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Activists put a tree in a hole in the asphalt on the access road to Lützerath (Foto: Stefan Müller climate stuff. (CC BY-NC 2.0 by flickr.com)

Lützerath facing eviction: More activists are gathering in the town of Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia, which is threatened with eviction because of open-cast lignite mining. Numerous people arrived on Saturday and were brought to the village by shuttle buses from surrounding railway stations, reporters reported. On the streets of Lützerath, activists erected new barricades, including concreting gas bottles into the roadway to make eviction more difficult. The police could start from next Monday according to the eviction order of the district.  Yesterday, climate activist Luisa Neubauer visited the squatters. According to climate activist Luisa Neubauer, politicians did not expect so much resistance against the demolition of the village of Lützerath on the edge of the Rhenish open-cast lignite mine. „You notice that apparently it was underestimated what power is in this place,“ Neubauer said in Lützerath on Sunday. „Here a society shows that it understands: everything is at stake. The village here is overrun with people who have come from all over the country. And it’s not an entirely uncomplicated journey. There are many blocked roads and police barricades. But people are taking it on themselves.“ The demonstrators have announced their intention to delay the eviction for weeks. For the Greens, who form a coalition with the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lützerath is a litmus test, especially since scientists have concluded that the mining is unnecessary. tagesschau.de, tagesspiegel.de(Greens), fr.de (Neubauer), coaltransition.org (Study)

Federal Government – Energy supply secure even without nuclear power: Even the coal phase-out could be brought forward without any problems, according to a report by the Ministry of Economics. Instead, Berlin is focusing more on natural gas and hydrogen. The supply would be secure even if the Germans decided to completely phase out coal-fired power generation by 2030. This would also apply to a significant increase in electricity consumption, for example if more heat pumps were used in buildings or if more electric cars were on the road. Until sufficient quantities of „green“ hydrogen are available, natural gas is likely to play an important role in Germany’s electricity supply. Now that supplies from Russia have largely been cut, the BMWK is counting on more import capacities for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Critics, however, warned that overcapacities could be built up. telepolis.de

13.2 billion euros through emissions trading for climate fund

Once again, revenues from emissions trading increased last year. The money flows into the Climate and Transformation Fund, from which climate protection measures are paid for. Germany received around 13.2 billion euros from the sale of carbon dioxide pollution rights in 2022 – more than ever before. The money comes from European (6.8 billion euros) and national (6.4 billion euros) emissions trading. They flow entirely into the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). In 2021, the German Emissions Trading Authority had already recorded a record of 12.5 billion euros. handelsblatt.com

Germany misses the emission targets again: The Federal Republic will probably miss the emission targets for 2022 as well. According to a calculation, about 761 million tonnes of CO2 were released in Germany last year. Emissions in the energy sector rose accordingly. Although energy consumption in 2022 had decreased by 4.7 per cent compared to 2021, the report continued. However, the increased use of coal and oil has cancelled out the emission reductions achieved through lower consumption. The think tank „Agora Energiewende“ called for a consistent trend reversal. In addition to increased use of coal-fired power plants, it holds the transport sector primarily responsible for this. The Federal Minister of Economics and Climate Protection, Robert Habeck, admitted that the measures planned for the transport sector were not enough to close the large CO2 gap there. Despite the problems caused by the Russian war of aggression, the emission of greenhouse gases had probably decreased at least slightly. The reason, he said, was significant energy savings and the high share of renewable energies. This shows that the Federal Government has taken the right course. tagesspiegel.de , faz.net

Saving the rainforest in Brazil: Germany launches a charm offensive in Brazil. The South American country is an important partner in the fight against climate change. Germany has a great interest in seeing Lula succeed, for example in his fight against illegal and – still – legal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The German government released 35 million euros for the Amazon Fund when Lula took office. But there is also criticism. „The 35 million euros are a drop in the ocean,“ criticises Christof Schenk, Managing Director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, a renowned, internationally active nature conservation organisation. „We have to think in completely different dimensions,“ says Schenk tagesschau.de , dw.com(criticism)

