiewende / Resistance to smart meters

    18 Nov 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) Balance Sheet of Energiewende Germany has published an assessment of its national climate protection efforts. The government says Germany is making “good ...
  • 05 Nov 2015

    'Emergency repairs' to the power market / Cutting CO2 without nuclear

    05 Nov 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Power market reforms are mainly “emergency repairs” German energy minister Sigmar Gabriel says the reforms passed in cabinet yesterday train the power market for the ...
  • 30 Sep 2015

    In the media: Carmakers complain about 'anti-diesel' lobby

    30 Sep 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv FAZ/World Economic Forum “Praise for German competitiveness” According to the World Economic Forum’s new Global Competitiveness Report, Germany is one of the most economically competitive countries in the world, ...
  • Auditors: German govt must manage Energiewende better, need CO2 price

    28 Sep 2018, 12:24 Germany still lacks an overview of the total cost of the Energiewende and the government must improve cost transparency, efficiency and coordination of the energy transition in order to keep citizens’ trust, the Federal Court of ...
  • 07 Oct 2021 |

    Climate neutrality 2045 feasible, but “enormous task” for Germany – dena

    07 Oct 2021, 12:17 Germany can reach its target of climate neutrality by 2045 but enormous tasks such as the massive expansion of renewable energy and transformation of whole industries have to be initiated as quickly as possible by the country’s next ...
  • 13 Jun 2016

    Battle over renewables act continues / ‘Insane’ efficiency support

    13 Jun 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “Don’t miss the transition” Renewable energies have become so cheap that many countries have started an Energiewende, only for Germany to hit the brakes with its ...
  • 04 Feb 2021 |

    German govt decides new renewables quota for transport fuels, doubles EU target

    04 Feb 2021, 11:15 Germany will increase the share of renewable energies in its transport sector to 28 percent by 2030, the government cabinet decided today, agreeing on draft legislation proposed by the environment ministry. The greenhouse-gas reduction ...
  • 01 Sep 2022 |

    Growing energy cooperation between EU and UK defies worst of Brexit fallout

    01 Sep 2022, 13:42 Energy policy links between the UK and the European Union have remained strong since the UK officially left the bloc in January 2020, in contrast to complications in many other policy areas. A new renewable power interconnector project ...
  • 28 Sep 2018 |

    Germany needs plan to unleash solar power again- researcher

    28 Sep 2018, 15:37 Germany's solar power industry used to be a leader of the renewable technology's global expansion but a series of political blunders has killed off solar power companies and passed the torch on to China, solar power researcher ...
  • 02 Jun 2015

    In the media: Utility breaks ranks in favour of climate levy

    02 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “Bad atmosphere in the power sector” One of Germany’s four largest utilities, EnBW, has come out in favour of the government’s proposal for an additional levy on old coal-fired ...
  • 14 Jan 2021 |

    German power sector could achieve 100% renewables by 2040 – economy minister

    14 Jan 2021, 13:34 On its planned path to climate-neutrality by the middle of the century, Germany could achieve complete decarbonisation of its power sector already by 2040 – and EU climate targets might even compel the country to greatly speed up the ...
  • 22 Dec 2022 |

    Hungary’s climate activists struggle to make their voices heard

    22 Dec 2022, 09:12 Hungary’s climate movement is struggling to build on the earlier success of the country's Fridays for Future student protests to make their voices heard. Nonetheless, many activists believe that spectacular acts of civil ...
  • Germany welcomes EU plans to lead global shift to climate-neutral industry

    17 Mar 2023, 12:21 German government officials have welcomed proposals by the European Commission to boost net-zero industries and the competitiveness of European companies in an effort to keep up with other regions of the world, such as the U.S. and ...
  • 21 Dec 2021 |

    Germany’s energy consumption rising, renewables share falling in 2021

    21 Dec 2021, 14:21 Energy consumption in Germany has increased in 2021, as the economy recovered from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the country weathered a cold winter. At the same time, a year of depressed wind power production let the ...
  • 27 Oct 2014

    Germany’s energy transition in the media on 27 Oct 2014

    27 Oct 2014, 00:00 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “Eon and Vattenfall join forces in nuclear power lawsuit” German taxpayers may shoulder as much as 9 million euros in fees from a US lawsuit filed by Swedish energy group Vattenfall against ...
  • 22 Jan 2020 |

    Former coal commission members say German government breached landmark exit compromise

    22 Jan 2020, 11:28 The German coal exit commission 's compromise reached in early 2019 was hailed as a breakthrough for cooperation between industry representatives, policymakers and environmental groups, as it outlined how to phase-out the fossil ...
  • 14 Dec 2015

    A 'terrific day for humanity' or just 'the lowest common denominator'?

    14 Dec 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “For humanity” The Paris treaty is a “terrific day for humanity” and spells out clearly that the fossil era is coming to an end, writes Michael Bauchmüller in a commentary for ...
  • 17 Dec 2015

    'Second energy transition needed' / Learning from the Germans

    17 Dec 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Zeit “We can do it one more time” Germany needs nothing less than a second energy transition in order to achieve its climate target of reducing emissions by 80-95 percent by 2050, writes Petra ...
  • 22 Sep 2021 |

    German conservatives have laid groundwork for making country climate neutral by 2045- MP

    22 Sep 2021, 15:08 The conservative CDU has been heading Germany's government since 2005- and used its time in power to lay the groundwork for making the country the first climate-neutral industrialised nation before the middle of the century, says ...
  • 23 Dec 2016 |

    Preview2017 – Elections, G20 set to dominate Energiewende policy

    23 Dec 2016, 00:00 Germany is heading into a year filled with international top-events and elections that will determine the future course of the country’s Energiewende project. The uncertainties about the new US administration and the exact details of ...
  • 14 Oct 2014

    Germany's energy transition in the media on 14 October

    14 Oct 2014, 00:00 91tv 91tv German Ministry of Economy and Energy  Norway approves construction of NordLink power cable with Germany Norway has granted the required licenses to grid operator Statnett to build its part of a German-Norwegian ...
  • 08 Dec 2015

    Households' power price ignorance / A coffee with the Germans

    08 Dec 2015, 00:00 Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv DENA "Only one third of households know their electricity bills exactly" Only about one third of German households know the exact amount they pay for electricity, a survey by the German ...
  • 06 Jun 2019 |

    Government advisors give low marks for German energy transition progress

    06 Jun 2019, 17:11 Germany continues to be off track regarding many of its energy and climate targets according to the economy ministry’s  latest progress report on the energy transition. In an accompanying opinion, government advisors lament that the ...
  • 22 Aug 2019 |

    Eastern German coal states welcome proposal for phase-out support

    22 Aug 2019, 13:55 Eastern German coal mining regions have welcomed draft legislation to support the states most affected by plans to phase out the fossil fuel by 2038 at the latest. The economy ministry presented an "investment law for coal regions ...
  • 20 Jun 2016

    Law reform delays energy transition- study / Utilities fear collapse

    20 Jun 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW) “New study: EEG 2016 thwarts Paris climate agreement” If Germany continued the deployment of renewable energies at the average pace of ...
  • 04 Sep 2018 |

    Germany's home battery boom is far from over- Solarwatt CEO

    04 Sep 2018, 09:02 Germany commissioned its 100,000th home storage battery last week – and the boom is far from over, says Detlef Neuhaus, CEO of German solar PV module and residential battery storage system maker Solarwatt. Neuhaus warns that Germany is ...
  • German government shuns coal levy, mothballs some lignite plants

    02 Jul 2015, 00:00 Germany will not impose an additional climate levy on old and dirty power plants. In late-night negotiations, the ruling government coalition buried a levy proposal, choosing instead to mothball and later decommission some lignite power ...
  • Tumultuous first year for Germany's government may start energy transition push

    01 Dec 2022, 12:20 One year after taking over Germany’s government, chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light” coalition looks back at some turbulent first twelve months in office that were overshadowed by Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the subsequent ...
  • 08 Jan 2015

    In the media: Tourists and wind turbines, municipal utilities and power exports

    08 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Dow Jones Newswires “Renewable development leads to uncertainty for municipal utilities” Dow Jones reports on a study by the University of Leipzig for Commerzbank and the municipal utility ...
  • Preview 2021: ‘German CO2 price can only be a start of energy taxes reform’

    10 Dec 2020, 11:02 With the EU presenting its Green Deal implementation packages next summer, Germany’s autumn election will be a climate election, says Christoph Bals, Policy Director at NGO Germanwatch. He has a long list of changes that the new ...
  • Mobility start-up ubitricity wants to revolutionise e-car charging

    03 Apr 2019, 13:13 91tv is stepping up its business coverage and exploring how the commercial landscape is being transformed by Germany's energy transition. To showcase the upheaval underway in the world’s fourth largest economy, we' ...
  • German parliament approves controversial renewables reform

    Germany’s federal parliament has approved a controversial revamp of the country’s energy transition. The government coalition of economy minister Sigmar Gabriel’s Social Democrats and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Conservatives secured a majority vote for ...
  • 12 May 2021 |

    Cabinet decides climate law reform, tougher sector emission budgets included

    12 May 2021, 15:34 The German government’s decision to aim for greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045 – five years earlier than previously envisaged – is to be substantiated by a reform of the country’s Climate Action Law. Angela Merkel and her ministers have ...
  • 30 Jul 2020 |

    Modest wind power expansion recovery in Germany fails to allay industry fears

    30 Jul 2020, 13:37 The construction of new wind turbines in Germany picked up slightly again in the first six months of 2020, but expansion figures are still far too low to bolster an industry that suffered two years of steeply declining growth. As the ...
  • 25 Sep 2015

    In the media: CO2 emissions from cars; citizens' energy pushed out?

    25 Sep 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Spiegel Online “Exhaust affair: VW tricks increase doubts about climate calculations” Car manufacturers are not only using tricks to stay under nitrogen oxide thresholds in tests but also to reduce ...
  • 22 Feb 2022 |

    Reactions from Germany to halt of Nord Stream 2 following Russian aggression

    22 Feb 2022, 16:45 Many German politicians, business associations, and environmental NGOs have welcomed the government's decisions to halt the contentious gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 following Russian aggression towards Ukraine. Against the backdrop ...
  • 23 Feb 2022 |

    German chancellor suspends Nord Stream 2 over Russian aggression against Ukraine

    23 Feb 2022, 10:15 Germany has put the contentious Nord Stream 2 pipeline project on hold in reaction to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz ordered the economy ministry to halt the certification process for the already completed ...
  • 25 Jun 2015

    In the media: "Coal levy- finally gone"

    25 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “Gabriel takes on the energy sector” Energy minister Sigmar Gabriel was given a chilly reception by the Chairwoman of the Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) in ...
  • 06 Jan 2021 |

    German regional govt aims to shield Nord Stream 2 against U.S. sanctions

    06 Jan 2021, 18:13 A German state government attempts to circumvent looming U.S. sanctions on the contentious natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 with the help of a “climate” foundation. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the pipeline will land, ...
  • 18 May 2015

    In the media: Climate Dialogue to prepare Paris negotiations

    18 May 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Tagesspiegel / Petersberg Climate Dialogue VI Merkel wants carbon trading scheme for the whole world Environment ministers from around the world meet in Berlin today and tomorrow to discuss and ...
  • 23 Apr 2015

    In the media: "The end of coal is imminent"

    23 Apr 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv ZDF heute.de “Climate levy on coal: Gabriel puts his foot down” With pressure and criticism from coalition partner CDU-CSU increasing, Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has defended his ...
  • 28 May 2020 |

    “Strong signal from Brussels” – German reactions to EU recovery proposal

    28 May 2020, 12:34 German industry and energy sector associations have welcomed the coronavirus recovery proposal presented by the European Commission. Lobby group BDI said the funds should focus on sustainability not only in regard to climate and ...
  • 05 Mar 2015

    In the media: Energiewende indices show progress

    05 Mar 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Welt /McKinsey Germany “McKinsey: Energiewende indices improve“ The McKinsey Energiewende Index, a bi-annually published analysis of how well Germany is achieving its energy transition targets, ...
  • 15 Jan 2018 |

    Reactions to climate & energy policy in parties' coalition blueprint

    15 Jan 2018, 00:00 The parties currently in talks to form Germany’s next government have agreed to speed up the roll-out of renewable energies and start the phase-out of coal-fired power generation. Contrary to a draft leaked earlier this week, the ...
  • 20 Dec 2018 |

    Germany bids farewell to domestic hard coal mining

    20 Dec 2018, 16:33 On 21. December 2018 the mining of hard coal officially comes to an end in Germany. The closing of the last mine in the Ruhr region marks the end of 200 years of mining the fossil fuel that made Germany’s industrialisation possible. The ...
  • 20 Feb 2015

    In the media: "Sun King" and hydro power potential

    20 Feb 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv World Energy Council “German energy transition is currently not an export hit” Many international energy experts doubt that Germany's energy transition works as a blueprint for other countries ...
  • 17 Nov 2014 |

