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Solar systems in Lower Saxony
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
The coming days should show whether a traffic light coalition could come about.
Even during the exploratory talks, the SPD, Greens and FDP are confronted with demands.
In order to make Germany climate-neutral in less than 25 years, the next federal government must get things moving "very quickly, a lot", scientists appeal.
The
key points
with which Germany can achieve climate targets are therefore a
faster coal phase-out
and significantly
more speed in the expansion of green electricity
.
"The climate protection goals for 2030 and 2045 are extremely challenging and can only be achieved with massive investments, additional political measures and infrastructure development in all sectors," says a study in which scientists from numerous institutes are involved.
These include the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the German Aerospace Center and various Fraunhofer Institutes.
The study with the title »Germany on the way to climate neutrality 2045« deals with scenarios and paths in a model comparison.
The analyzes made clear the "urgency" of the need for political action in order to achieve climate protection goals and to adjust the course to climate neutrality in 2045, it is said.
Extreme speed must be made as early as 2030
The rapid acceleration of the energy transition by 2030 is of "particular relevance" - in other words, the switch from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas to renewable energies from wind and sun.
"Without enormous decarbonization and infrastructure measures in this decade, the climate protection targets for 2030 will be missed - this would make reaching the long-term goal of climate neutrality in 2045 highly unlikely," the scientists write.
According to the study, electricity generation from wind and sun would have to be around 50 percent greater than previously targeted by 2030.
The exit from the increasingly uneconomical coal would take place on a course towards climate neutrality as early as 2030 - the plan is currently 2038 at the latest.
"The structural change in the affected regions will accelerate accordingly and must be actively shaped," says the study.
To ensure security of supply, additional gas or hydrogen-fired peak load power plants would be required.
In addition, considerable additional effort is required to achieve the sector targets for industry, buildings and transport.
Finished solar systems remain unused
A complaint from the solar industry shows how much remains to be done for the future federal government. In reality, the expansion of green electricity is apparently being slowed down by bureaucratic hurdles. According to the German Solar Industry Association, numerous solar systems that have already been completed are not yet connected to the grid. The reason why the climate-friendly electricity could not be fed in was a bottleneck at the certification company, said Carsten Körnig, managing director of the Association of the »Augsburger Allgemeine«. "The waiting times are therefore sometimes up to a year."
Körnig criticized the fact that the limit above which a system requires a certificate has recently been reduced from 1 megawatt to 135 kilowatts. "The certification now affects a much higher number of systems as well as planning and installation companies." The effort was "clearly underestimated" on all sides. The limit of 135 kilowatts is "clearly too low".
TÜV Süd, as one of the certification companies, confirmed the longer duration as a result of the more complicated approval.
"At the moment we are seeing it relatively often that our customers have to improve their documents during the ongoing certification process so that we can confirm conformity with the grid connection rules," said TÜV.
This leads not only to the operators, but also to the certifiers.
mmq / dpa / Reuters