How much more must the EU invest in climate protection? Massive investments in renewable energies are the prerequisite for the EU to be climate neutral in 2050. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now come up with an initial figure. The EU would have to invest 302 billion euros per year from 2021 to 2025 in this and other infrastructure in order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as planned. According to the study, the largest additional investments required per year are in renewable energy plants (plus 24 billion euros), the expansion of rail infrastructure (plus 25 billion euros) and electricity grids (plus 24 billion euros). tagesspiegel.de

Controversial CCS moves into focus: Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck is now open to the storage of CO2. On a trip to Norway in the middle of the week, the minister informed himself about the technology, which is still controversial in this country. Industry is still the biggest polluter of CO₂ emissions, for which it has to spend billions annually in the course of emissions trading. With the CO₂ price, politicians actually want to encourage companies to switch to climate-neutral processes. But in some energy-intensive industries it is difficult to curb emissions. CCS is a tempting alternative for these companies. Critics, however, see a danger: „We can’t start dumping our climate waste under the North Sea or Lower Saxony,“ says Kerstin Meyer of BUND. She thinks CCS is a child of the gas and oil industry, with which Norway has become rich. Should CO₂ storage or export be allowed in Germany, the transformation pressure for the industry would be lost. boerse.de (Habeck Reise), tagesspiegel.de, faz.net , sueddeutsche.de

BOOK TIP OF THE WEEK:

So retten wir das Klima

How we can become independent of coal, oil and gas.

Prof. Dr. Michael Sterner, energy expert and advisor to the German government on energy issues, shows in „How we can save the climate“ that climate protection is feasible and that long-believed myths about the energy transition have long since become obsolete. He clearly explains why we urgently need to get along without fossil raw materials, why our energy production must once again take place above ground and why the sun is at the centre of our future energy supply. He deals with the individual areas of electricity, heat, mobility and industry and makes it abundantly clear that everything we need for a sustainable energy transition is there – we just have to want it! komplett-media.de

Christian Lindner: Fears permanently high energy prices and wants fracking in Germany. zeit.de
Robert Habeck: Wants an earlier coal phase-out also in the East. welt.de
Volker Wissing: Wants nuclear power plant lifetimes to be determined by experts. faz.net
Volker Wissing II: Minister Wissing violates climate protection law. handelsblatt.com
Restaurants: Must offer reusable packaging since 1 January. wdr.de
2022 ends unusually warm: The German Weather Service (DWD) has recorded the warmest New Year’s Eve day since weather records began in the 19th century. tagesschau.de

The seventeen goals magazine tells inspiring stories about how people move the world and shows how everyone can make a contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

PODCAST OF THE WEEK:

Why do you quit being a journalist to become a climate activist?

It’s over for Raphael Thelen. After more than ten years, he is turning his back on journalism and becoming an activist with the „Last Generation“. Among other things, he co-founded the Climate Journalism Network and wrote about the climate crisis for major media such as „Der Spiegel“ and „Die Zeit“. However, he is apparently reaching the limits of his possibilities as a journalist. In the Übermedien podcast he says:

„There is a lot of ignorance about the climate crisis. Many people, even in editorial offices, still don’t know what a tipping point is, what a feedback loop is. They don’t know that three degrees of warming, which we will have by the end of the century, means six degrees in Germany. That means Berlin has a climate like Toulouse.“ ….. „I realise that this is my farewell to journalism. It was very difficult for me to make this decision, because I have been doing this job for ten years and I actually love it and have always believed in it.

Why doesn’t he do that now? What exactly is he up to? Can he still be optimistic? And what does journalism have to do with the coyote from „Road Runner“? uebermedien.de

COMMENT OF THE WEEK:

by Felicitas Böselager

Protest is legitimate – if it is peaceful

„Why Lützerath in particular? Aren’t the climate protectors betting on the wrong symbol? After all, none of the original inhabitants still live in the small hamlet in the Rhineland. Houses and farms have long since been abandoned, ownership has been clarified – all this belongs to the energy company RWE. Hardly anyone seriously believes that the place can still be saved; that was different in 2018 with Hambacher Forst. Here there was justified hope that the forest could be preserved – and the many people who campaigned for it succeeded. Today, even some of the protesters from Lützerath sound as if they can’t really do anything against the excavators. …. So it is perfectly justified to protest against fossil energies and the destruction of the environment, even with civil disobedience. But this protest must absolutely remain peaceful. If the situation in Lützerath escalates in the coming weeks, there will only be losers.