    German energy minister dismisses reports of changes to climate goals

    17 Nov 2014, 00:00 Following heated debate over a possible exit from coal-fired power, Sigmar Gabriel has reaffirmed his commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2020. Sven Egenter Sven Egenter Climate & CO2 Germany's Minister for ...
  • 27 Sep 2021 |

    "Climate crisis as a top priority"- Reactions to German federal elections

    27 Sep 2021, 14:05 The Social Democrats (SPD) under chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz have narrowly won Germany's federal elections. According to preliminary final results, the SPD received 25.7 percent of votes, while the conservatives (CDU/CSU) ...
  • 03 Nov 2014 |

    In the media: Power shortage risks, storage debate, hydrogen filling stations

    03 Nov 2014, 00:00 Expert Agora Energiewende Think tank on German, European and international climate and energy policy Climate & CO2 Electricity market Energiewende International 91tv 91tv Hydrogen Tagesspiegel Online "Power in ...
  • 12 May 2016

    Offensive for energy efficiency / Germany rejects carbon floor price

    12 May 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Ministry for Energy and Economic Affairs (BMWi) Germany aims to give energy efficiency new push The German government has launched a new offensive to increase energy efficiency. ...
  • 17 Oct 2018 |

    Disruption caused by energy transition is unstoppable- Amory Lovins

    17 Oct 2018, 14:44 The global energy transition is both accelerating and unstoppable, and will continue to disrupt many industries from carmaking to construction, according to green energy pioneer Amory Lovins. But the cofounder and Chief Scientist of the ...
  • 09 May 2016

    A new renewable record? / Study: Coal phase-out costs 71.6 billion euros

    09 May 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel Agora Energiewende Preliminary data suggests renewable record in Germany Strong winds and sun all over Germany might have pushed renewable power production to a new record share on Sunday. Renewable ...
  • 27 Apr 2016

    Incentives to reach at least 400,000 e-cars / 23.3 billion euro proposal for nuclear fund

    27 Apr 2016, 00:00 (CORRECTION- In first paragraph on e-car premium: Government and industry will invest 600 million euros each, not 600,000 million euros; government will invest an additional 400 million euros in charging stations, not 400,000 million ...
  • 16 Oct 2020 |

    Germany must push 2030 renewables target to 75 or even 80 percent – env min

    16 Oct 2020, 13:17 Germany's environment minister has called for a sharp increase in the country's renewables targets. Svenja Schulze said the country will have to increase renewables' share in power use to "at least 75 percent, maybe ...
  • 10 Oct 2019 |

    German econ minister says hydrogen key part of future energy system

    10 Oct 2019, 13:56 Germany’s economy minister Peter Altmaier has said that hydrogen will be a key element of the country’s future energy system, as a zero-carbon or carbon-neutral energy source. However, natural gas would play a significant role over the ...
  • 01 Apr 2016

    Tesla's new 'electric invader' / RWE's 'most daring project'

    01 Apr 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Bild “People’s e-car” The premiere of Tesla’s new e-car “Model 3” might not only decide the future of the company, but the future of e-mobility, according to mass-daily Bild. “With ...
  • 24 Nov 2015

    Allianz exits coal / Peruvian farmer sues RWE

    24 Nov 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Carl Morris 91tv 91tv ZDF / Süddeutsche Zeitung / Allianz “Allianz quits coal financing” German insurance company Allianz will no longer invest in companies that get more than 30 percent of their revenue ...
  • 29 Jan 2019 |

    German wind industry worries about public resistance as installations slump

    29 Jan 2019, 15:02 Following a sharp drop in new onshore wind power installations in Germany in 2018, the industry warns that mounting resistance against new turbines endangers a sufficient supply of renewable energy demanded by industry and national ...
  • 26 May 2021 |

    EU climate ambitions spell trouble for electricity from burning waste

    26 May 2021, 10:29 The EU's bid for climate neutrality puts a big question mark over the future of generating electricity by incinerating waste. The fiercely disputed process emits CO2 and toxins, although its proponents point out that it prevents ...
  • Debate on financing renewables in new ways gathers pace in Germany

    23 Feb 2017, 00:00 Against a backdrop of general elections later this year, a debate about a general overhaul of Germany’s much-imitated system for renewables support is gathering pace. Many proponents of replacing the current Renewable Energy Act (EEG) ...
  • 01 Sep 2015

    News Digest: Germany's solar capacity exceeds 39 GW

    01 Sep 2015, 00:00 Institute of Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) “Additions of new solar arrays speeds up in July – Total capacity exceeds threshold of 39,000 MW” The addition of new PV-systems has increased significantly in July compared to June, but not ...
  • 08 Jan 2018 |

    German coalition negotiators want to postpone 2020 climate goal

    08 Jan 2018, 00:00 The negotiation partners in Germany's ongoing coalition talks have agreed to postpone the country's 2020 emissions reduction target until "the early 2020s". Party negotiators also agreed on introducing a climate ...
  • 09 Jan 2019 |

    Preview2019- German govt must act on environment to retain votes, says WWF

    09 Jan 2019, 10:45 Energy and climate policy has played a notable role in recent elections in Germany, where public opinion is split over the course of the country's coal exit and diesel emissions in inner cities, says Michael Schäfer, head of ...
  • 08 Jul 2020 |

    EU wants to become market leader in hydrogen technologies, create 1 million jobs

    08 Jul 2020, 13:14 The European Union wants to establish itself as the world leader in hydrogen technologies and will focus on ramping up electrolyser capacities in the next four years. According to the European Commission's hydrogen strategy, the ...
  • 14 Nov 2018 |

    New govt report on climate ups pressure on Germany’s coal commission

    14 Nov 2018, 14:13 A new government report detailing Germany’s failure to cut emissions increases pressure on the country’s coal commission to agree on a speedy phase-out plan. Work in the coal commission enters a critical stage for climate protection ...
  • 01 Jun 2015

    In the media: Government warns banks of 'Carbon Bubble' risk

    01 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung Interview with Chancellor on Climate Summit In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said that preparing for the climate summit in Paris ...
  • 14 Jan 2016

    Renewable payments 2015 / Two billion euros for e-cars

    14 Jan 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Greenpeace “Expenses for green power reach new record high” Payments for renewable power have reached a record high in 2015, Andreas Mihm reports for the ...
  • 27 Jun 2018 |

    Climate goal failure warrants high Energiewende priority- gov advisors

    27 Jun 2018, 16:59 Germany will likely fail on many of its self-imposed energy transition targets, says the government-appointed expert commission tasked with monitoring the progress of the German Energiewende in its opinion on the federal economy ...
  • 04 Mar 2015 |

    Lobbies, experts disagree over ideal power market redesign

    04 Mar 2015, 00:00 The consultation period for the government's green paper on power market reform is over and submissions reveal stakeholders' different ideas and priorities for a redesign. Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Electricity ...
  • 28 Jan 2021 |

    German onshore wind growth achieves turnaround in 2020 but still off target

    28 Jan 2021, 13:25 Onshore wind power- the cornerstone of Germany's decarbonisation plans-  has suffered from chronically low additional installations in the past years. The industry seems to have achieved a turnaround in 2020, connecting almost 50 ...
  • 27 Nov 2014

    In the media: Trade unions back coal, wind energy trouble, renewables ranking

    27 Nov 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Tageszeitung (taz) "Trade union association DGB gets on side with coal" What started off as an appeal by industry and energy unions is now supported by most German trade unions (apart ...
  • Demanding climate justice is our unique selling point – Left Party MP Beutin

    25 Jan 2021, 10:48 Germany is facing a packed election year in 2021 with votes in six of the country’s 16 states and federal parliamentary elections in September. Although somewhat sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic, campaigning and positioning of parties ...
  • 11 Nov 2014 |

    German minister warns against quick exit from coal power

    11 Nov 2014, 00:00 Germany still needs electricity from coal while shifting to a green economy, Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, reassuring utilities that a quick phase-out of the fossil fuel was not his plan. Expert BMWi- Federal Ministry for ...
  • 19 Jan 2021 |

    Germany already 'on track' to meet its climate targets – CDU energy expert

    19 Jan 2021, 09:30 Germany is going into a major election year in 2021 with votes in six of the country’s 16 federal states and the federal parliamentary elections in September. Although somewhat sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic, campaigning and ...
  • 16 Jul 2015

    In the media: Energiewende faces massive challenges

    16 Jul 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Zeit “Don’t get distracted” The carbon divestment movement and the G7 commitment to decarbonisation indicate that climate policy is getting serious and irreversible, writes Andreas Kuhlmann, ...
  • 08 Jul 2015

    In the media: The tricky exit from nuclear power

    08 Jul 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv   Süddeutsche Zeitung “Tricky Exit” Getting rid of a nuclear power station after decommissioning it is as complex as building it in the first place, writes Thomas Hahn in Süddeutsche Zeitung. A public hearing ...
  • 08 Jun 2015

    In the media: Gabriel prepared to sacrifice coal levy

    08 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Der Spiegel “Sigmar Gabriel prepared to sacrifice climate levy” Economy and energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel is about to let go of his proposed climate levy for old coal-fired power stations, Der ...
  • 07 Mar 2018

    Merkel puts long-time confidant in charge of energy transition

    07 Mar 2018, 00:00 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has chosen her close ally and former head of the Chancellery Peter Altmaier as the next economy and energy minister. This puts the political heavy-hitter in charge of shaping Germany’s Energiewende at a ...
  • Battery gigafactories will rapidly make e-cars even greener – battery expert

    03 May 2021, 10:50 The batteries used in electric cars will quickly become more sustainable, and many concerns about their CO2 footprint are overblown, says Hans Eric Melin, founder and managing director of London-based consultancy  Circular Energy ...
  • 08 Mar 2016 |

    Looking back: Germany five years after Fukushima

    08 Mar 2016, 00:00 (UPDATE- adds quote from WWF's Günther in paragraph 5, more external content)- The nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, in the wake of a tsunami five years ago on 11 March, was a key turning point in German energy policy. Chancellor ...
  • 15 Jun 2020 |

    The heat is on to make German buildings 'nearly' climate-neutral

    15 Jun 2020, 10:30 A mainly fossil energy guzzler, heating in Germany has taken a back seat to the Energiewende's poster child, the power sector. But the “Wärmewende”, or heating transition, has significant potential to curb emissions and is ...
  • 19 Jan 2016

    Energy minister wants round table on coal, unions demand commission

    19 Jan 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Federal Ministry for Energy and Economic Affairs (BMWi) Gabriel says wants round table on future of coal Germany’s energy minister Sigmar Gabriel has said he wants to establish a round table on the ...
  • 23 Dec 2021 |

    New German govt enters 2022 with no time to lose in race for climate neutrality

    23 Dec 2021, 13:13 A new German government has started its work shortly before Christmas, kicking off its four-year term with a key promise to make the country ready for its ambitious bid to become climate neutral before the middle of the century. At a ...
  • 25 Feb 2015

    In the media: A brave new world of integrated energy

    25 Feb 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Handelsblatt “Brave new world” The single market for European energy that EU citizens have been waiting for for years, is now called the Energy Union, Thomas Ludwig writes in an opinion piece for ...
  • 05 Dec 2014

    In the media: Nuclear waste fund, Vattenfall, E.ON's split

    05 Dec 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Rundschau "We need a fund" Jörg Sommer, chairman of the German Environment Foundation, says more money is needed to treat nuclear waste in Germany. In an ...
  • 05 Nov 2014

    In the media: Climate action plan, industry concerns and power lines

    05 Nov 2014, 00:00 91tv 91tv Die Welt Steel industry says its concerns over energy policy go unheard Various voices from the steel industry raise concerns about the Energiewende in an article in Die Welt. Industry representatives are ...
  • 15 Oct 2020 |
    EU

    Most EU states on track for 2030 climate goals, but higher targets on horizon

    15 Oct 2020, 11:29 EU countries largely make good progress towards reaching their existing energy and climate targets for 2030, said the European Commission in a series of reports. But the assessment of national plans comes at a time when the union is in ...
  • 18 Sep 2017 |

    German election to define speed and shape of energy transition

    18 Sep 2017, 00:00 With Germans about to cast their votes in the federal election, Chancellor Angela Merkel is virtually certain to retain power. But the make-up of the next coalition will be key to how the new government tackles a host of energy and ...
  • German reactions to the EU Commission’s energy summer package

    15 Jul 2015, 00:00 The European Commission has launched its proposals for an Energy Union, including reform of the emissions trading scheme, a redesign of the European power market, updated efficiency labelling and consumer empowerment. 91tv has compiled ...
  • PV auctions: More competition, but critics warn of target shortfalls

    26 Aug 2016, 00:00 In August, Germany held the fifth tender in its new auction pilot scheme for payments to large-scale solar projects. While officials overseeing the programme continue to praise its results and declining price levels, critics warn that ...
  • 18 Jul 2019 |

