It would be the epitome of speed: Negotiations in Parliament on the electricity market reform could be over as early as tomorrow – almost two weeks before the vote in the Industry Committee on July 19. At least that’s what the Greens hope. But the question is whether the race beyond the fast lane won’t lead to a bang on the energy markets.
The Spanish Socialists are desperate to score a success before the elections on the 23rd. Voters suffering from energy poverty are to be reassured by a profit levy on high electricity prices. If implemented incorrectly, however, this could discourage investment in renewables, which would reduce prices most sustainably.
Some people, such as Luxembourg’s Claude Turmes, even see the entire domestic market threatened by the French nuclear course. Where there’s a lot of nuclear power, there’s no competition – again, the price-cutting renewables could end up on the hard shoulder.
One would like to wish the negotiators a not-too-cramped step on the electric pedal. They can see in real-time from their parliamentary colleagues in Berlin what kind of muddle results from overly rapid negotiations. The Bundestag also plans to pass the “heating law” on Thursday.
At issue are grants to which Germany is entitled from the Corona Recovery and Resilience Facility. So far, the German government has not succeeded in clearing the way for even the first partial payment. According to information from Table.Media, the “Operational Agreement” with the EU Commission has not even been signed yet. The document regulates the formalities and burden of proof requirements and is a prerequisite for the EU funds to flow. In addition, the German government has not yet implemented some reforms that it must provide for the funds to be disbursed.
Other member states are faster: So far, the Commission has already approved 26 applications from 18 member states for payment of billions. Especially in countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, which German politicians have frequently accused of reform fatigue in the past, large amounts in the billions have already been invested from Next Generation EU. However, the money pledged to these member states also represents a higher share in terms of economic output.
Time is pressing. The billions must be spent by the end of 2026. After the pandemic, the restructuring of the national economy is to be driven forward in the spirit of the Green Deal and digitization accelerated. The aim is also to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
To this end, the EU is making a total of €338 billion in grants available to the member states. Germany is entitled to around €30 billion. €2.3 billion was disbursed to Berlin in August 2021 as advance funding, with no conditions attached.
The disbursement of the next tranches, on the other hand, depends on the government achieving the milestones agreed individually with the Commission. Here, the German government has so far failed to deliver. The basis for this is the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. According to this plan, 42 percent of the funds in Germany are to be allocated to climate protection measures, while 52 percent of the funds are to benefit digitization.
The Federal Ministry of Finance is responsible for applying for the billions in funds from the EU budget. The ministry confirmed on request that Germany has not yet submitted a payment application. The first Reconstruction and Resilience Plan (DARP), which was already approved by the Council in July 2021, had to be amended again. However, an initial application for payment is to be submitted “before the end of the year”.
Of the 129 milestones and targets agreed with the Commission, 58 have been achieved so far, the spokesman said. What the spokesman does not say is that for some reforms that Germany must complete, the federal government has so far failed to provide proof.
These include faster approval procedures. In concrete terms, the aim is to reduce investment barriers and bureaucracy in administrative processes. Measures for decarbonization, the development of an economy with green hydrogen and sustainable solutions in transport are also required of Germany. The Commission does not provide any information on what specific reforms are involved and which of them have not yet been implemented.
Other member states are much further ahead. The government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for example, has given top political priority to disbursing the funds. In September 2022, the government laid the groundwork for applying to the Commission for the second installment of €3.6 billion. Three months later, the billions flowed. In mid-May, Athens requested the third disbursement of the funds. By September at the latest, the Council should give the green light and transfer the next €1.72 billion.
Italy is entitled to grants of €68 billion, €28.95 billion of which have already been paid out. Spain is entitled to €69.5 billion in grants, of which €37 billion have already been paid out. Behind closed doors and with certain malice one speaks in these weeks in Brussels about Germany. Countries that were described by German politicians as unwilling to reform, not least during the debt crisis, have meanwhile been acting in an exemplary manner: They have completed the reforms demanded of them by the EU Commission as part of the European Semester, for example in the judiciary and tax administration, and are therefore already benefiting from the Brussels billions.
German consumers and companies are suffering particularly from high energy prices. The Commission has grants of €2.1 billion available for Germany under RePowerEU. The aim is to drive forward decarbonization. To access the Brussels billions, each member state must submit a plan to the EU as a chapter of the national build-up and resilience plan.