This would first and foremost be those who would be directly affected by it, both the climate activists and the police forces. But the activists‘ cause would also be damaged. Flying stones, firecrackers or bottles against police forces do not ensure that the public will engage with the goals of the climate movement. Nor would they bring sympathy to what is actually a legitimate protest. But de-escalation is also urgently needed on the other side – the police must act wisely and prudently in clearing Lützerath. Trust in the state’s ability to act has already been shaken among many in the climate movement because they do not see enough progress in politics and they are increasingly frustrated. An escalation would only fuel this frustration. deutschlandfunk.de

MOBILITY:

Number of car subscriptions increased: When you subscribe to a car, you pay a monthly amount for its use. More and more people – especially younger people – are turning to this model of car use: Car subscriptions will increase by about 50 percent from 2020 to 2022. And experts expect a further sharp increase this year. More and more people are subscribing to a car instead of buying one: The number of car subscription deals increased from about 42,000 in 2020 to 63,000 in 2022, according to an analysis by the Center Automotive Research (CAR) published this Monday. According to the study, this represented a market share of 6.6 per cent in terms of new car registrations for private customers. Car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer expects 100,000 car subscriptions this year. n-tv.de

Registration figures: The reduced subsidy for e-cars has led to a registration boom, especially in December the numbers increased. golem.de
Transport turnaround in local public transport: In 2022, numerous municipalities will continue to use electric drives or expand their existing e-bus fleets. Hydrogen propulsion, on the other hand, is still experiencing teething problems. zdf.de
30 km/h speed limit in cities: Environmentalists in favour, cities willing, transport ministry brakes. heise.de

Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants to examine the potential of night trains for business travellers: The Federal Ministry of Transport wants to examine the potential of night trains in Germany with an expert report.The aim is a holistic, ecological and overall social comparison of night train traffic with other modes of transport. In addition to the economic benefits, the experts are to examine whether tourists and business travellers would travel by night train instead of by plane, car or coach. The traffic lights had set themselves the goal of strengthening cross-border night train services. handelsblatt.com

Government promotes e-fuels with almost 2 billion euros: The funds from the special „Climate and Transaction Fund“ will be used to promote the further development and market ramp-up of electricity-based fuels and advanced biofuels until 2026. The federal government actually sees electricity-based fuels for motor vehicles only as a waste product of e-kerosene. Nevertheless, a lot of money is flowing into development. heise.de

HYDROGEN:

Habeck in Oslo: Hydrogen pipeline from Norway to Germany agreed: Hydrogen is to flow from Norway to Germany in as little as seven years. RWE has signed a purchase agreement for green and blue hydrogen with the Norwegian company Equinor. pv-magazine.de

Excavator converted to H2: Is hydrogen the key to the future construction and demolition industry? An example of two excavators converted to H2 shows that it certainly works in practice. efahrerchip.de

When will sufficient green hydrogen be available? The market ramp-up of electrolysis is a crucial bottleneck for the mass production of green hydrogen. Now researchers have analysed the possible expansion paths of electrolysis capacity in the European Union and globally. hzwei.info

Pipeline for Europe’s largest steel site in Duisburg: Air Liquide connects steelworks to hydrogen network. The industrial gases company Air Liquide has expanded its hydrogen network in the Ruhr region. A new 4 km pipeline now also connects the Thyssenkrupp Steel site in Duisburg, Europe’s largest steelworks. chemietechnik.de

Reducing CO2 emissions: Absolut Vodka and Ardagh invest in a hydrogen-fired glass furnace. neue-verpackung.de