    Switch from coal to gas cut CO2 emissions from German fossil fuel power plants by a third- researcher

    18 Jul 2019, 17:05 A fuel switch from coal to gas cut emissions from German fossil fuel power plants by a third in June 2019 as compared to the same month the year before. Lower gas prices and higher costs for CO2 allowances are part of the explanation. ...
  • New energy minister seen keeping Energiewende course till elections

    25 Jan 2017, 00:00 Germany’s energy policy will see little change as former justice minister Brigitte Zypries replaces Sigmar Gabriel as economy and energy minister this week, according to policy experts. Gabriel’s Social Democratic party colleague ...
  • 25 Nov 2015

    Study says banks put billions into lignite / A "deceptive" CO2 balance

    25 Nov 2015, 00:00 Spiegel Online/Urgewald “German banks still put billions into brown coal” A study by environmental NGO Urgewald shows that German banks continue to finance climate-damaging brown coal, reports Spiegel Online. Deutsche Bank alone has ...
  • Bavarian Merkel ally calls for coal exit by 2030, protesters storm lignite mine

    24 Jun 2019, 13:50 A plea for an accelerated coal exit in Germany by the state premier of Bavaria, Markus Söder, has caused a row within Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance over how to deal with growing political pressure to improve the ...
  • 23 Oct 2015

    Bavaria's energy concept / A record-breaking fuel cell

    23 Oct 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “An energy concept that electrifies no one” Bavaria will have to import 40-50 percent of its consumed electricity in 2025, Daniela Kuhr writes in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The ...
  • 11 Oct 2017 |

    Germany set to widely miss climate targets, env ministry warns

    11 Oct 2017, 00:00 Germany’s environment ministry fears high emissions from coal-fired power plants and transport will make the country miss its 2020 climate targets by a wider margin than previously anticipated. The ministry’s warning adds further ...
  • 21 Dec 2018 |

    Preview2019- Conditions for Energiewende success all set, says dena

    21 Dec 2018, 09:32 Ambitious climate action and a resolute energy transition are already possible in Germany but the country's government has yet to prove how serious it is about putting words into action, says Andreas Kuhlmann, the head of the ...
  • 15 Apr 2016

    [Update] Ministry releases new draft version of renewables law

    15 Apr 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy New draft version of Renewable Energy Act released The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has released a new draft of the Renewable ...
  • 28 Feb 2022 |

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forces Germany to come clean on energy transition strategy

    28 Feb 2022, 13:58 The outbreak of war in eastern Europe is sending shockwaves through Germany’s political class and is reshaping the energy transition debate, as the country’s most important energy trading partner Russia increasingly turns into a ...
  • 19 Dec 2019 |

    Gas to become energy transition’s 'second pillar' – German energy industry

    19 Dec 2019, 13:19 The use of gas from all sources will become more important as Germany seeks to decarbonise its economy and phase out nuclear power, the new head of Germany's largest energy industry lobby group, BDEW, has said. The Energiewende& ...
  • 21 Apr 2015

    In the media: "last chance" for e-cars

    21 Apr 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung “A grand coalition against CO2 targets” German carmakers VW, BMW and Mercedes, as well as metalworkers union IG Metall, are lobbying against the EU Commission’s plan ...
  • 14 Apr 2015

    In the media: Energiewende can draw business to Germany

    14 Apr 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) “Germany as a business location: Energiewende beats Industry 4.0” A majority of companies in the electrical industry is ...
  • Poland's Katowice COP: Next coal country hosting UN climate talks

    17 Nov 2017, 00:00 The Bonn climate summit of 2017, a short way from Germany’s largest coal mining district, is almost over. But the COP will reconvene next year, 1,050 kilometres away from Bonn in Katowice, another traditional coal mining area located in ...
  • 09 Jul 2018 |

    'Last tonne of CO₂ should come from natural gas' –gas industry rep

    09 Jul 2018, 15:15 Natural gas is needed to complement renewable energies today and will increasingly be replaced by ‘green gases’, enabling the continued use of existing infrastructure, says Timm Kehler, head of the gas industry initiative Zukunft ERDGAS ...
  • Logging row continues to weigh on work of Germany’s coal commission

    28 Aug 2018, 13:59 The expansion of a lignite mine that threatens a nearby forest has become a first touchstone of the German coal exit commission’s robustness. But despite fears that the row over the embattled Hambach Forest could gravely impede the ...
  • 27 Jan 2015

    In the media: Problems nag at Germany's biggest offshore windpark

    27 Jan 2015, 00:00 Die Welt “Standstill; Little movement in Germany’s largest offshore wind park” Germany's largest offshore windpark, the 3-billion-euro “Bard Offshore 1” in the North Sea, remains beset with problems, costing as much as 2 million ...
  • Preview2018- Link climate to labour market goals- Trade Unions

    08 Jan 2018, 00:00 Germany enters 2018 without having found a new government, a situation that casts a cloud over all of the country’s major policy endeavours including those dealing with energy and climate. But irrespective of the unprecedented ...
  • 30 Mar 2016

    Foreign demand powers SMA Solar profit / A shipping Energiewende?

    30 Mar 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Reuters/SMA Solar “SMA Solar returns to profit on foreign demand” SMA Solar, Germany’s largest solar group, posted its first operating profit in three years thanks to strong foreign ...
  • 11 Nov 2014

    In the media: Companies can save more energy, Solar auction plan criticised

    11 Nov 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Spiegel Online "Energy efficiency in companies: Hidden chances for climate protection" Greater energy efficiency efforts by companies could help Germany save nearly a quarter of the CO2 emissions necessary to ...
  • 15 Jan 2016

    Renewables a 'massive opportunity' / More investment into efficiency

    15 Jan 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Rundschau “Full wind speed ahead” The reason why payments for renewables have increased to 24.1 billion euros in 2015 is to be found in their success, writes Frank-Thomas Wenzel in a Q ...
  • 19 Feb 2020 |

    IEA urges Germany to focus on hydrogen, import LNG

    19 Feb 2020, 18:30 To further its landmark energy transition, the Energiewende, Germany must concentrate on hydrogen technology to support the rollout of renewables, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In an in-depth review of Germany' ...
  • 22 Jun 2015

    In the media: Bavaria doesn't want its share of nuclear waste

    22 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Reuters “German govt clashes with Bavaria over nuclear storage site plan” The German government has put forth a plan for storing nuclear waste that has been processed and stored in France and the ...
  • German minister plays down US threats over Nord Stream 2

    22 Jan 2019, 13:15 The German government is playing down US threats against companies involved in the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project connecting Germany to Russia. Energy minister Peter Altmaier said the government was “not impressed” by ...
  • 06 Jun 2019 |

    Germany's env min and plant operators dismiss call for nuclear lifetime extensions

    06 Jun 2019, 13:54 Germany certainly does not need to return to nuclear energy and should push through with its energy transition instead, according to environment minister Svenja Schulze. Following isolated calls to extend the lifetime of the country’s ...
  • 11 May 2015

    In the media: Gabriel promotes Energiewende at G7 energy summit

    11 May 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv   dpa “Gabriel wants to convince G7 of Energiewende” At today’s meeting of G7 energy ministers in Hamburg, the German government hopes to convince other industrialised nations that renewables can ...
  • Renewables cover about 100% of German power use for first time ever

    05 Jan 2018, 00:00 Germany has crossed a symbolic milestone in its energy transition by briefly covering around 100 percent of electricity use with renewables for the first time ever on 1 January. In the whole of last year, the world’s fourth largest ...
  • 15 Apr 2015

    In the media: Climate levy seen as test for government's resolve

    15 Apr 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv The Guardian “German backlash grows against coal power clampdown“ The proposed levy on old coal-fired power stations is fast becoming a test of the German government’s commitment to decarbonise its ...
  • 23 May 2016

    Media reports: ministry sees likely rise in renewables surcharge

    23 May 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Handelsblatt / Süddeutsche Zeitung “Energiewende gets more expensive” The energy and economy ministry believes a rise in the renewable surcharge for next year is “likely,” according ...
  • SPD leader says Germany must exit coal, but not at expense of workers

    07 Dec 2017, 00:00 A coal exit is inevitable to reach Germany’s climate targets, but the shift must not come at the expense of workers, according to SPD head Martin Schulz. In an address to a party convention in which delegates voted for holding coalition ...
  • 05 Oct 2020 |

    EU climate target of-55% would mean near-exit from coal in 2030 – experts

    05 Oct 2020, 10:45 Stepping up the 2030 EU climate target to an emission reduction of at least 55 percent as proposed by the European Commission would very likely require the bloc to phase out coal almost entirely by that date, according to experts. The ...
  • 02 Feb 2015 |

    “If people participate with their own money in a wind or solar power plant in their area, they will also support it”

    02 Feb 2015, 00:00 Germany’s population has great sympathy for the transition to a low-carbon economy and the nuclear phase-out, also known as the Energiewende. Nevertheless, some of the key projects, such as new infrastructure, face resistance and are ...
  • 14 Jan 2015

    In the media: The Energiewende in 2015, a bad year for solar

    14 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Dow Jones Newswires "Gabriel’s three building sites for the Energiewende" In an analysis piece for Dow Jones Newswires, Christian Grimm gives an overview of the three biggest issues of ...
  • 20 Oct 2021 |

    “I wouldn't play avoiding and removing emissions off against each other” – atmosfair CEO

    20 Oct 2021, 10:40 From large car manufacturers to globally operating logistics companies – the number of businesses pursuing net-zero targets and wanting to reduce their carbon footprint is growing. As many of the companies cannot or do not want to ...
  • 03 Jan 2017 |

    Preview2017- "Prosperity and decarbonisation not mutually exclusive"

    03 Jan 2017, 00:00 2017 will be a year filled with a multitude of seminal events for Germany's energy and climate policy. Apart from presiding over the next G20 summit, Germany will be the venue for the UN's COP23 and see legal reforms of ...
  • 29 Sep 2021 |

    What are the climate and energy plans of German election winner Scholz?

    29 Sep 2021, 13:42 Olaf Scholz has led Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) to an unexpected win in the country's 2021 elections. The finance minister of chancellor Angela Merkel's outgoing government has led a campaign based on continuity with ...
  • 01 Jun 2017 |

    Cities and municipalities spearhead local transport revolution

    01 Jun 2017, 00:00 A large share of the emissions from towns and cities comes from traffic. If Germany is to reach its Energiewende goals, each will have to do their bit to reduce the number of vehicles on their roads, and steer citizens towards greener ...
  • 06 Dec 2016 |

    Germany's constitutional court backs speedy nuclear exit

    06 Dec 2016, 00:00 According to Germany’s constitutional court, the government’s 2011 decision to speed up the nuclear power phase-out was in line with constitutional requirements. Nuclear power plant operators argued the move amounted to expropriation ...
  • Preview2018- Next German government faces urgent coal choice

    22 Dec 2017, 00:00 After a year filled with events that put Germany’s climate policy in the limelight, such as the G20 summit in Hamburg, the COP23 in Bonn, or the debate over coal in the ill-fated ‘Jamaica coalition’ talks, the country’s political life ...
  • 01 Oct 2019 |

    Lignite company RWE pledges to become carbon neutral by 2040

    01 Oct 2019, 10:00 Europe's largest CO2 emitter RWE has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2040. The announcement underlines the deep transformation underway at the German operator of lignite mines and power plants, which is now betting on ...
  • Blog: Energy firms discuss their role in key year for German energy transition

    22 Jan 2019, 12:46 The top brass from energy companies, regulators, ministries and political parties gather in Berlin to discuss the challenges of the energy transition at the Handelsblatt energy conference, the traditional annual kick-off for the sector. ...
  • New economy ministry proposal to fire up renewables in all sectors

    16 Sep 2016, 00:00 To decarbonise Germany’s economy, small amounts of renewable electricity will have to replace large amounts of fossil fuel. The policies to make this Energiewende happen must be decided now, the economy ministry says in a new discussion ...
  • 15 Aug 2016 |

    Lagging efficiency to get top priority in Germany’s Energiewende

    15 Aug 2016, 00:00 Germany's energy ministry wants to give top priority to saving energy in its move to a renewable future. It admits the long-term targets of the energy transition, or Energiewende, will be missed with current policies, and that ...
  • How a Hessian county outpaces Germany's energy transition

    30 May 2017, 00:00 Germany’s energy transition is a vast national project that is reshaping the entire country- but it is not happening at an equal pace everywhere in the country. 91tv takes a look at the county Marburg-Biedenkopf in the central German ...
  • 10 Aug 2015

    RWE unveils turnaround plan

    10 Aug 2015, 00:00 Germany's second-largest utility announces it is consolidating its operations under one roof and shaking up its management structure. Spinning off the conventional power business was kept as an option but not planned, CEO Peter ...
  • 06 Aug 2015

    In the media: Energiewende “top or flop”; PV auctions trial oversubscribed

    06 Aug 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv dpa “Green state ministers criticise Gabriel’s Renewable Energy Act (EEG) reform plans” Environment and energy ministers from nine German states have warned Federal Minister for Energy and Economic ...
  • 29 Jan 2020 |

    German govt adopts coal exit, fixes hard coal compensation

    29 Jan 2020, 14:32 The German government has officially approved the end of coal-fired power production in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet adopted a law detailing plant shutdowns and compensation payments for coal companies, confirming a ...
  • 07 May 2015

    In the media: Czechs ready to invest in German coal

    07 May 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv The New York Times “Germany, the Green Superpower” With a generous feed-in tariff “that made it a no-brainer for Germans to install solar power (or wind) at home,” Germany has made a “world-saving ...
  • 24 May 2016

    Protest against taxing renewable self-supply / Wind power pushback

    24 May 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “People with their own power supply will have to pay” Changes in power taxation planned by the German finance ministry could finish off business models based on renewable power ...
  • 11 Mar 2022 |

    Q&A: How can Germany and the EU weather a fossil fuel embargo on Russia?