According to reports in Brussels, plans have already been received from seven member states, including Portugal, France, Malta, Denmark, Estonia and Slovakia. About a handful of plans have already been reviewed and adopted. Here, too, Germany is lagging behind. When will Germany deliver? A ministry spokesman can’t give a specific date: “Germany is currently in the process of preparing and voting on a revised plan, including a RePowerEU chapter.” The deadline for applications is December.
China’s Ministry of Commerce Mofcom has made exports of the key industrial metals gallium and germanium subject to approval. As of August 1, exporters will require a license to ship these elements to other countries. The basis for the ministry’s directive is the Export Control Law of 2020. According to the ministry, the purpose of the controls is to protect “national security”.
“This mirrors the strategic use of export control measures by the US,” writes Mathieu Duchâtel, an expert on the Chinese economy at the French think tank Institut Montaigne. So far, however, it is not an export ban: Any exporter can still request a license.
Nevertheless, “European semiconductor companies will consider themselves again in the crossfire of US-China competition“, adds Duchâtel. After all, China is the biggest producer of both metals. The new regulation already creates uncertainty about availability and prices. Gallium is particularly vital for a new, more cost-effective generation of semiconductors.
Germany has a high interest in the availability of both metals. This is because gallium is a raw material for power semiconductor devices, which are necessary for the automotive industry. Power semiconductors are chips capable of switching high current voltages, thus an essential part of EV electronics. They can adjust the current seamlessly and are not affected by high temperatures.
Power semiconductors can also be made from silicon, the traditional material for microchips. However, gallium nitride is currently becoming very attractive as a cost-effective and energy-saving alternative. One important manufacturer of gallium nitride-based power semiconductors is Infineon. The company already operates a plant for power semiconductors in Malaysia. It has now also absorbed Canadian special manufacturer GaN Systems to strengthen this area.
The EU currently promotes the development of gallium-based electronic components. Apart from vehicle manufacturing, gallium nitride chips are also used in many other advanced technologies, for example, in
At present, around 98 percent of the gallium consumed worldwide is imported from China. The EU imports over 70 percent of its gallium and almost half of its germanium from China. But the reason for this is not that the metal is not found elsewhere – gallium is also found in Japan, South Korea, Russia or Kazakhstan. The decisive factor for the high market share is China’s low export price.
Germany also used to be a gallium producer but ceased production in 2016 as it was no longer lucrative given the surpluses on the global market. However, plans to resume producing gallium emerged in late 2021 as part of efforts to reduce strategic dependencies.
Research is currently underway on how to achieve this. But it will take time before a significant yield can be achieved. Experts believe Europe will require another ten years to reduce its dependence on industrial metals.
The Chinese export controls are part of the trade dispute between the US and China. Presidents Trump and Biden have imposed a long list of sanctions on China’s tech companies. On the one hand, they are hardly allowed to do business in the US anymore; on the other hand, Washington has cut off the Chinese economy from advanced US semiconductors and their production facilities.
China now responds by using the leverage at its disposal. If the United States no longer supplies chips, China, in turn, no longer supplies raw materials. However, the US is completely dependent on imported metals. In this respect, China’s controls are not new. The export of rare earth elements has already been regulated since 2010.
Due to the technical and industrial significance of gallium and germanium, both elements are included on the EU’s list of strategic raw materials for the digital economy and the energy transition. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Commission in Brussels expressed “concern” about the Chinese trade measure.
The EU urged China to only deny export licenses over “genuine security concerns”. The Brussels authority currently examines the impact of China’s decision – and whether it is compatible with WTO trade rules.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) regards the new regulations as a wake-up call to accelerate de-risking. “Beijing’s announced export control measures for the raw materials gallium and germanium, which are important for the semiconductor industry, illustrate the urgency of quickly reducing dependence on critical raw materials now,” according to Wolfgang Niedermark, member of the BDI’s Executive Board. This is why it is positive that the EU is progressing toward securing the supply of critical raw materials. he said.
Companies seeking to apply for export licenses in China must specify the country of destination and the intended industrial application of the shipment. This allows Mofcom to very precisely regulate the export restrictions. For instance, exports to certain EU countries could be denied and permitted to others. However, the law’s main addressee is the United States, which buys almost all its gallium on the global market.