No promotion of biogenic hydrogen: The Federal Government has no plans to promote the production of decarbonised hydrogen from waste or biogenic sources in Germany. This is stated in an answer (20/5037) of the Federal Government to a small question (20/4816) of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Although there is a „need for biogenic raw materials and energy sources for decarbonisation in other areas“, the „availability of sustainable biomass is limited“. For this reason, „a targeted incentive for the production of biogenic hydrogen does not appear to make sense in most cases“, writes the federal government. With the Act on the Further Development of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quota, the Bundestag excluded the promotion of hydrogen from biogenic sources within the framework of the GHG quota in the last legislative period. For the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy, the Act was intended to create incentives for the expansion of electrolysis capacities, with which hydrogen was to be produced from renewable electricity of non-biogenic origin. According to the federal government, crediting hydrogen produced, for example, from biogas or electricity from the energetic utilisation of biomass would jeopardise this goal. A reintroduction would make it possible to credit hydrogen from biogenic sources that is used in road vehicles. There are no plans for any further funding.

LAST WEEK IN THE BUNDESTAG:

Wolf management of the Federal Government: The criticism of the Federal Court of Auditors on the wolf management of the Federal Government is the subject of a small question (20/5094) of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Among other things, the MPs inquire whether the federal government intends to develop concrete goals for the spread of the wolf in Germany. They also ask about the costs associated with the reintroduction of the wolf in Germany.

Report of the Federal Government on Human Rights Policy: The 15th report of the Federal Government on its human rights policy is available as information (20/4865). In the foreword, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) recalls wars, terror and violations of human rights in many countries of the world in the year 2022, which is coming to an end, and refers in particular to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the atrocities associated with it. There must be no impunity in the case of murder and rape, explains the Minister with regard to the Russian attack on Ukraine. Impunity prevents justice. For this reason, the Federal Government is committed to the clarification and documentation of human rights violations and war crimes. In other parts of the world, too, human rights are being trampled on, Baerbock continues, citing Iran, where men and women fear for their lives and stand up for the right to determine their own lives. She also mentions Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime robs women and girls of all freedom and dignity.

Soil Protection Act to be reformed: The German government considers the existing level of protection for soils in Germany to be insufficient and is therefore seeking to amend the Soil Protection Act. In addition, „harmonised environmental regulations of the EU member states“ could help protect the production of agricultural products in Germany from distortions of competition caused by unequal levels of protection. Comprehensive protection of soils can only be achieved if they are applied uniformly on the basis of legally binding regulations, writes the federal government in an answer (20/4967) to a minor question (20/4629) of the CDU/CDU parliamentary group on soil protection.

LITERALLY:

Compared to coal, the CO2 emissions from gas combustion are about half as high. That is the ratio. However, it ignores the fact that methane escapes during gas production and use.

Stefan Schwietzke, international scientist at the Enviromental Defense Fund, the German government’s emissions reports would include these methane emissions. But apart from a few components, methane can almost be equated with natural gas. Germany is one of the big importers: about 90 per cent of the gas products we consume are produced outside Germany and, to a large extent, outside the EU. A large part of the value chain – exploration, production, refinement, transport, onward transmission and, of course, use – is therefore not reflected in the German reports. n-tv.de

AFRICA:

Hope instead of hunger and wars: Droughts and civil wars make life difficult in Somalia, Ethiopia and Congo – but there are also rays of hope. In the new year, Russia’s war in Ukraine is once again getting a lot of media attention. Yet many millions of people in other parts of the world also live in war and crisis zones. The International Rescue Committee regularly publishes a list of the worst crisis regions in the world. Besides Ukraine, the list includes countries in the Middle East and Africa. In this episode we take a look at several crisis regions in Africa. With ZEIT editor Andrea Böhm we talk about the difficult situation in Ethiopia, Somalia and Congo – and about what gives hope. zeit.de

NGO against return of all Benin bronzes: Museums worldwide want to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria. But a New York organisation of descendants of West African slaves wants to prevent a blanket return of looted art.
tagesschau.de

Mali: Show of force in West Africa. Mali counters an ultimatum to release 46 soldiers from Côte d’Ivoire with heavy prison sentences. Are new sanctions coming? The military government in Mali continues to intensify its foreign policy confrontation course. Forty-six soldiers from Côte d’Ivoire who were arrested in July when they landed in Mali’s capital Bamako were sentenced to twenty years in prison each by a court in Bamako on Friday. Three female soldiers, who were part of the group but were released in September, received death sentences in absentia. taz.de