    11 Mar 2022, 13:03 As president Vladimir Putin continues to wage war in Ukraine and the U.S. is preparing to ban all oil imports from Russia, calls are getting louder for Germany and Europe to follow Washington’s lead. European countries are paying ...
  • Share of citizen energy in decline as funding runs out and big investors take over

    28 May 2021, 13:29 Germany’s push to replace conventional power with renewables like wind and solar PV has not only altered its energy system and shaken up established energy utility giants, it has also turned millions of Germans into electricity ...
  • 02 May 2016

    Fracking's chances dwindle / 'CO2 floor would fail in Germany'

    02 May 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Handelsblatt “Dwindling chances for fracking” The proposed fracking law has been delayed and might not be adopted in the current legislative period, writes Klaus Stratmann in ...
  • 26 Oct 2021 |

    Energy price hike to leave mark on coalition talks as parties aim to help households

    26 Oct 2021, 17:29 High gas, petrol and power prices are set to play a part in the ongoing negotiations to form the next German government coalition, which will shape the country’s energy transition policy for years. The election winner Social Democrats, ...
  • 19 Apr 2016

    Vattenfall sale a lose-lose-lose? / 'EU ETS needs minimum price'

    19 Apr 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv sandbag.org A “lose-lose-lose” situation The Vattenfall lignite sale to EPH is a lose for the climate, a lose for the Swedish government and a lose for German workers ...
  • 03 Mar 2016

    Government seen missing energy policy targets / A new gas pipeline?

    03 Mar 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang McKinsey “Energiewende Index Germany 2020 – Tour de Force nuclear exit” According to consultancy McKinsey, the government risks missing most of its 2020 energy transition targets. “A majority of indicators are pointing ...
  • 22 Sep 2020 |

    A climate-friendly post-coronavirus stimulus – tracking the debate

    22 Sep 2020, 10:30 As the coronavirus crisis drives many governments across the globe to introduce emergency plans to cushion the immediate economic effects, there are growing calls to align any mid and long-term stimulus efforts with climate targets. ...
  • 24 Feb 2016

    'Basement energy transition cancelled' / What future for wind gas?

    24 Feb 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Welt “Energy transition in the basement cancelled” Three quarters of the energy consumption of German households is used for heating and hot water, writes Daniel Wetzel in Die Welt. Climate ...
  • 21 Dec 2016 |

    Preview2017- "A top-down approach won’t get us very far"

    21 Dec 2016, 00:00 2017 will be a year filled with a multitude of seminal events for Germany's energy and climate policy. Apart from presiding over the next G20 summit, Germany will be the venue for the UN's COP23 and see legal reforms of ...
  • 16 Jan 2015 |

    Merkel's capacity market scepticism seen as signal in reform debate

    16 Jan 2015, 00:00 Energy experts say the German chancellor's secpticism over extensive payments to conventional power plants as back-up for renewables sends a strong signal that capacity markets may not be on the cards in the upcoming power market ...
  • 15 Jan 2015

    In the media: Merkel sceptical of capacity markets; study on real cost of electricity

    15 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Reuters "Merkel dashes loss-making power plants' aid hopes" Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was sceptical about capacity markets that would give extensive support to old coal fired ...
  • 10 Feb 2016

    EU nuclear provisions '100 bln euros short' / Wind mill envy

    10 Feb 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Spiegel Online “Internal market analysis: EU member states’ nuclear provisions more than 100 billion euros short” An EU analysis has revealed that the member states are not well prepared for the ...
  • 10 Dec 2014

    In the media: Hopes for South Stream, trade union on nuclear and coal, the Energy Union

    10 Dec 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/dpa “Economy minister Gabriel has still hopes for gas pipeline South Stream” “It would be better for Europe if the project still had a chance,” Germany’s Minister for ...
  • 23 Nov 2016 |

    Businesses should make proposals to reach climate goals- govt official

    23 Nov 2016, 00:00 Germany’s industry should work with the government to reach the goals in the country’s newly adopted Climate Action Plan 2050 rather than criticise the plan or individual measures, energy state secretary Rainer Baake told a conference ...
  • 01 Dec 2014

    In the media: E.ON spins off fossil power, energy minister on coal, fracking and German angst

    01 Dec 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv E.ON / Bloomberg / Reuters “EON Banks on Renewables in Split From Conventional Power” Germany’s biggest utility, E.ON, announced that it is to split in two, spinning off its coal, gas and nuclear ...
  • 17 Nov 2014

    In the media: Debate over coal phase-out, grassroots of the Energiewende, fracking

    17 Nov 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv Die Welt "Why the coal phase-out was really cancelled"  In an analysis of the current debate over whether Germany should phase out coal power in order to reach its greenhouse ...
  • 07 Dec 2015 |

    COP21 Interview: The energy transition is not a cakewalk

    07 Dec 2015, 00:00 The final negotiations for a global climate treaty are underway in Paris. What is the German perspective on an international climate agreement and what has the energy transition (Energiewende) got to do with it? The 91tv ...
  • 12 Nov 2015

    RWE reports profit drop / Which target date for 100% renewables?

    12 Nov 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv Reuters/RWE RWE says it will ‘only just’ meet 2015 earnings forecast German utility RWE on Thursday said it would just manage to meet its 1.1-1.3 billion-euro adjusted net income forecast for 2015, after a 29 ...
  • 25 Sep 2016 |

    Germany ratifies Paris Agreement

    25 Sep 2016, 00:00 In a move to fast-track the full ratification of the 2015 UN climate treaty (Paris Agreement), the German parliament has unanimously approved the terms of the treaty, helping to pave the way for it to enter into force before the end of ...
  • Germany starts coal exit talks in bid to improve patchy climate record

    06 Jun 2018, 00:00 Germany has launched official talks on phasing out coal in power generation. The aim is to cut greenhouse gas emissions that have remained stubbornly high despite the country’s ongoing shift to renewable power. The government on ...
  • Merkel’s grand coalition in review: The climate and energy record

    08 Sep 2017, 00:00 As the current legislative period draws to a close, The 91tv asked key stakeholders to review the last four years of German energy and climate policy – and tell us what they would like to see from the next government. ...
  • 07 Sep 2015

    In the media: Germans largely in favour of renewables

    07 Sep 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Renewable Energies Agency (AEE) “German people want more renewable energies” People in Germany are still very much in favour of the Energiewende, a representative survey by TNS Emnid shows. Phasing ...
  • 26 Aug 2021 |

    Next German govt must put CO2 pricing centre stage of “more European” climate policy – advisor

    26 Aug 2021, 10:15 International partners can be assured that Germany’s next government coalition after the September election will not veer far off course of the country’s current climate and energy policy, says government advisor and director of two ...
  • 31 Jul 2015

    In the media: Auctions for all renewables; more money for insulation

    31 Jul 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) Government launches suggestions for new auction design for renewables The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has launched the ...
  • 30 Jul 2015

    In the media: Breather for wind industry; renewables help EnBW

    30 Jul 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv German Wind Energy Association (BWE) / German Engineering Association (VDMA) “Breather for the German wind industry” Onshore wind power development in Germany decreased by 34 percent ...
  • 06 Jul 2015

    In the media: RWE CEO to shift gears on restructuring

    06 Jul 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv Handelsblatt Global Edition “Power provider’s new playbook” German utility RWE is planning a major reorganisation  in response to the rising tide of renewable energies in the German power market, much like  rival ...
  • 26 Oct 2021 |

    Staying true to the Paris Agreement could hobble booming carbon offset market

    26 Oct 2021, 12:43 The booming voluntary market for CO2 emission offsets is facing a hairy double counting issue that could stop further growth in its tracks. While high-aiming businesspeople are preparing a new standard to scale the market and make it ...
  • 18 Apr 2016 |

    Czech utility takes over Vattenfall’s German lignite

    18 Apr 2016, 00:00 State-owned Swedish utility Vattenfall has agreed to sell its east German lignite operations to Czech utility EPH, the company said on Monday. While the affected regions stressed the sale would finally put an end to employees' ...
  • 20 Apr 2015

    In the media: Unions at odds over coal levy

    20 Apr 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “Metal vs coal” Unions are deeply split on the issue of the proposed coal levy, according to an article by Michael Bauchmüller in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Germany's  IG ...
  • Germany views European Energy Union proposals through Energiewende lens

    25 Feb 2015, 00:00 Germany’s biggest concerns regarding the European Commission’s energy policy proposals are potential impact on its own transition to renewables power, as well as power market reform. Kerstine Appunn International Renewable Energy Act | ...
  • 05 Jan 2015

    In the media: Energy businesses struggle, Bavaria needs to decide on power lines, offshore wind

    05 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Reuters “Gabriel pushes Bayern to decide on power network” Bavaria risks a weakening of its economy and higher electricity prices unless it agrees to the two planned power lines transporting wind ...
  • 26 Oct 2016 |

    Deep divisions persist over German climate plan, coal exit

    26 Oct 2016, 00:00 The rifts over the German Climate Action Plan 2050 and an exit from coal-fired power generation were highlighted at a string of events on Wednesday. Federal and regional environment ministry officials stressed the need for a framework ...
  • Taskforce agrees on post-coal strategy for German mining regions

    26 Oct 2018, 08:41 Members of Germany's coal exit commission have unanimously adopted the first major policy recommendations for the country's lignite mining regions affected by a future coal power phase-out. At an on-site meeting in the Rhenish ...
  • 16 Sep 2021 |

    'We need climate policy that is as cost-efficient as possible'- FDP's Lukas Köhler

    16 Sep 2021, 13:52 Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) plans to argue the case for using emissions trading as the main tool for fighting climate change if they become part of the next federal government. The party wants to extend the ...
  • 16 Dec 2015

    Wind power gets cheaper / Electricity consumption up

    16 Dec 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv VDMA / BWE Costs for wind power reduced Power from wind turbines in 2016/2017 will be 12 percent cheaper than in 2012/2013, according to a study commissioned by the German Engineering Federation ...
  • 13 Nov 2015

    EnBW's stable development / No bonus for e-cars

    13 Nov 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv EnBW “Stable development and progress with restructuring” Germany’s third largest utility EnBW has achieved revenue of around 15.3 billion euros and an operating result (adjusted EBITDA) of around ...
  • 04 Apr 2019 |

    Germany sees largest emissions drop since 2009 recession

    04 Apr 2019, 15:12 Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 4.5 percent in 2018 as warm weather and higher prices dampened the use of climate-damaging fossil fuels. The government called the largest drop since the 2009 recession the “first notable ...
  • Booming German wind power sector fears 2019 cliff

    11 Sep 2017, 00:00 Wind power lobby groups say new funding rules are resulting in unrealistically low compensation, squeezing wind farm operators and turbine manufacturers, while measures to help citizen-owned projects compete in the sector are being ...
  • 07 Sep 2017 |

    Germany heads for "spectacular" 2020 climate target miss- study

    07 Sep 2017, 00:00 Germany must urgently step up its CO2 reduction efforts immediately after the upcoming elections if it wants to prevent a spectacular miss of its 2020 climate targets, according to think tank Agora Energiewende. Instead of reducing ...
  • 10 May 2016

    Does Germany turn into a 'wind industry park'? / Car contradictions

    10 May 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung “The country, a wind industry park” "Rapeseed, maize, and wind monocultures" in the German countryside reveal what the solar age looks like, ...
  • 24 Jun 2015

    In the media: Minister shows sympathy for climate levy alternative

    24 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Energy minister speech at utilities congress Government considers alternative to climate levy The proposal to charge old coal-fired power stations a “climate levy” to force them reduce CO2 ...
  • Natural gas could power up to 10 percent of all cars – Volkswagen

    03 Jul 2018, 15:30 Cars fuelled by compressed natural gas (CNG) could reach a share of up to ten percent of the total fleet in Germany and Europe, says Stephen Neumann, Volkswagen Group Officer for Natural Gas Mobility in an interview with the Clean ...
  • 15 Feb 2016