Seven companies say they meet the new EU criteria for gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). “We will now review their applications and appoint gatekeepers for certain platform services by Sep. 6“, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said Tuesday. After that, the gatekeepers will have six months to comply with the DMA regulations.
The following companies have declared that they will meet the thresholds:
Under the DMA, which came into force in November, companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of €75 billion are considered gatekeepers if they offer a core platform service. Stricter rules will apply to these platforms in the future.
“Consumers will have more services to choose from, more opportunities to switch providers, and they will benefit from better prices and higher quality of service“, Breton said. In addition, innovative companies would no longer be prevented from reaching new customers.
Surprisingly, Samsung and Tiktok owner Bytedance have also come forward. According to Tiktok, the company meets the quantitative criteria of the DMA, but not the general requirements of the directive. Those stipulate that the gatekeeper has an “unavoidable platform for conducting online business in the EU” and be a “fixed” link between consumers and businesses.
Booking.com expects to fall into the gatekeeper category next year. In the reference period, Booking had suffered revenue losses due to the Corona pandemic.
“We want competition and want the best offer to win in the EU in the end, not the monopolist with the best networking options for customers”, Andreas Schwab (CDU) told Table.Media. The rapporteur for the DMA in the European Parliament said the Commission must now look at each company and say what the DMA means for the individual platforms.
Example: Google Maps. If the service were considered part of Google Search, then Google’s commitments to the search engine would also apply to Google Maps. “And that would be desirable from my point of view”, Schwab said.
The Commission also examines companies that have not made themselves known. If it finds that these companies have a de facto role as gatekeepers, even though they may fall short of the thresholds by a few euros, the commission can classify them as gatekeepers under Article 3(8), Schwab said. Even if they don’t meet the formal requirements. As an example, Schwab cited Vivendi or Alibaba. vis
In a good mood, energy expert Michael Sterner tells us that he spent the weekend tinkering with the photovoltaic system on the roof of his house. It quickly becomes clear that the famous gap between theory and practice does not exist for this man. “I am 83 percent self-sufficient in electricity, heat and mobility with my own solar power”, says Sterner.
The 45-year-old professor of energy systems and energy storage, who teaches and conducts research at the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) in Regensburg, has a practical background. He trained in the electrical trade and has already installed solar cells on school roofs in Kenya.
Sterner is not afraid to seek the widest possible publicity for his topic: In the German ZDF satire program “Heute Show” he promoted wind power, and when the Regensburg City Council presented an energy master plan that does without a solar obligation, Sterner, in association with Fridays for Future, sometimes called for a protest in front of the city hall. What motivates him? “I know that I am doing something that is good for my family and all the people who live on earth”, says the energy expert.
His parents had already influenced him ecologically: “As farmers, we were already working biotopes with a scythe in the 1980s. Other people were still laughing at us then.” Sterner has been working on the energy transition since the end of the 1990s.
After studying mechatronics in Regensburg, earning a master’s degree in renewable energies in Oldenburg, a doctorate in renewable energy systems and research stays in Spain, Chile and India, he joined the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). In the meantime, the professor from Regensburg has become one of the most distinguished thought leaders of the energy transition. For example, he is considered one of the originators of Power to Gas – a technology that uses the decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen to produce climate-friendly gases and fuels from renewable energies. “With this technology, the blackout debate has disappeared. Gas storage is the essential safeguard against blackouts”, Sterner says.
For the energy expert, the crux of the energy transition lies in its social implementation. So Sterner is fighting against trenches – he wants to offer solutions, to think pragmatically. With his book “How We Can Save the Climate” he has developed a master plan for the energy transition in 2022. “So that everyone understands how we can find our way out of the climate and energy crisis and make our lives and economies climate-neutral.” After all, the necessary technologies have long been available, he says, you just have to want the change.
Sterner wrote his book for the boomer generation. For the people who can now implement the energy turnaround, because they can decide to buy climate-friendly cars and heating systems and to renovate buildings. In the big energy debate, he wants to bring as many people along as possible: “If people only think electric, we’ll scare many away.” Climate neutrality, Sterner says, is a fine line. And so he urges action: “We have to pragmatically agree on the middle path. That will only work if we all want it together.” Gabriele Voßkühler
It would be the epitome of speed: Negotiations in Parliament on the electricity market reform could be over as early as tomorrow – almost two weeks before the vote in the Industry Committee on July 19. At least that’s what the Greens hope. But the question is whether the race beyond the fast lane won’t lead to a bang on the energy markets.