South Sudan: Journalists have been arrested after a pee video of President Kiir. At an official ceremony, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir allegedly peed his pants. Six journalists who distributed the video footage are now under investigation. tagesspiegel.de

Tanzanian President lifts six-year ban on opposition rallies: The President of Tanzania and leader of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, Samia Suluhu Hassan, on Tuesday lifted the ban on opposition rallies. During a meeting with political party leaders, the president urged the police and other security forces to ensure peaceful meetings and rallies for the parties. theheastafrican.co.ke

Zimbabwe bans export of raw lithium: Zimbabwe, one of the world’s largest lithium suppliers, no longer wants to have raw material exported. Instead, it is to be processed within the country in order to profit more from its own raw materials. The country has banned the export of unprocessed raw lithium from its mines. In this way, the African country wants to increase the added value of the sought-after raw material and stop losing billions in revenue from its mineral resources to foreign companies in the future. The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development issued a circular on 20 December. As part of a law to control the export of mineral resources, it aims to ensure that the country benefits more from its lithium deposits in the future and to maintain a strong economic sector with higher incomes for its inhabitants through battery production. efahrer.chip.de

MORE KNOWLEDGE:

A second life for car parts: Used cars or cars involved in accidents are often scrapped at great expense of energy, even if many parts are still functional. Fraunhofer researchers are developing a better alternative in the EKODA project: In a complex test procedure, all components are first examined. An evaluation system then makes recommendations on how the components could be reused. fair-economics.de

Glaciers irretrievably lost: Water scarcity, rising sea levels, changed flora and fauna: the progressive melting of glaciers due to global warming has in some cases serious consequences. Now a study published in the journal Science shows that even in the best case scenario, a large part of the glaciers will disappear. Almost 50 per cent of the approximately 215,000 glaciers taken into account will melt by 2100 – if the temperature increase is limited to 1.5 degrees. science.org

Brown algae fight climate change with slime: Brown algae absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and remove it from the global carbon cycle in the long term. They not only use it in growth, but also use the greenhouse gas to form a sugary slime that is difficult to break down and can remain in sediments for centuries. n-tv.de

Strange phenomena: The warm temperatures now in affect forests and animals. deutschlandfunk.de
Geoengineering: How the climate can be manipulated. utopia.de
The IASS becomes the RIFS: Not only the name changes at the Potsdam researchers. solarify.eu

CALENDAR:

BMUV Agricultural Congress 2023, Berlin 10:30 – 17:30

Protecting livelihoods, confronting crises

We live in challenging times. The impact of the war in Ukraine on energy and agricultural markets shows how vulnerable our agricultural and food systems are. The production, availability and prices of food are coming to the fore and with it the importance of sustainable agriculture and the important role of farmers. At the same time, the climate crisis, species extinction and environmental pressures are increasingly threatening our livelihoods and our agriculture. The increasing droughts and heat waves, also in Germany, are tangible evidence of this. We must tackle these crises together! The environment and agriculture are called upon to understand and strengthen the preservation of biodiversity, the protection of the climate and nature as an important contribution to global food security. The great importance of intact, living and fertile soils is increasingly coming to the fore. The Agricultural Congress 2023 with experts from Germany and abroad offers both an assessment of the current situation and orientation. Come and discuss with us the ways to a crisis-proof and sustainable agriculture! After two years in the online format due to the pandemic, the Agricultural Congress 2023 will probably take place for the first time as a hybrid event with interactive livestream. bmuv.de

THE LAST:

Stuffed cow in a supermarket enrages vegans: Black fur, yellow ear tags, the sign „Anton“ around the neck: A supermarket in Brandenburg wanted to generate attention with a stuffed cow. It succeeded – perhaps not quite as intended. A stuffed cow in the sausage department of an Edeka supermarket in Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg, led to angry reactions on the internet. Users accused the retailer of insensitive treatment of animals. The uproar began with a post on Instagram that a vegan Twitter user picked up on. „Just when you think you’ve seen it all in terms of tastelessness in animal exploitation, here comes Edeka Henningsdorf and places the stuffed body of a victim of the animal exploitation industry in the middle of liverwurst jars,“ he wrote. spiegel.de

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