German Green party
The German green party (in German: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) is dedicated to climate protection. The guidelines of the party are environmental policies based on ecological, economic and social sustainability.
Entries tagged with "Coal phaseout"
Lignite (brown coal)
Lignite (brown coal) which Germany has in large quantities, is the dirtiest kind of coal.
Anti-coal activism in Germany
One main failure of the Energiewende has been coal’s continued presence, and German activists are taking matters into their own hands to do what the government won’t: phase out coal.
Hambach Forest
The Hambach Forest is a historic forest in Germany which lies ontop of a brown coal field. The energy company RWE has been fighting activists who want to stop mining there. An occupation of the forest in conjunction with court cases has so far been successful in blocking the mining there from beginning.
Challenges
Switching to 100 percent renewable energy and moving towards zero greenhouse gas emissions is a complete societal shift. Germany is made a lot of progress, but it still has a long way to go. Here are some of the stumbling blocks for the Energiewende.
Anthracite (hard coal)
Anthracite is basically another way of saying “hard coal,” just as lignite is another term for “brown coal.”
German Coal Commission
The German Coal Commission was meant to provide a road map on how Germany will phase out coal. It has officially recommended that Germany phase out coal by 2038.
Coal in Germany
To meet climate targets, Germany must reduce electricity from coal. Since the nuclear phaseout was announced coal consumption has fluctuated, rising from 2011 to 2013 but falling below the level of 2010 by 2017. For the first time ever, renewables generated more power than coal in 2018 (118 to 114 billion kilowatt hours respectively). A further reduction is needed for Germany to reach its carbon reduction targets by 2020, however.