The Spanish Socialists are desperate to score a success before the elections on the 23rd. Voters suffering from energy poverty are to be reassured by a profit levy on high electricity prices. If implemented incorrectly, however, this could discourage investment in renewables, which would reduce prices most sustainably.
Some people, such as Luxembourg’s Claude Turmes, even see the entire domestic market threatened by the French nuclear course. Where there’s a lot of nuclear power, there’s no competition – again, the price-cutting renewables could end up on the hard shoulder.
One would like to wish the negotiators a not-too-cramped step on the electric pedal. They can see in real-time from their parliamentary colleagues in Berlin what kind of muddle results from overly rapid negotiations. The Bundestag also plans to pass the “heating law” on Thursday.
At issue are grants to which Germany is entitled from the Corona Recovery and Resilience Facility. So far, the German government has not succeeded in clearing the way for even the first partial payment. According to information from Table.Media, the “Operational Agreement” with the EU Commission has not even been signed yet. The document regulates the formalities and burden of proof requirements and is a prerequisite for the EU funds to flow. In addition, the German government has not yet implemented some reforms that it must provide for the funds to be disbursed.
Other member states are faster: So far, the Commission has already approved 26 applications from 18 member states for payment of billions. Especially in countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, which German politicians have frequently accused of reform fatigue in the past, large amounts in the billions have already been invested from Next Generation EU. However, the money pledged to these member states also represents a higher share in terms of economic output.
Time is pressing. The billions must be spent by the end of 2026. After the pandemic, the restructuring of the national economy is to be driven forward in the spirit of the Green Deal and digitization accelerated. The aim is also to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
To this end, the EU is making a total of €338 billion in grants available to the member states. Germany is entitled to around €30 billion. €2.3 billion was disbursed to Berlin in August 2021 as advance funding, with no conditions attached.
The disbursement of the next tranches, on the other hand, depends on the government achieving the milestones agreed individually with the Commission. Here, the German government has so far failed to deliver. The basis for this is the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. According to this plan, 42 percent of the funds in Germany are to be allocated to climate protection measures, while 52 percent of the funds are to benefit digitization.
The Federal Ministry of Finance is responsible for applying for the billions in funds from the EU budget. The ministry confirmed on request that Germany has not yet submitted a payment application. The first Reconstruction and Resilience Plan (DARP), which was already approved by the Council in July 2021, had to be amended again. However, an initial application for payment is to be submitted “before the end of the year”.
Of the 129 milestones and targets agreed with the Commission, 58 have been achieved so far, the spokesman said. What the spokesman does not say is that for some reforms that Germany must complete, the federal government has so far failed to provide proof.
These include faster approval procedures. In concrete terms, the aim is to reduce investment barriers and bureaucracy in administrative processes. Measures for decarbonization, the development of an economy with green hydrogen and sustainable solutions in transport are also required of Germany. The Commission does not provide any information on what specific reforms are involved and which of them have not yet been implemented.
Other member states are much further ahead. The government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for example, has given top political priority to disbursing the funds. In September 2022, the government laid the groundwork for applying to the Commission for the second installment of €3.6 billion. Three months later, the billions flowed. In mid-May, Athens requested the third disbursement of the funds. By September at the latest, the Council should give the green light and transfer the next €1.72 billion.
Italy is entitled to grants of €68 billion, €28.95 billion of which have already been paid out. Spain is entitled to €69.5 billion in grants, of which €37 billion have already been paid out. Behind closed doors and with certain malice one speaks in these weeks in Brussels about Germany. Countries that were described by German politicians as unwilling to reform, not least during the debt crisis, have meanwhile been acting in an exemplary manner: They have completed the reforms demanded of them by the EU Commission as part of the European Semester, for example in the judiciary and tax administration, and are therefore already benefiting from the Brussels billions.
German consumers and companies are suffering particularly from high energy prices. The Commission has grants of €2.1 billion available for Germany under RePowerEU. The aim is to drive forward decarbonization. To access the Brussels billions, each member state must submit a plan to the EU as a chapter of the national build-up and resilience plan.