    'Doping tests' for cars / An expensive nuclear clean-up

    15 Feb 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Bild “Dobrindt plans doping tests for cars” In response to the VW emissions scandal, Germany’s transport minister Alexander Dobrindt plans to introduce spot checks for car emissions. “There will be ...
  • 03 May 2018 |

    Germany wants transparent global climate reporting to ensure trust

    03 May 2018, 00:00 Negotiators from 184 countries gather in the city of Bonn from 30 April to 10 May to work on the implementation of the landmark Paris Agreement, designed to limit global warming to under 2°C. The German government is a longtime ...
  • 26 Jan 2016

    Gas power stations rise from the dead / A transparent solar cell

    26 Jan 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv manager magazine / Bloomberg “Gas-fired power stations rise from the dead” What might be the biggest absurdity of the German Energiewende could now be ending, as relatively clean gas-fired power ...
  • 28 Jan 2015

    In the media: Government agrees plan for solar auctions

    28 Jan 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Cabinet agrees to auction plan for solar subsidies The German economics and energy ministry said the government cabinet had signed off on its plans to auction the ...
  • 10 Sep 2021 |

    Merkel leaves work to do with mixed climate legacy

    10 Sep 2021, 10:11 Once touted as the “climate chancellor”, Germany’s outgoing head of government Angela Merkel’s climate leadership over her 16 years in office is now seen by many as middling. International observers commend her steadfast leadership in ...
  • 21 Jan 2015

    In the media: Reactions to minister's rejection of capacity markets

    21 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Dow Jones Newswires “Gabriel undermines electricity industry’s confidence in the Energiewende” Writing for Dow Jones Newswires, Christian Grimm says energy minister Sigmar Gabriel has “broken his ...
  • Auctions to set the price for wind and solar- the debate

    11 Apr 2016, 00:00 [Updated 11 April with results from fourth round of solar PV auctions] Feed-in tariffs (FITs) have driven the expansion of renewable energy in Germany, but in 2014 the government decided to gradually replace them with an auction system. ...
  • 17 Nov 2015

    Utilities want shared nuclear responsibility / No political will for Paris?

    17 Nov 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv WirtschaftsWoche “Can E.ON survive alone?” Writing for WitschaftsWoche, Christof Schürmann says there are doubts over whether the new E.ON, which will split from its fossil-fuel business in a few weeks, will be ...
  • 21 Nov 2014

    In the media: States want to keep coal, ministries at odds, money for climate

    21 Nov 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Zeit Online "Is Sigmar Gabriel secretly burying the Energiewende?" A “progress report” from the Economics Ministry on the Energiewende shows evidence of a political struggle over the ...
  • 03 Jul 2015

    In the media: Criticism of cost of deal to retire some coal plants

    03 Jul 2015, 00:00 Sven Egenter Ruby Russell Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy State secretary Baake: power market 2.0 guarantees supply security Germany’s economy and energy ministry is proposing a reform of the power market based on an energy ...
  • 08 Apr 2016

    New renewables law threatens wind power – Green Party

    08 Apr 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Berliner Zeitung “The federal government is shifting into reverse gear concerning Energiewende” The federal government’s plans to reform the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) will lead to ...
  • 08 Sep 2021 |

    Left Party rejects CO2 price for transport and heating as it aims for climate neutrality by 2035

    08 Sep 2021, 12:30 The Left Party would enter negotiations to form Germany’s next government with a demand to abolish the recently introduced carbon price on transport and heating fuels, according to MP Lorenz Gösta Beutin, a climate and energy expert ...
  • Greens ready to make climate policy concessions in coalition talks

    07 Nov 2017, 00:00 As Germany’s Jamaica coalition talks are approaching a critical point, the Green Party appears to soften core climate policy demands in an attempt to achieve similar concessions from its negotiating partners. Party leaders say that ...
  • 17 Feb 2016

    Climate Action Plan 2050 worries industry / Further RWE impairments

    17 Feb 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Handelsblatt / Ministry for Environment “Everything for the climate” The Ministry for Environment (BMUB) is about to enter the second phase of consultation for its Climate Action Plan 2050, and has ...
  • 12 Mar 2015

    In the media: Should utilities survive?

    12 Mar 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Spiegel Online “Let the utilities die” Germany’s biggest utilities are in an existential crisis of their own making, writes Nicolai Kwasniewski in a commentary on Spiegel Online. “The survival of ...
  • 16 Jan 2015

    In the media: Offshore wind milestone, charging e-mobility, Vattenfall's coal plans

    16 Jan 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Business Green "Germany breezes past 1GW offshore wind milestone" Germany's renewables industry is celebrating another milestone this week, as an industry-backed report confirmed ...
  • 27 Nov 2015

    Minister's 'coal solo' criticised / Consumers want to be 'climate friendly'

    27 Nov 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv dpa Criticism of environment minister’s ‘solo’ push for coal exit North-Rhine Westphalia’s state premier Hannelore Kraft and her economy minister Garrelt Duin have criticised Federal Environment ...
  • 19 Nov 2015 |

    COP21 Interview: Paris must send signal for global fossil fuel exit

    19 Nov 2015, 00:00 The final negotiations for a global climate treaty in Paris are just days away. What is the German perspective on an international climate agreement and what has the energy transition (Energiewende) got to do with it? The Clean Energy ...
  • 29 Jul 2016 |

    Renewable energy levy set to rise in 2017 – think tank

    29 Jul 2016, 00:00 The surcharge that German consumers pay through their power bills to fund renewable power looks set to rise again in 2017, think tank Agora Energiewende* has predicted. If power suppliers calculate bills fairly, this won’t necessarily ...
  • 02 Nov 2015

    Greenpeace excluded from Vattenfall sale / CO2 pledges "Sign of Hope"?

    02 Nov 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Greenpeace “Greenpeace excluded from Vattenfall bidding process” Citigroup has excluded Greenpeace from the sale process of Swedish utility Vattenfall’s German lignite operations. The bank said the ...
  • 02 Nov 2015 |

    COP21 Interview: Emissions trading is the key to climate protection

    02 Nov 2015, 00:00 The final negotiations for a global climate treaty in Paris are just weeks away. What is the German perspective on an international climate agreement and what has the energy transition (Energiewende) got to do with it? The Clean Energy ...
  • 11 May 2015 |

    Can Germany’s energy giants change their DNA?

    11 May 2015, 00:00 Large utilities are being forced to take radical steps to reshape their business models to fit the new energy landscape. But experts say it remains to be seen if they can innovate their way out of the crisis. Expert BDEW-German ...
  • 18 Sep 2015

    In the media: Greenpeace says lignite reserve illegal; staggering utility giants

    18 Sep 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Osnabrücker Zeitung / Dow Jones Newswires E.ON CEO compares cheap renewable power to “unpaid slaves” Current power market structures are not geared to taking up large amounts of renewable energy, E ...
  • 26 Aug 2015

    In the media: More wind, less nuclear, fossil power for export

    26 Aug 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Handelsblatt “Upwind” Germany’s offshore wind development is accelerating, write Franz Hubik and Daniel Delhaes in the Handelsblatt. While the first wind parks suffered from delays, exploding costs ...
  • 18 Apr 2016

    Lignite sale advances / Secret iCar lab in Berlin

    18 Apr 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv   Der Tagesspiegel “Czech investor wants to take over brown coal operations” A year and a half after Sweden's Vattenfall said it would sell its German lignite ...
  • 13 Apr 2016 |

    Phasing out conventional cars / A 'close call for RWE'

    13 Apr 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Hydrogen Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) State secretary Baake says Germany must stop registering fossil fuel vehicles by 2030 At a panel discussion Tuesday, ...
  • 06 Apr 2016

    Minister calls nuclear energy an ‘aberration’ / Renewables dominate EU electricity mix

    06 Apr 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv Ministry for the Environment and Nuclear Safety Using nuclear energy is an ‘aberration’ The nuclear catastrophe of Chernobyl almost 30 years ago showed that using nuclear energy ...
  • Citizens’ energy projects dominate first onshore wind power auction

    19 May 2017, 00:00 The dominance of citizens’ energy projects among the successful bids in Germany’s first onshore wind power auctions comes as a big surprise for industry observers. Not only did citizen cooperatives account for the bulk of accepted ...
  • 11 Jun 2015

    In the media: Minister lacks support from the top for embattled coal levy

    11 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv DPA / Handelsblatt / Frankfurter Rundschau “Coal levy threatened” The levy on emissions from old coal-fired power stations is on the brink of failure, insiders have told German press agency DPA. ...
  • Reactions to EU's Green Deal from Germany

    12 Dec 2019, 16:06 The European Union’s new executive has presented its highly anticipated Green Deal to tackle climate change. The policy package  commits the EU to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The 91tv presents reactions to the ...
  • 15 Jun 2020 |

    Germany’s geothermal sector is struggling to take off

    15 Jun 2020, 09:20 While geothermal energy is a viable alternative to curb emissions for heating and cooling, fears and high costs have limited its expansion. But Bavaria and now Baden Wurttemberg are forging ahead. The potential of geothermal energy, ...
  • Germany gives energy transition mild push with economic stimulus programme

    04 Jun 2020, 14:06 The German government coalition has decided to reboot Europe's largest economy with a 130 billion euros stimulus package that contains steps to further the country's landmark energy transition. Aside from comprehensive actions ...
  • 04 Mar 2015

    In the media: Greenpeace Energy to take legal action over UK nuclear support

    04 Mar 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) “No capacity payments to coal- and gas-fired power plants” Additional payments to operators of coal- and gas-fired power plants are currently not ...
  • Commission watch – Managing Germany’s coal phase-out

    31 Jan 2019, 13:30 In a bid to improve Germany's poor emission reduction record and to identify economic perspectives for people employed in the waning coal industry, the grand coalition government in 2018 set up a commission tasked with managing the ...
  • 29 Oct 2015

    Suspend energy efficiency rules for refugee homes?

    29 Oct 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Federal Environment Agency (UBA) “Energiewende: Industrial consumers can use power more flexibly” German industry could make their power demand more flexible and thus reduce load by up to 6 ...
  • Germany eyes coal exit by 2038 in bid for climate-friendly economy

    26 Jan 2019, 16:45 Energy transition home country Germany eyes a phase-out of coal power by 2038 at the very latest, as the country tries to get back on track to create a climate-friendly economy. In its highly anticipated phase-out proposal, the country ...
  • 12 Dec 2014

    In the media: Energy efficient buildings and CEO on Vattenfall's future

    12 Dec 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Data-Project: Fraunhofer-ISI / Öko-Institut / Enerdata et al. "Research for more climate protection through buildings" Around 60 percent of the EU’s total energy consumption comes from ...
  • 01 Oct 2015

    In the media: Wind power blows past record

    01 Oct 2015, 00:00 91tv 91tv German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW)/Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) “Wind power generation 2015 already exceeds last year’s level” Thanks to strong winds and the addition ...
  • 13 Nov 2014

    In the media: Germany's climate target plan, Row over coal, RWE financial results

    13 Nov 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv   Der Tagesspiegel “Germany’s problems with climate protection“ Draft versions of Germany’s Climate Action Programme (Aktionsprogramm Klimaschutz), designed to reduce greenhouse gas ...
  • 15 Jul 2015

    In the media: Job cuts in brown coal and exemptions for industry

    15 Jul 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “A fight for survival” Due to recent government decisions to mothball some lignite plants, utility RWE will cut 900 to 1000 jobs in the western German lignite industry, which ...
  • 13 Jul 2017 |

    German carbon tax most efficient way to meet climate goals-study

    13 Jul 2017, 00:00 Germany should implement a national tax on carbon emissions in order to meet its own emission reduction targets in the an efficient and straight forward way, the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) proposed based on a study by ...
  • 28 Nov 2014

    In the media: Environment Minister says Germany on track for climate targets

    28 Nov 2014, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv RBB Info Interview with Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks With the Climate Action Programme, due to be passed by cabinet next week, Germany is on track to reach its greenhouse gas reduction ...
  • 14 Apr 2016

    Dispute over renewable development / More e-car charging stations

    14 Apr 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 91tv 91tv dpa / Frankfurter Rundschau “Christian Democrats put the breaks on renewable development” Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party wants to make changes to the ...
  • 12 Apr 2016 |

    Growth in the efficiency sector / Electric trucks / Concerns over coal

    12 Apr 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel Hydrogen DENEFF / PwC “10 percent turnover growth in the efficiency sector” Companies in the business of supplying energy efficiency solutions grow much faster than the rest of the economy, ...
  • 11 Apr 2016

    Utilities increase nuclear provisions / A 'power market pentagon'

    11 Apr 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn Spiegel Online/AFP/Süddeutsche Zeitung “Utilities increase nuclear provisions” The utilities have increased their provisions for the nuclear exit in the last year, according to a report by press agency AFP ...
  • 20 Nov 2017 |

