Dear reader,
Russia's brutal war against Ukraine marks a turning point.
It is an attack that will change the world, write my colleagues from the international desk in the cover story of our new issue.
And it is already becoming apparent that the European energy transition will also be affected.
more on the subject
Putin's War and Its Aftermath: The Attack That Changed the World
The temporary (and probably final) end for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Minister Robert Habeck announced this week as a consequence of the Russian attack, is a step in the right direction in terms of climate policy.
23 years before the federal government is aiming for complete climate neutrality in the country, every billion-euro investment in fossil energy infrastructure is under particular pressure to justify itself.
Not only would this pipeline have further increased dependence on Russian gas supplies, but the need for a new pipe was also in doubt until the very end.
Claudia Kemfert, an energy expert at the German Institute for Economic Research, told the Science Media Center at the end of the week: "Stopping the certification of North Stream 2 is correct.
We don't need this pipeline, so it's not necessary to secure the energy supply either." At the beginning of last year, the Agora Energiewende think tank was still assuming a slight increase in gas import requirements in Germany for the next ten years - but this could be said probably also cover the experts with the existing import and storage infrastructure.
Switching from pipeline to liquefied gas would not benefit the climate
And finally, its suitability as a climate-friendly transitional material in the age of renewable energies is in any case in question: although natural gas produces less CO2 than coal when it is burned, it causes high methane emissions, especially when it is extracted.
Each methane molecule warms the air many times more than carbon dioxide, depending on the estimated time horizon the greenhouse effect is 34 to 86 times as high.
Increased use of gas as an energy source would increase these emissions.
Studies are therefore critical of its role as a bridging technology.
In the medium term, however, Germany will certainly not be able to get by with less gas than today.
If there is now a desire to (finally) reduce dependence on Russia as a supplier, what are the alternatives?
Norway and the Netherlands, which also supply gas to Germany, have already signaled that they can hardly provide more.
Even if stocks are also limited, liquefied natural gas (LNG) would be another alternative, for example from the USA.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck announced on Thursday that the "purchasing channels" for gas must become "more diverse".
"This includes the construction of LNG terminals, even if some people don't want to see it."
In the USA, natural gas is mostly extracted using the so-called fracking process, in which water and chemicals are pressed into deep layers of rock under high pressure.
The method is not only particularly harmful to the environment, the climate balance of liquid gas is likely to be even worse than if the fuel is delivered by pipeline.
A lot of additional energy is required to transport liquid gas across the world's oceans.
In this way, the gas is cooled down to minus 163 degrees Celsius until it becomes liquid and has only one six hundredth of its original volume.
It then has to be converted back into pipeline gas, or "regasified."
In general, pipeline gas has a slightly better climate balance than liquid gas, according to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research on the climate balance of liquid gas.
The end of Nord Stream 2 and a gradual departure from Russia as the largest gas supplier could even lead to more CO2 emissions, at least in the short term.
Is there a risk of a relapse to coal-fired power generation?
Parallel to the emissions, however, prices are increasing.
Belgian think tank Bruegel just warned: “While there is some spare import capacity on the supply side, it would be very expensive at best and physically impossible at worst to completely replace Russian volumes.”
Initially, this can even be a good signal for accelerating the energy transition - because the incentive to switch to green energies particularly quickly now increases with the prices for conventional energy sources.
Building owners will not leave the figures untouched either – anyone who has not yet heard of heat pumps will inquire about alternatives at the latest when asking about a new condensing boiler, given the currently high gas prices.
But conversions take time.
And, at least in the short term, even higher gas prices or even supply bottlenecks have the opposite effect: they don't make climate protection easier, they endanger it.
Manfred Fischedick, scientific director at the Wuppertal Institute, recently warned: "If there are gaps in the power supply due to a lack of natural gas, then there will inevitably be an increased use of coal-fired power plants." year-on-year increased by more than 56 percent.
In the already confusing situation of the Russian crisis – as far as the long-term consequences are concerned – there is also a mixed picture for climate protection.
Even if Europe's climate balance could suffer with higher coal-fired power generation and additional imports of LNG in the short term, in the medium term it is pretty clear where the path will lead.
"The energy transition is the answer to the question of how we can get away from Russian gas," says Claudia Kemfert, for example.
Economics Minister Habeck's plans to drastically expand wind and solar energy should also find more supporters in view of the new price jumps.
And last but not least, the proponents of the energy transition now have a red-hot argument richer: every new wind turbine, every new solar cell means a little more independence from the ruler Putin.
The topics of the week
Response to aggressive Kremlin policy: These are the alternatives to Russian gas supplies
Nobody in the EU buys as much Russian natural gas as Germany.
Now the federal government has stopped Nord Stream 2 for the time being.
Can renewables take us out of our dependency - and if so, how quickly?
The most important source of petrol: German cars depend so much on Russian oil
Those who fill up often pay for Putin's tanks in the Ukraine – Russia is Germany's number one oil supplier.
Economically, there is now more at stake for both sides with the liquid raw material than with the gas.
Climate Minister on wind power, geothermal energy, biomass: What can Germany learn from Denmark, Mr. Jørgensen?
Denmark is in a good position when it comes to climate protection.
Now the country is planning another flagship project: a gigantic geothermal plant.
What advantages this energy source offers - a call to Minister Dan Jørgensen.
Fighting the climate crisis: which generation is the last generation?
Activists want to push the government to protect the climate with a »rebellion of the last generation«.
Are they really the last ones who can do something about the climate crisis?
In any case, there is not much time left.
Disasters: Experts warn of extreme increase in forest fires
Extreme landscape fires could increase dramatically in the future, warns the United Nations Environment Program in a new report.
The researchers advise spending less money on spectacular extinguishing actions.
Dangerous greenhouse gas: methane emissions in the energy sector significantly higher than officially stated
The International Energy Agency has determined global methane emissions for the entire energy sector for the first time: they are much higher than previously assumed.
The methane could be used to secure the energy supply.
CO₂ budget: How much CO₂ can humanity still emit?
How many years remain to become carbon neutral?
And how are the calculations made?
The most important answers in numbers and graphics.
"Climate Report" podcast: Energy transition in Germany - are we threatened with power outages?
The German power grid is currently being rebuilt.
Green energy will soon cover most of our consumption.
Can our network handle it?
Stay Confident
Yours, Kurt Stukenberg
