The lawyer and political scientist Axel Berg (SPD) is committed to the energy transition. He has his own opinion about Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement.
- Munich lawyer and political scientist Axel Berg (SPD) has been committed to the energy transition for 30 years.
- Berg believes in change.
- He has a message for the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg * and the youth movement Fridays for Future.
Munich - Almost 70 percent of Germany's energy needs are covered by imports - the global energy companies rub their hands together. The consumer pays the bill. But raw materials are finite and the consequences of climate change have long been on our doorstep. "What we need now is clean energies that are generated and used locally, that is, locally," says Doctor Axel Berg (SPD) * . In his current book, Simply Enforcing the Energy Transition, the Munich lawyer and political scientist describes how a full supply of renewable energy can succeed. And it reveals which power structures are preventing long-overdue change. Berg does not want to stir up fear. "I'm not a fan of alarmism," he says in an interview with our newspaper.
Munich: Lawyer on Greta Thunberg and energy policy
You have been campaigning for a switch to renewable, decentralized energies for 30 years. A fight against windmills?
Axel Berg: You actually have a bit of a feeling of being on your own against the mafia . On the other hand, it is an advantage of age that one can take stock. I got up against nuclear power as a student when everyone was still in favor. And today the last one really understood that it is not an option for the future. Max Weber already said: Politics is drilling small holes in thick boards. Continue drilling! I'm sure something is happening now.
Not least because of the "Fridays for Future" movement around climate activist Greta Thunberg * ?
Axel Berg: In politics, we only experience that the so-called politically feasible is done. The Fridays-for-Future-Kids name what is actually necessary. This makes these young people the most serious actors in the whole debate. I also wrote my book for this generation and went through the relevant topics on the energy transition. Young people who have not yet been dealing with the subject for 30 years have verifiable facts at hand when they are sitting in class or discussing with politicians . You no longer have to be ripped off. Energy policy lies that the bars bend.
Have we been careless about resources for decades?
Axel Berg: Sociologists have already dealt with this question. They came to the conclusion that man tends to exhaust reserves until there is nothing left. We only act when we see a problem. Thinking ahead in the long term is exhausting and unnatural . But we have to do it now because our systems are not reversible .
Munich: Fight for the energy transition is a fight, "alone against the mafia"
We have the know-how , the money and the majority of the population on our side, as you write. Why hasn't the energy transition been completed long ago?
Bavaria's only SPD direct member Axel Berg
© SPD dpa / lby
Axel Berg: An energy turnaround leaves winners and losers. The losers are the manufacturers of old-fashioned raw materials - i.e. the producers of oil, coal, gas, uranium. The next losers are the large power plants that generate electricity from coal, gas or oil. And then there are the manufacturers of the corresponding technologies. It hit Siemens this week, but it goes all the way to the combustion engine. These corporations are extremely rich and powerful in our society.
What could you do about it?
Axel Berg: If the world supplies itself with renewable, decentralized energies , then they will no longer do business. Already today it is cheaper to nail a photovoltaic system to the roof and put a battery in the basement than to be connected to the electricity and heating network. The cost of renewables is close to zero. A tank of fuel would only cost a few cents if oil had gone through a price development similar to that of photovoltaics in recent years. It will soon be impossible to make any more money from the production of electricity . That is why it is the strategy of the large corporations and their governments to prevent the expansion of renewable, decentralized energies in the home market as much as possible. So before the consumers start to look after themselves as potential winners , the large corporations are trying to place the generation of renewable energies as far away from the customer as possible - for example to Spain or the North Sea. Then you make the money with the lines.
Munich will be "one of the last cities where it still smells"
Also a problem in our city?
Axel Berg: There are no plans for how Munich will be supplied with renewable energies in the future through its own power. If we continue like this, in ten years we will be one of the last cities where it still stinks.
Decentralized, close to the consumer: What do you think would be a concept for Munich?
Axel Berg: We have a lot of roof areas that could be used for photovoltaic systems . Other cities are further there. Frankfurt , for example, calculated years ago that 30 percent of the roof space is sufficient to supply the entire city with electricity - including the airport and chemical industry .
Critics use high costs as an argument against the energy transition.
Axel Berg: This is a permanent fake . Germany subsidizes anti-competitive behavior with 60 to 100 billion annually. If these sums were redirected to the energy transition, we could do it within ten years. It is only expensive to delay the turnaround while maintaining the central supply system; for example through Nord Stream 2 or the planned high-voltage lines.
Where do you get the energy to keep fighting?
Axel Berg: I stay positive, that's my nature. It is becoming increasingly difficult for energy companies to justify their behavior. An example is dates 4 . How can you represent nowadays that a coal-fired power plant can go online if you can produce the same electricity cheaper at home and without pollution ? That is why I am convinced that we can turn things around. I will still experience it - and I look forward to it.
Video: What the Germans give on Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.