    Germany reacts to collapse of coalition talks

    20 Nov 2017, 00:00 After almost five weeks of deliberations, the pro-business Free Democratic Party has pulled the plug on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s efforts to form a coalition government made up of her conservative CDU/CSU alliance, the Greens and the ...
  • 09 Dec 2015

    A 'climate miracle' under negotiation / 'Paris talks, Opec decides'

    09 Dec 2015, 00:00 Spiegel Online “How the Germans are negotiating a climate miracle” The Paris climate summit could result in a global commitment to decarbonisation, writes Axel Bojanowski for Spiegel, but there is still resistance from the oil producing ...
  • 06 Nov 2015

    87% of Germans support climate treaty / Energy transition costs

    06 Nov 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Fraunhofer ISE “What does the Energiewende cost?” The costs of a climate-friendly transformation of the German energy system from now until 2050- when the country wants to emit 80 percent less ...
  • 15 Jul 2021 |

    German reactions to EU “Fit for 55” plans to overhaul climate and energy laws

    15 Jul 2021, 09:30 The German environment ministry has called new EU proposals to reform the bloc's climate and energy policy “nothing less than a new industrial revolution in the European Union.” The European Commission's comprehensive proposal ...
  • 22 Sep 2015

    In the media: VW's blatant deception; "error in the IEA energy bible"

    22 Sep 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) “The VW scandal” It is a mystery why VW decided to take the risk of manipulating emission results with rather limited benefits, writes Holger Appel in FAZ. Why ...
  • 03 Sep 2015

    In the media: Germany to block utilities' escape from nuclear clean-up costs

    03 Sep 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Die Zeit / Spiegel Online / Reuters Utilities must remain liable for nuclear clean-up costs Energy companies are to remain liable for the cost of decommissioning nuclear power plants and storing ...
  • 31 Jul 2017 |

    Env min Hendricks: "Nothing less than transforming our society"

    31 Jul 2017, 00:00 Environment minister Barbara Hendricks has been at the helm of Germany's climate protection efforts for the past four years. During her tenure, the country has contributed substantially to brokering the Paris Agreement and put ...
  • 23 Jun 2020 |

    EU climate plans near top of Germany’s "coronavirus presidency"

    23 Jun 2020, 15:13 Tough talks on how to make the European Union climate neutral by 2050 are a major challenge for Germany’s 6-month EU Council presidency in the second half of 2020. The negotiations for a European economic recovery programme will be a ...
  • 26 Mar 2015 |

    “The Energiewende is a big democratic project”

    26 Mar 2015, 00:00 Encouraged by federal legislation such as the Renewable Energy Act, the governments of many German states have worked hard to make the Energiewende a success, as well as a business opportunity for their citizens. Others have been slower ...
  • 21 Jun 2018

    First 100 days- German government in disarray neglects energy policy

    21 Jun 2018, 16:13 An internal brawl in the German government's conservative camp over immigration has a paralysing effect on the country's energy and climate policymaking. After 100 days in office, the government coalition officially has to ...
  • 10 Mar 2016

    'Coal battle, next round' / Power trends since Fukushima

    10 Mar 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Climate Action Network “Break free from fossil fuels” Climate activist movement 350.org and Climate Action Network have announced a series of peaceful, coordinated actions “to disrupt ...
  • 26 Nov 2014 |

    Critical reception for government plans to cut power sector emissions

    26 Nov 2014, 00:00 The German government looks set to approve plans to force the power sector to reduce carbon emissions by an additional 22 million tons by 2020. Environmentalists worry the plans don't go far enough and are calling for more coal ...
  • First reactions to Renewable Energy Act reform proposal

    27 Jan 2016, 00:00 The centrepiece of Germany's Energiewende in the power sector is to undergo a profound revision this year. The government has tabled a draft law for the reform of the Renewable Energy Act, which has stirred a heated debate. The ...
  • 29 Oct 2019 |

    Sustainable start-up builder econnext links social, green and finance worlds

    29 Oct 2019, 08:40 91tv is stepping up its business coverage and exploring how Germany's energy transition is transforming the commercial landscape. To showcase these big changes in the world’s fourth largest economy, this new series ...
  • New German environment minister faces steep uphill battle on climate

    15 Mar 2018, 00:00 Germany's new environment minister Svenja Schulze is a new face in Chancellor Angela Merkel's fourth cabinet. But the Social Democrat inherits a range of well-known challenges- from coal emissions to air pollution by diesel ...
  • Heating start-up Thermondo aims to be leading energy supplier

    27 Mar 2019, 11:14 91tv is stepping up its coverage of how business is being transformed by Germany's energy transition. To showcase the upheaval underway in the world’s fourth largest economy, we have launched a series on start-ups that ...
  • 16 Sep 2020 |
    EU

    New EU climate target proposal concern for German industry and NGOs

    16 Sep 2020, 12:50 German industry, politicians and environmental NGOs have criticised first details of the European Commission proposal for a more ambitious 2030 climate target. Plans for more stringent passenger car emission rules and the inclusion of ...
  • 19 Jun 2015

    In the media: Pope's climate message a "wake-up call" for fossil fuels

    19 Jun 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) “The environment encyclical is a historic event” The Pope’s environment encyclical “ Laudato si ” could have a big climate impact on climate politics in Poland, ...
  • PV auction designer hopes to keep citizens' projects on board

    08 May 2015, 00:00 Feed-in tariffs set by government or parliament have supported rapid expansion of renewable power production, along with falling costs. Now the government wants to move to a more market-based approach. With this is mind, the 2014 ...
  • Germany's "Man-to-the-Moon"-project: Quotes from Energiewende conference

    27 Mar 2015, 00:00 UPDATE-- Over 900 ministers, officials, business people, energy experts and journalists from around 60 countries take part in the first Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, a two-day confernce hosted by the German Foreign Ministry, the ...
  • 08 Jan 2015

    No room for Energiewende complacency despite 2014 CO2-drop

    08 Jan 2015, 00:00 Proving Energiewende critics wrong or only a minor step in the right direction? Recent data indicated that Germany has started substituting power from hard coal with renewable electricity while lower power consumption has contributed to ...
  • 02 Feb 2016

    E-car incentives: 'Subsidy trap' or 'healthy shock'?

    02 Feb 2016, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn 91tv 91tv Süddeutsche Zeitung “The government, the e-car and the subsidy trap” Chancellor Angela Merkel would be well advised not to adopt a buyer’s premium for electric cars after her meeting with industry ...
  • Germany bets on green hydrogen in quest for climate neutrality

    27 Apr 2020, 13:10 In the fight against climate change, hydrogen made with renewable electricity is increasingly seen as a silver bullet for sectors with particularly stubborn emissions, such as heavy industry and aviation. As a result, the emission-free ...
  • Germany faces challenges to its triad of targets at European climate negotiations

    22 Oct 2014, 00:00 Germany is to push for a triad of targets for 2030 at the EU climate summit on 23-24 October with broad backing from the public, and some concerns on the part of industry. Expert BDI- Federation of German Industries Bundesverband der ...
  • 15 Sep 2015

    UPDATE: Econ minister refutes reports about nuclear stress test

    15 Sep 2015, 00:00 Kerstine Appunn Sven Egenter 91tv 91tv Economy Ministry/Reuters German economy min: No nuclear stress test results yet Germany's energy minister Sigmar Gabriel rejected media reports about provisioning shortfalls for ...
  • Europe vies with China for clean hydrogen superpower status

    24 Jul 2020, 10:40 The rivalry between Europe and China in emission-free hydrogen technologies could become one of the defining business stories in the global effort to stop climate change. Scarred by its painful experience in solar PV manufacturing, ...
  • 08 Aug 2017 |

    Germany’s vaunted vocational training programme strains to meet Energiewende’s demand for skilled workers

    08 Aug 2017, 00:00 Since Germany’s Energiewende shifted into gear in the early 2000s, the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors have created over a million jobs, many of them in technical branches, such as renewable energy production, power ...
  • Norway bets on gas and CCS to complement Europe’s energy transition

    31 Aug 2018, 13:36 With its vast amounts of hydro energy, many would like Norway to become Europe’s “green battery”, supplying neighbours with steady power when there is little wind or sun. An extreme heat wave and dry weather in the first half of 2018 ...
  • 22 May 2019 |

    The stakes for energy and climate policy are high in EU elections

    22 May 2019, 13:45 Voters across the EU will head to the polls between 23 and 26 May to elect a new European Parliament. It’s one of three major European institutions — along with the European Commission and Council — due for elections or leadership ...
  • 18 Mar 2025 |

    Nord Stream 2: Twists and turns of a controversial gas pipeline

    18 Mar 2025, 10:20 The pipeline Nord Stream 2 connects Germany directly to Russian gas supplies, but it has never come into operation and has split opinions, both in Europe and beyond, for years. It has become a symbol of failed German energy policy, ...
  • 20 Sep 2019 |

    Countdown to Germany's crucial climate cabinet meeting

    20 Sep 2019, 10:12 Today, the grand coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) aim to agree on a major policy package to bring Germany back on track to reaching the international ...
  • 17 Sep 2019 |

    German climate policy faces pivotal moment on 20 September

    17 Sep 2019, 13:33 Chancellor Angela Merkel's government coalition is racing to put together a major climate action package by 20 September, just in time for UN Secretary-General António Guterres' climate summit in New York on 23 September. Mere ...
  • 07 Dec 2018 |

    Climate and energy views of candidates to follow Merkel at helm of CDU

    07 Dec 2018, 09:13 With her decision not to seek re-election as party chair and chancellor, Angela Merkel has kicked off what is a novelty for her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU): an organised internal election campaign for the party’s ...
  • 21 Nov 2014 |

    Debate over future of German coal heats up ahead of climate action plan

    21 Nov 2014, 00:00 Ten days before the plan to fix Germany’s "climate gap" is set for cabinet approval, it is still unclear how much the power sector will contribute toward the carbon emissions target of a 40 percent cut by 2020. Expert BMWi- ...
  • 16 Dec 2019 |

    COP25 blog- Germany says worst has been avoided in Madrid, urges UN summit must change

    16 Dec 2019, 12:00 The UN climate summit COP25 in Spain is the last meeting of its kind before countries around the world are supposed to step up their ambitions under the Paris Climate Agreement in 2020. Germany has made several key climate action ...
  • 17 Mar 2015 |

    Moorburg power plant – Last of a dying breed, or the future of coal in Germany?

    17 Mar 2015, 00:00 The first block of a large coal-fired power station has just gone online in Hamburg, even as two thirds of German fossil-fuelled facilities fail to turn a profit and their operators are applying for many to be mothballed. So is the ...
  • 29 Apr 2021 |

    Tracking progress of Germany's 2030 climate action package

    29 Apr 2021, 12:30 With its Climate Action Law and the Climate Action Programme 2030, Germany's government coalition has presented a far-reaching climate strategy that is aimed at putting the country on track towards reaching its climate targets. The ...
  • 14 Mar 2018 |

    Coalition watch – The making of a new German government

    14 Mar 2018, 00:00 The 2017 September election results have led to unprecedented difficulties in forming a new government in Germany. After the longest government building process in modern Germany, Angela Merkel was re-elected as chancellor of a renewed ...
  • 27 May 2016 |

    Climate levy – the debate and proposals for cutting CO2 emissions

    27 May 2016, 00:00 Update 27 May 2016 [European Commission approves state aid for closure of lignite power plants] | The government has approved wide reaching power market reform, including a phase-out plan for some lignite plants. A "coal reserve ...
  • 17 Sep 2019 |

    Tracking the CO2 price debate in Germany

    17 Sep 2019, 13:28 After shying away from the debate for a long time, Germany's political leaders are finally considering putting a price on CO2 to help reach the country's climate targets. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her " climate cabinet ...
  • Resources and recycling needs for Germany's solar panels

    11 Feb 2021, 11:14 Solar PV is set to become the world's fastest growing power source over the next decades, triggering a major shift in resource requirements in the energy sector and producing vast quantities of installations that at some point turn ...
  • 02 Sep 2019 |

    Facts on the German state elections in Brandenburg

    02 Sep 2019, 10:16 After elections in 2019, a coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), conservative CDU and the Green Party have formed Brandenburg's state government. SPD's Dietmar Woidke was re-elected premier of the scarcely populated ...
  • Local stories from Germany's energy transition

    26 May 2016, 00:00 National media coverage of the German Energiewende mainly chronicles government activities and energy policy debates, such as reforming the Renewable Energy Act, the upcoming Climate Action Plan 2050, or the fate of big utilities. But ...
  • Putting a price on emissions: What are the prospects for carbon pricing in Germany?