According to reports in Brussels, plans have already been received from seven member states, including Portugal, France, Malta, Denmark, Estonia and Slovakia. About a handful of plans have already been reviewed and adopted. Here, too, Germany is lagging behind. When will Germany deliver? A ministry spokesman can’t give a specific date: “Germany is currently in the process of preparing and voting on a revised plan, including a RePowerEU chapter.” The deadline for applications is December.
China’s Ministry of Commerce Mofcom has made exports of the key industrial metals gallium and germanium subject to approval. As of August 1, exporters will require a license to ship these elements to other countries. The basis for the ministry’s directive is the Export Control Law of 2020. According to the ministry, the purpose of the controls is to protect “national security”.
“This mirrors the strategic use of export control measures by the US,” writes Mathieu Duchâtel, an expert on the Chinese economy at the French think tank Institut Montaigne. So far, however, it is not an export ban: Any exporter can still request a license.
Nevertheless, “European semiconductor companies will consider themselves again in the crossfire of US-China competition“, adds Duchâtel. After all, China is the biggest producer of both metals. The new regulation already creates uncertainty about availability and prices. Gallium is particularly vital for a new, more cost-effective generation of semiconductors.
Germany has a high interest in the availability of both metals. This is because gallium is a raw material for power semiconductor devices, which are necessary for the automotive industry. Power semiconductors are chips capable of switching high current voltages, thus an essential part of EV electronics. They can adjust the current seamlessly and are not affected by high temperatures.
Power semiconductors can also be made from silicon, the traditional material for microchips. However, gallium nitride is currently becoming very attractive as a cost-effective and energy-saving alternative. One important manufacturer of gallium nitride-based power semiconductors is Infineon. The company already operates a plant for power semiconductors in Malaysia. It has now also absorbed Canadian special manufacturer GaN Systems to strengthen this area.
The EU currently promotes the development of gallium-based electronic components. Apart from vehicle manufacturing, gallium nitride chips are also used in many other advanced technologies, for example, in
At present, around 98 percent of the gallium consumed worldwide is imported from China. The EU imports over 70 percent of its gallium and almost half of its germanium from China. But the reason for this is not that the metal is not found elsewhere – gallium is also found in Japan, South Korea, Russia or Kazakhstan. The decisive factor for the high market share is China’s low export price.
Germany also used to be a gallium producer but ceased production in 2016 as it was no longer lucrative given the surpluses on the global market. However, plans to resume producing gallium emerged in late 2021 as part of efforts to reduce strategic dependencies.
Research is currently underway on how to achieve this. But it will take time before a significant yield can be achieved. Experts believe Europe will require another ten years to reduce its dependence on industrial metals.
The Chinese export controls are part of the trade dispute between the US and China. Presidents Trump and Biden have imposed a long list of sanctions on China’s tech companies. On the one hand, they are hardly allowed to do business in the US anymore; on the other hand, Washington has cut off the Chinese economy from advanced US semiconductors and their production facilities.
China now responds by using the leverage at its disposal. If the United States no longer supplies chips, China, in turn, no longer supplies raw materials. However, the US is completely dependent on imported metals. In this respect, China’s controls are not new. The export of rare earth elements has already been regulated since 2010.
Due to the technical and industrial significance of gallium and germanium, both elements are included on the EU’s list of strategic raw materials for the digital economy and the energy transition. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Commission in Brussels expressed “concern” about the Chinese trade measure.
The EU urged China to only deny export licenses over “genuine security concerns”. The Brussels authority currently examines the impact of China’s decision – and whether it is compatible with WTO trade rules.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) regards the new regulations as a wake-up call to accelerate de-risking. “Beijing’s announced export control measures for the raw materials gallium and germanium, which are important for the semiconductor industry, illustrate the urgency of quickly reducing dependence on critical raw materials now,” according to Wolfgang Niedermark, member of the BDI’s Executive Board. This is why it is positive that the EU is progressing toward securing the supply of critical raw materials. he said.
Companies seeking to apply for export licenses in China must specify the country of destination and the intended industrial application of the shipment. This allows Mofcom to very precisely regulate the export restrictions. For instance, exports to certain EU countries could be denied and permitted to others. However, the law’s main addressee is the United States, which buys almost all its gallium on the global market.
