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Thursday, October 22, 2020
It’s getting serious: Germany should become climate neutral by 2050. But this requires considerable effort, complains a study by environmental think tanks. The expansion of renewable energies should triple in the next ten years. Because then electricity will be needed even more than it is today.
In 30 years, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions should be net zero; According to a new study, this requires significantly more green electricity than previously planned and a complete halt to investments in fossil technologies beginning in 2030. “The federal government has decided to go climate neutral in 2050, but it he has made no plans for it, ”criticized the director of the think tank Agora Energiewende, Patrick Graichen.
As calculated by Agora Energiewende, Agora Verkehrswende and the Climate Neutrality Foundation, the expansion of the wind and solar systems should triple in the next ten years and the German climate target for 2030 should be raised to 65% less greenhouse gases than in 1990. Furthermore, the goal should be to achieve a green electricity share of 70 percent instead of 65 percent by 2030. Instead of the 10 million electric cars previously envisioned, 14 million would have to be on the road by then. said Christian Hochfeld, director of Agora Verkehrswende.
In a second step, emissions should fall by 95 percent by 2050; Greenhouse gases remaining, for example from cement production or agriculture, should be removed from the atmosphere and stored using natural and technical solutions.
Carbon removal needed by 2030
The phase-out of coal, which is currently planned for 2038 at the latest, should be completed by 2030, the study continues, and the phase-out of oil and gas should follow. This includes the fact that as of 2030 fossil technologies, such as classic combustion engines or natural gas and oil heating systems, can still be used, but can no longer be sold or installed.
Hydrogen as an energy carrier also plays an important role in considerations, but not when electricity can be used directly, such as for heating or in road traffic. “Hydrogen is the very expensive champagne of the energy transition,” said Rainer Baake, director of the Climate Neutrality Foundation.
Electric fuels are mainly needed in air and maritime traffic, but also in steel production and other industries. The study authors assume that German electricity demand will be half as high by 2050 than it is today, although total energy demand will be cut in half, because electricity replaces coal, oil and gas as a source. of energy and a lot of electricity is required to produce hydrogen. is.