    18 Jul 2019, 13:04 Having long shied away from the debate, the German government is finally considering a price on CO₂ emissions in sectors not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System, such as transport and buildings. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s climate ...
  • 09 Jun 2016 |

    E.ON shareholders ratify energy giant's split

    09 Jun 2016, 00:00 [UPDATE with shareholder vote and media comments]- E.ON was the first of Germany's major utilities to announce a split into two companies to adjust to the sweeping changes triggered in the sector by the country’s Energiewende. The ...
  • Climate & energy stumbling blocks for Jamaica-coalition talks

    27 Sep 2017, 00:00 Germany might be headed towards a new chapter in its political history with a governing coalition of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, the economic liberal FDP, and the environmentalist Green Party looming as a real prospect for the ...
  • 09 Sep 2016 |

    Germany’s trimmed-down Climate Action Plan

    09 Sep 2016, 00:00 After months of deliberation, the German environment ministry has presented a trimmed-down Climate Action Plan 2050 for consultation with other ministries. The plan has been presented as crucial for Germany to achieve its ambitious ...
  • 12 Dec 2017 |

    Climate finance: A brief overview of Germany’s contributions

    12 Dec 2017, 00:00 This factsheet provides information on how much the German government contributes to climate funding – the financial support of projects aimed at mitigating climate change and helping vulnerable countries adapt to its effects. Finance ...
  • 30 Aug 2019 |

    Facts on the German state elections in Saxony

    30 Aug 2019, 10:23 After elections in 2019, a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have formed the government in Saxony. CDU's Michael Kretschmer was re-elected state premier. The ...
  • 17 Sep 2021 |

    Vote21- Milestones & facts for Germany's packed election year

    17 Sep 2021, 09:00 Germany will head to the polls on 26 September to elect a new federal parliament and government. More than 60 million people are invited to decide who will follow on the outgoing Angela Merkel as next chancellor and oversee the climate ...
  • 07 Oct 2021 |

    Climate and energy stumbling blocks for the 2021 German coalition talks

    07 Oct 2021, 12:05 Climate and energy policy could emerge as a major stumbling block in the upcoming coalition talks between the German election winner Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party and the pro-business FDP. The parties have decided to open ...
  • 23 Jun 2016 |

    Climate Action Plan 2050: Negotiating a path to decarbonisation

    23 Jun 2016, 00:00 Even before the Paris Agreement laid out international climate commitments, Germany had set its own ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2050. But emissions from the power and transport sector are failing to fall fast enough, ...
  • Facts on German state elections and the energy transition in Hesse

    29 Oct 2018, 08:30 The central German state of Hesse has been a latecomer in terms of the country's energy transition, the Energiewende, but has gained ground by swiftly expanding renewables in recent years. The state that is a European ...
  • 25 Oct 2018 |

    Citizens’ participation in the Energiewende

    25 Oct 2018, 16:19 Across Germany, citizens have taken a direct stake in the transition to a cleaner energy supply through ownership of renewable energy installations. This factsheet gives an overview of the different ways in which citizens invest in the ...
  • 07 Sep 2015 |

    Nuclear clean-up costs

    07 Sep 2015, 00:00 Decommissioning, storing, transporting and re-storing: Ridding Germany of its nuclear heritage comes with a hefty price tag. Some of the costs will be covered by the state but utilities are liable for most of the clean-up. Nuclear phase ...
  • How to unpick a company net zero target in 7 steps

    17 Nov 2022, 14:00 More and more companies are racing to outdo each other with green pledges to strike net zero emissions. But what's behind these bids to wipe out their contribution to climate change? Journalists and consumers alike are often out of ...
  • 03 Dec 2014 |

    Government progress report on Energiewende spells out political goals

    03 Dec 2014, 00:00 [Update: We have added an overview chart from the progress report to this factsheet, 05 Dec 2014] In its 2014 first progress report on the Energiewende, the German government has established what it calls political goals for its energy ...
  • 19 Apr 2018 |

    Environmental concerns accompany German offshore wind expansion

    19 Apr 2018, 00:00 Offshore wind power is set to play a growing role in Germany’s energy transition, with productivity outperforming expectations and prices down to unprecedentedly low levels in the first auction. But the giant turbines also pose a ...
  • 20 Sep 2017 |

    Campaign quotes: What Merkel & Schulz say about Energiewende issues

    20 Sep 2017, 00:00 Chancellor Angela Merkel promises more precise climate goals after the elections; contender Martin Schulz calls for a binding e-car quota. In the run-up to the federal elections in Germany on 24 September, 91tv presents key campaign ...
  • 16 Dec 2019 |

    Germany's Climate Action Programme 2030

    16 Dec 2019, 15:00 Germany has presented an official programme of measures for the country to reach its 2030 climate targets. The Climate Action Programme comes as a supplement to the country's Climate Action Law as part of a comprehensive package to ...
  • 10 Jul 2019 |

    'Green Energy Valley'- Germany's green start-up scene in numbers

    10 Jul 2019, 09:14 The shift to a low-carbon future is turning the economy inside out. Policy has a crucial role to play, but ultimately it is businesses that will make the energy transition happen. In Energiewende home country Germany, many start-ups ...
  • 16 Jun 2015 |

    Milestones of the German Energiewende

    16 Jun 2015, 00:00 This factsheet provides a time line of important events, policies and research that have shaped the energy transition in Germany over the past four decades. Energiewende Society Paul Hockenos 1972   Publication of “ The Limits to Growth ...
  • Cities' & municipalities' role in the Energiewende

    26 May 2017, 00:00 Local energy transitions across Germany play a key role in achieving the goals of the national Energiewende. In this factsheet, we provide some of the facts and figures key to understanding the power, opportunities and challenges of ...
  • Small, but powerful – Germany’s municipal utilities

    18 Feb 2015, 00:00 In size, the “Stadtwerke” individually cannot rival the four largest players in the German electricity market – E.ON, RWE, Vattenfall and EnBW-- but taken together, they are a powerful factor in Germany’s energy landscape. Utilities ...
  • 09 Apr 2020 |

    Green stimulus: what it could look like in the various areas of the economy

    09 Apr 2020, 14:53 The course of economic recovery from a deep recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak will determine key developments in sectors crucial to the global energy transition for years after the pandemic is over. Economists, climate ...
  • 18 Jan 2023 |

    Coal in Germany

    18 Jan 2023, 09:00 The future use of coal is at the centre of Germany's political debate on the energy transition and its efforts to mitigate climate change after the country has seen a stagnation in greenhouse gas emissions despite growing use of ...
  • 09 Mar 2016 |

    Energiewende in transportation: Vague goals, modest strides

    09 Mar 2016, 00:00 (UPDATE with new data on e-car registrations in paragraph 3)- The European Union wants to reduce CO2 emissions in the transportation sector of its 28 member states by 60 percent by 2050. Germany has no stated goal for its own ...
  • 27 Apr 2023 |

    Covering the EU’s “Fit for 55” package of climate and energy laws

    27 Apr 2023, 11:30 The European Union is undertaking a major revamp of its climate and energy legislation to make its member states “Fit for 55” – the bloc’s new 55 percent greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030. The European Commission presented its ...
  • 12 Dec 2015 |

    Paris climate deal – does Germany get what it hoped for?

    12 Dec 2015, 00:00 196 parties of the UNFCCC have adopted the new Paris Agreement on climate change / Transparency and the ambition mechanisms that Germany most wanted to get are in the text, but the strong long-term target had to give a little COP21 ...
  • 30 Oct 2017 |

    COP23- See the energy transition in Germany's industrial centre

    30 Oct 2017, 00:00 Germany’s coal mining state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) hosts the United Nations’ COP23 climate summit in Bonn. The epicentre of Germany’s industrialisation, this region is responsible for almost one percent of global CO2 emissions, ...
  • 23 Mar 2022 |

    Carbon farming explained: the pros, the cons and the EU's plans

    23 Mar 2022, 10:27 Climate neutrality forces all parts of the economy to cut emissions to near-zero, and to capture remaining greenhouse gases in natural sinks, or using technical removal. Reducing the carbon footprint of industry, electricity generation, ...
  • 23 Jan 2020 |

    Implementing Germany’s coal exit proposal

    23 Jan 2020, 13:00 Germany's coal exit commission has agreed on a proposal on how the country can manage to phase out its single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions by 2038, and the ensuing political decision-making process is in full swing. ...
  • 13 Jan 2025 |

    Germany's Climate Action Law

    13 Jan 2025, 09:15 Germany aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2030 and reach climate neutrality by 2045 – targets it has written into its first major national climate law. The law also contains targets for carbon sinks such as ...
  • 28 Sep 2016 |

    Bioenergy's public acceptance problem

    28 Sep 2016, 00:00 Bioenergy isn’t as popular with the German public as the country’s other major renewable energy sources. Fears of swathes of the German countryside being subsumed by maize monoculture, as well as sustainability issues abroad, have ...
  • 11 Mar 2017 |

    The Green Party's federal election programme

    11 Mar 2017, 00:00 In its party programme for Germany's upcoming federal election, the Greens focus on the country's “ecological modernisation”. In the run-up to September’s vote, the party sets out its aims of reinvigorating renewables ...
  • 28 Feb 2018 |

    Diesel driving bans in Germany – The Q&A

    28 Feb 2018, 00:00 In a landmark ruling, Germany's Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig decided that local driving bans can be a legally admissible measure to enforce EU clean air rules. This factsheet provides answers to the key questions ...
  • How many car industry jobs are at risk from the shift to electric vehicles?

    07 Jul 2021, 10:45 The shift to electric mobility is firmly under way, heralding unprecedented challenges for Europe's car industry. In the face of increasingly ambitious climate targets, a phase-out of the combustion engine looks all but inevitable ...
  • 22 Sep 2017 |

    German elections ahead: The road to the next Energiewende government

    22 Sep 2017, 00:00 On 24 September 2017, Germans will cast their votes in the general elections and determine who will be in charge of the next phase of the country’s energy transition. Parties have shifted into national campaign mode after elections in ...
  • 21 May 2021 |

    CO2 reduction and biofuels in Germany's transport sector- implementing the RED II directive

    21 May 2021, 14:42 No greenhouse gas reductions since 1990 – that is the unfortunate balance of Germany's transport sector. While the climate targets are clear, the way to reach them remains subject to fierce debate. One major part in decarbonising ...
  • Resources and recycling needs for Germany's wind turbines

    08 Feb 2021, 14:56 Wind energy is becoming Germany's most important power source and is a key component of countries' energy transition plans around the world. But in order to ensure a reliable supply of input materials for their construction ...
  • 07 Aug 2018 |

    Rail cargo emissions in Germany

    07 Aug 2018, 17:46 Rail freight, one of the potentially most climate-friendly modes of cargo transportation, is having a hard time to increase its clout in Germany's export-driven economy. Technical difficulties, red tape, and the twists and turns of ...
  • 03 Aug 2018 |

    Road freight emissions in Germany

    03 Aug 2018, 13:45 Trucks and other freight vehicles are the backbone of Germany’s export-driven economy. But the rapid growth in traffic volumes increases the pressure of reaching emissions reductions in the transport sector, which already lags behind on ...
  • 27 Jul 2018 |

    Air cargo emissions in Germany

    27 Jul 2018, 15:05 Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Direct emissions from airplanes and other aircrafts account for more than two percent of global emissions, roughly equivalent to the total greenhoue ...
  • 07 Mar 2022 |

    Tesla's Berlin gigafactory will accelerate shift to electric cars

    07 Mar 2022, 14:14 Few recent business headlines have sparked as much talk in Germany as the arrival of Tesla's "gigafactory" near Berlin, which is set to churn out hundreds of thousands of electric cars in the birth country of the ...
  • White paper presents government proposal for power market reform

    09 Jul 2015, 00:00 Germany’s economy and energy ministry has set out its proposal for the future of the German power market in a white paper, which the cabinet is to take a decision on in October. The proposal is for an energy-only market, plus a capacity ...
  • 16 Aug 2021 |

    Climate-friendly farming: The proposals of Germany's agriculture commission

    16 Aug 2021, 12:44 In a late push to include the farming sector in its efforts for a climate neutral transformation, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government in 2020 created the "Commission for the Future of Agriculture." Droughts and farmers& ...
  • The debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany

    28 Aug 2017, 00:00 France and the UK are planning to ban all combustion engine sales from 2040. The 91tv provides key quotes from German politicians, their parties' national election programmes, and industry players on the future of the ...
  • Green Party coalition partner in three new German state governments

    23 May 2016, 00:00 State elections have shifted the power balance in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Württemberg. The Greens are partners in each new coalition government. The party’s commitment to the energy transition is reflected in the ...
  • 05 Oct 2020 |

    What a higher EU 2030 climate target means for member states like Germany

    05 Oct 2020, 12:45 The European Commission under president Ursula von der Leyen has proposed to increase the bloc’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to "at least 55 percent". The European Parliament’s environment committee has ...
  • 06 May 2019 |

    Germany’s climate obligations under the EU Effort Sharing scheme

    06 May 2019, 13:55 Germany is often perceived as a country with stringent national climate ambitions, but many of these rules and goals are actually prescribed by the European Union’s greenhouse gas emission reduction plans. Much of what is found in ...
  • 19 May 2025 |

