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Merkel advisors: we're missing energy targets

Published: 18 Dec 12 12:27 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20121218-46835.html

The four specialists supervising Germany's planned transition to renewable energy have said the government will fail to meet crucial targets for energy efficiency if the pace of improvements is not accelerated.

The government commission supervising Germany's energy transition criticised the cabinet in a report to be presented on Wednesday. "Without additional measures, the efficiency targets of the energy transition will not be reached," the four-person commission wrote in its report.

For instance, the aim to lower the primary energy consumption by 20 percent on 2008 values by 2020, energy efficiency must be raised by 2.6 percent every year - at the moment, that figure is just 1.6 percent.

The commission wants to see special efforts being made in improving energy efficiency in buildings, which use up 40 percent of the energy supply. Transport is another area of concern, the report said.

Researchers say that the cheapest option for increasing the capacity for renewable energy is building more wind parks on land - but they need to be better coordinated with the national grid.

"The individual German states have some very ambitious construction targets for wind energy, which taken together significantly beat the federal government targets," the report said.

The commission is chaired by Andreas Löschel of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, and is occupied by Georg Erdmann of the Technical University Berlin, Frithjof Staiß, from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), and Hans-Joachim Ziesing, of the Working Group on Energy Balances (AGEB).

The commission also said media reports of rising electricity costs were exaggerated, and called for a more reasoned debate on the energy issue.

The Local/DPA/bk

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Your comments about this article:

13:03 December 18, 2012 by pepsionice
And? Anyone shocked? If you don't meet the goals....you will grin as the nuclear power guys say they've already started a process to take down the plant, so if you want the plant to linger around....you'd best agree to a much higher rate of cost. For all the alternate-energy guys.....you really didn't understand how the game is played out.
14:53 December 18, 2012 by whiteriver
We're shocked to know that this wasn't considerated during the decision to ban nuclear power.
20:04 December 18, 2012 by Englishted
Keep knee-jerking and sooner or later you will pull something.
15:40 December 19, 2012 by truth is treason
The Green energy Industry in America has caused some big and expensive Failures.

http://www.conservativehappenings.com/2012/09/list-of-failed-obama-green-energy-solar.html

it is now coming out the due to ecomantalist taxation in some states they are paying DOUBLE Taxation for energy to meet targets

http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/09/californians-could-face-double-taxation-with-state-federal-carbon-taxes/

Not even the benefit of creating more Jobs
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