Seven companies say they meet the new EU criteria for gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). “We will now review their applications and appoint gatekeepers for certain platform services by Sep. 6“, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said Tuesday. After that, the gatekeepers will have six months to comply with the DMA regulations.
The following companies have declared that they will meet the thresholds:
Under the DMA, which came into force in November, companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of €75 billion are considered gatekeepers if they offer a core platform service. Stricter rules will apply to these platforms in the future.
“Consumers will have more services to choose from, more opportunities to switch providers, and they will benefit from better prices and higher quality of service“, Breton said. In addition, innovative companies would no longer be prevented from reaching new customers.
Surprisingly, Samsung and Tiktok owner Bytedance have also come forward. According to Tiktok, the company meets the quantitative criteria of the DMA, but not the general requirements of the directive. Those stipulate that the gatekeeper has an “unavoidable platform for conducting online business in the EU” and be a “fixed” link between consumers and businesses.
Booking.com expects to fall into the gatekeeper category next year. In the reference period, Booking had suffered revenue losses due to the Corona pandemic.
“We want competition and want the best offer to win in the EU in the end, not the monopolist with the best networking options for customers”, Andreas Schwab (CDU) told Table.Media. The rapporteur for the DMA in the European Parliament said the Commission must now look at each company and say what the DMA means for the individual platforms.
Example: Google Maps. If the service were considered part of Google Search, then Google’s commitments to the search engine would also apply to Google Maps. “And that would be desirable from my point of view”, Schwab said.
The Commission also examines companies that have not made themselves known. If it finds that these companies have a de facto role as gatekeepers, even though they may fall short of the thresholds by a few euros, the commission can classify them as gatekeepers under Article 3(8), Schwab said. Even if they don’t meet the formal requirements. As an example, Schwab cited Vivendi or Alibaba. vis
In a good mood, energy expert Michael Sterner tells us that he spent the weekend tinkering with the photovoltaic system on the roof of his house. It quickly becomes clear that the famous gap between theory and practice does not exist for this man. “I am 83 percent self-sufficient in electricity, heat and mobility with my own solar power”, says Sterner.
The 45-year-old professor of energy systems and energy storage, who teaches and conducts research at the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) in Regensburg, has a practical background. He trained in the electrical trade and has already installed solar cells on school roofs in Kenya.
Sterner is not afraid to seek the widest possible publicity for his topic: In the German ZDF satire program “Heute Show” he promoted wind power, and when the Regensburg City Council presented an energy master plan that does without a solar obligation, Sterner, in association with Fridays for Future, sometimes called for a protest in front of the city hall. What motivates him? “I know that I am doing something that is good for my family and all the people who live on earth”, says the energy expert.
His parents had already influenced him ecologically: “As farmers, we were already working biotopes with a scythe in the 1980s. Other people were still laughing at us then.” Sterner has been working on the energy transition since the end of the 1990s.
After studying mechatronics in Regensburg, earning a master’s degree in renewable energies in Oldenburg, a doctorate in renewable energy systems and research stays in Spain, Chile and India, he joined the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). In the meantime, the professor from Regensburg has become one of the most distinguished thought leaders of the energy transition. For example, he is considered one of the originators of Power to Gas – a technology that uses the decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen to produce climate-friendly gases and fuels from renewable energies. “With this technology, the blackout debate has disappeared. Gas storage is the essential safeguard against blackouts”, Sterner says.
For the energy expert, the crux of the energy transition lies in its social implementation. So Sterner is fighting against trenches – he wants to offer solutions, to think pragmatically. With his book “How We Can Save the Climate” he has developed a master plan for the energy transition in 2022. “So that everyone understands how we can find our way out of the climate and energy crisis and make our lives and economies climate-neutral.” After all, the necessary technologies have long been available, he says, you just have to want the change.
Sterner wrote his book for the boomer generation. For the people who can now implement the energy turnaround, because they can decide to buy climate-friendly cars and heating systems and to renovate buildings. In the big energy debate, he wants to bring as many people along as possible: “If people only think electric, we’ll scare many away.” Climate neutrality, Sterner says, is a fine line. And so he urges action: “We have to pragmatically agree on the middle path. That will only work if we all want it together.” Gabriele Voßkühler