    Nord Stream 2 – Symbol of failed German bet on Russian gas

    19 May 2025, 10:20 The controversial natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 has become a symbol of Germany's energy policy failures, after Russia weaponised its gas deliveries to Europe in order to stifle European action to support Ukraine. Construction ...
  • 30 Oct 2018 |

    Climate impact of farming, land use (change) and forestry in Germany

    30 Oct 2018, 22:15 Farming and land use emissions arise from a very diverse range of sources – milk cows, growing cereal, converting pastures into maize fields, producing fertiliser, driving tractors, draining moorlands, to name just a few. Other ...
  • 19 Feb 2025 |

    Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy transition targets

    19 Feb 2025, 13:10 This factsheet provides an overview of Germany's greenhouse gas emissions and the government's energy transition targets. [UPDATES to include price for emissions allocations Germany had to buy from EU neighbours] Climate & ...
  • 20 Mar 2020 |

    High-profile advisory group lays out proposals for Germany's sustainable finance push

    20 Mar 2020, 17:00 Germany's government has aimed to make the country the leading location for a sustainable financial system. In a bid to establish a coherent strategy for aligning public and private investments made in the country with ...
  • Securing utility payments for the nuclear clean-up

    26 Jun 2017, 00:00 Utilities are liable to pay for much of the costs of ridding Germany of its nuclear heritage. But given their economic troubles, will they be able to do so? To ensure the general public does not end up with footing the bill, the ...
  • 26 Jul 2018 |

    Germany's maritime freight emissions

    26 Jul 2018, 09:28 Germany's maritime freight industry is big business that boasts globally ranked shipping companies, state-of-the-art ports, and reliable logistics. The country's merchant fleet mainly runs on CO₂-intensive heavy oil, as do ...
  • 28 Aug 2018 |

    From ideas to laws – how Energiewende policy is shaped

    28 Aug 2018, 17:11 Ministerial bureaucracy, objection bills, informal agreements with interest groups, green and white papers – energy transition policy shaping in Germany’s parliamentary system is a complex process. This factsheet provides a brief ...
  • 25 Mar 2021 |

    BMW has tumbled from electric car pioneer to laggard

    25 Mar 2021, 00:00 BMW is best known for its racy high-performance cars, but the Bavarian company was also a pioneer in e-mobility and sustainability. But on the road to electrification, BMW has fallen behind domestic rivals VW and Daimler, as well as ...
  • 02 Feb 2023 |

    The EU’s Carbon Border Tax — panacea or recipe for trade war?

    02 Feb 2023, 09:26 The European Union is introducing a carbon border adjustment mechanism, an instrument that has been lauded by some as a much-needed stimulus for climate action and branded by others as a fast route to new trade wars between the bloc and ...
  • 07 Sep 2017 |

    #btw17- 91tv on the general elections in Germany

    07 Sep 2017, 00:00 On 24 September, more than 60 million Germans are invited to head to the polls to choose from 4,828 candidates, elect the next federal parliament and thus decide the next government. The 91tv has compiled contacts, links ...
  • 14 Oct 2019 |

    Germany's 2030 climate action package

    14 Oct 2019, 13:00 Germany's government coalition on 20 September 2019 agreed on a strategy paper that outlines its policy ideas to reach the 2030 climate targets and reduce emissions in all sectors of the economy. This factsheet summarises the paper ...
  • 05 Mar 2021 |

    EU’s Farm to Fork strategy impacts climate, productivity, and trade

    05 Mar 2021, 13:40 The European Green Deal with its landmark Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies aims to achieve nothing less than a complete overhaul of the EU's food system to reach the bloc's 2050 target of climate neutrality. The new ...
  • 06 Jan 2025 |

    The road to a new coalition government in Germany

    06 Jan 2025, 11:50 Germany is heading for snap elections in February 2025 after chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government broke up several months earlier, following months of dispute among the parties. Under normal circumstances, Germans elect a ...
  • 31 Mar 2021 |

    Reluctant Daimler shifts gear in race to sustainable mobility

    31 Mar 2021, 11:00 The Daimler Group and its iconic Mercedes-Benz brand are global bywords for luxury cars made in Germany. The company is a classic powerhouse of automobile innovation, but was slow to embrace electric mobility in earnest. Spooked by the ...
  • 26 Aug 2019 |

    Germany's green finance key actors at a glance

    26 Aug 2019, 15:13 The integration of climate action and other sustainability criteria in Germany's finance sector is a complex task that involves or affects a multitude of financial market actors. From commercial banks to state control authorities, ...
  • 18 Jun 2021 |

    Volkswagen places massive EV bet to master green mobility shift

    18 Jun 2021, 12:00 Volkswagen has initiated a remarkable transformation in the wake of the emissions cheating scandal of its own making. Shaken to the core by "Dieselgate," one of the world's largest carmakers embraced electric mobility ...
  • Colour codes: How energy & climate policy differs in German coalitions

    04 Sep 2017, 00:00 The next German government is almost certain to be a coalition of two or more parties. That means the country’s energy and climate policy will be a compromise between different party priorities. Energy and climate issues on a national ...
  • 04 Apr 2019 |

    National climate measures and European emission trading: Assessing the ‘waterbed effect’

    04 Apr 2019, 12:40 When countries like the Netherlands, the UK or Germany attempt to lower greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and industry, they are regularly faced with the same criticism: Saving emissions that are covered by the ...
  • 16 Dec 2016 |

    When will Germany finally ditch coal?

    16 Dec 2016, 00:00 Germany’s Climate Action Plan 2050 – which details how the country is to become close to carbon-neutral by mid-century – failed to set a deadline for the last of its coal-fired power plants to go offline. The country’s power supply ...
  • Germany, EU remain heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels

    03 Apr 2024, 12:00 As the move to climate neutrality advances, Germany and the EU still rely heavily on imports of fossil fuels as domestic resources are often largely depleted or their extraction is too costly. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the energy ...
  • 13 Dec 2018 |

    Germany’s coal exit commission

    13 Dec 2018, 12:20 Germany has launched a highly anticipated task force on phasing out coal power, the most prominent blemish on the former climate action pioneer country’s emissions reduction record. The coal exit commission is supposed to find economic ...
  • German utilities and the Energiewende

    12 Jan 2015, 00:00 The large German utilities have seen their earnings from producing and supplying fossil and nuclear power decline- this factsheet outlines the challenges the energy transition poses to their traditional business model and how they are ...
  • 21 Mar 2019 |

    Germany’s Climate Action Plan 2050

    21 Mar 2019, 00:00 Just in time for the international climate summit COP22 in Marrakesh and after months of dispute, Germany’s government agreed on a basic framework for largely decarbonising its economy to reach 2050 climate goals. It includes target ...
  • 18 Jan 2023 |

    Germany’s three lignite mining regions

    18 Jan 2023, 09:09 The beginning of the end of coal-fired power generation is imminent in Germany – a so-called 'coal exit commission' (or ' coal commission ' for short) of government officials and lobbyists is to decide an end-date by ...
  • Q&A – CCS makes comeback as Germany and the EU strive for climate neutrality

    07 Apr 2025, 09:50 Years of protest against industry plans to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a lifeline for coal power have made the technology a no-go issue for many politicians in Germany, Europe and beyond. Yet, countries' goals of ...
  • 04 Apr 2022 |

    Green and sustainable finance in Germany

    04 Apr 2022, 11:30 Integrating finance into climate and energy policy has become a central challenge for governments around the world, as emissions reduction plans need proper funding and investments that can undermine their climate goals have to be cut ...
  • 27 Mar 2019 |

    Limits to growth: Resistance against wind power in Germany

    27 Mar 2019, 00:00 Wind turbines have become one of the most visible components of Germany's energy transition and increasingly dominate the landscape in many parts of the country. While most people support a roll-out of the technology, Germany’s ...
  • 09 Aug 2024 |

    After the phase-out: Germany grapples with nuclear legacy as waste challenge remains

    09 Aug 2024, 10:00 Even after the last remaining reactors are shut down, the chapter of nuclear energy in Germany is far from over. The power plants must now be dismantled, and questions over where to store the radioactive waste, and how long it will take ...
  • 27 Nov 2024 |

    Polls reveal citizen support for climate action and energy transition

    27 Nov 2024, 13:00 The German public has put climate action at the top of its policy priorities for several years and remains strongly in support of the transition to a low-carbon and nuclear-free economy. The picture across Europe is more diverse, ...
  • Understanding the European Union’s Emissions Trading Systems (EU ETS)

    23 May 2024, 10:05 The European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which puts a price on climate change-inducing CO2 emissions, has been a key driver of decarbonisation in energy and industry for years, and the EU is setting up a similar scheme ...
  • 07 Dec 2021 |

    The story of "Climate Chancellor" Angela Merkel

    07 Dec 2021, 13:30 German leader Angela Merkel has been nicknamed the "Climate Chancellor" for her long-standing international action on emission cuts. However, at the end of her 16-year German leadership in winter 2021 many see her climate ...
  • 20 Nov 2015 |

    Controversial climate summit issues – positions in Germany

    20 Nov 2015, 00:00 This factsheet gives an overview of the most disputed issues at the UN climate conference in Paris (COP21) and highlights the position of the German government and civil society on these topics. COP21 Kerstine Appunn Differentiation and ...
  • 25 May 2020 |

    "Dieselgate"- a timeline of the car emissions fraud scandal in Germany

    25 May 2020, 12:00 "Dieselgate" started out as a scandal exclusively affecting Germany's largest car company Volkswagen. But since it broke in September 2015, it has morphed into a global issue involving many industry giants. In Germany, ...
  • 15 Dec 2015 |

    COP21- Media on Germany and the Paris Climate Summit

    15 Dec 2015, 00:00 In this factsheet, the 91tv presents an overview of German media comments and reports on the Paris Climate Summit, which took place from 30 November to 11 December. COP21 Climate & CO2 Kerstine Appunn Süddeutsche ...
  • 91tv Network Blog
  • 05 Jun 2025 |

    Stay updated on online journalism and energy events

    05 Jun 2025, 17:20 Milou Dirkx International Events offer journalists the opportunity to learn, share and connect with sources and colleagues. At 91tv, we collect all online webinars, gatherings, meetings and conferences on energy transition, ...
  • 25 Jun 2021 |

    What it's like to work with the 91tv newsroom

    25 Jun 2021, 09:28 Isabel Sutton International In January 2021 Isabel Sutton joined 91tv in what was an experiment for all involved: She became 91tv's first "remote" fellow as part of the International Journalism Programme as ...
  • 03 Sep 2021 |

    Cartoon-snapshot of what’s hot in energy and climate

    03 Sep 2021, 09:53 Kerstine Appunn Energiewende How will the world vaccinate Earth against the climate crisis? How come so many politicians suddenly appear "green" in Germany's election year? And how (fast) will hydrogen win the match ...
  • 17 Apr 2020 |

    The Reporter's Guide 2020: One year, a climate package, coal exit and a corona crisis later

    17 Apr 2020, 12:53 Freja Eriksen Energiewende A climate package, a coal exit and a corona crisis – 91tv's shortcut to the German energy transition in 2020 includes all of the above. As the consequences of the latter influence not only climate and ...
  • Three questions to Atâyi-Babs Opaluwah, 91tv Ambassador for Nigeria and West Africa

    01 Nov 2019, 11:34 Atâyi-Babs Opaluwah Martha Otwinowski Climate & CO2 Renewables International Atâyi is a freelance journalist and communication specialist who regularly covers the energy transition, climate change, and the circular economy. He ...
  • Three questions to Simona Drevenšek, 91tv ambassador for Central and Eastern Europe

    18 Oct 2019, 14:45 Simona Drevensek Martha Otwinowski Climate & CO2 Renewables International Simona Drevenšek is a journalist who regularly covers the energy transition, climate change, and the circular economy. She writes for leading Slovene daily ...
  • 05 Jan 2021 |

    Spain looks to China for cooperation on renewables but worries about overreliance

    05 Jan 2021, 09:30 International China has been key to driving down the cost of Spain's transition to renewables and electric mobility. Both the Spanish private and public sector recognise China’s crucial role in facing the global climate challenge ...
  • Three questions to Soumya Sarkar, 91tv Ambassador for India

    15 Nov 2019, 12:21 Martha Otwinowski Soumya sarkar Climate & CO2 Fossil fuels Renewables Soumya is a journalist based in New Delhi. He is managing editor of India Climate Dialogue, a leading portal on environment and climate change. Soumya has ...
  • China’s PV exports and the impact in South Asia: A cross-border reporting collaboration

    28 Feb 2020, 16:19 Milou Dirkx Martha Otwinowski Solar Politics International How do China's PV exports impact South Asian countries? This question was the starting point for team PANIC, made up of four reporters from Pakistan, Nepal, India and China ...
  • Conference panellists and session chairs

      Please note: This list was compiled in preparation for the 91tv network conference "The Global Energy Transition: Is Journalism Ready?" in November 2017. Abaño, Imelda- President of Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists ...
  • Journalism for the energy transition

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