COP28 – Interim conclusion on the last meter

The COP28 conference in Dubai is slowly coming to an end and it is time to draw a first conclusion. The main task of the conference was to take stock of where the world stands eight years after the signing of the Paris Agreement – and how the countries intend to remedy the massive deficits that have arisen in the implementation of targets. Measured by the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, all previous climate conferences have failed. Since regular measurements began in 1958, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen exponentially, and the conferences of the last 20 …

If coal is to be phased out, then please do it properly!

Parts of the federal government with ambitious goals The Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag plans to increase the pace of the coal phase-out in the new federal states as well and to stop coal-fired power generation as early as 2030. So far, the plan was to phase out in 2038. In view of the fact that in Germany, after 65 years of nuclear power, the last nuclear power plants will be shut down in a few weeks and the expansion of renewable energies is rather faltering, this may be a courageous step from the point of view of security …

Deadlines cannot help with the introduction of the heat pump – emissions trading does

The required heat pumps are just as unavailable as the necessary tradesmen With great difficulty, the three governing parties have now reached a compromise on the heat pump. It will only be prescribed for new buildings or for the complete replacement of an old heating system, if a repair is no longer possible. Exceptions are to be made for heating systems that run on biogas or hydrogen – this should not affect the majority of citizens. These alternatives were presumably included primarily so that legislators can claim to have acted in a technology-open manner. In Germany, about five million households …

IPCC revises 1.5 degree mitigation path – A first look at the figures in the IPCC Synthesis Report

CO2 reduction pathways slightly modified and marginally less ambitious The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has once again warned of the drastic effects of climate change in the recently published so-called Synthesis Report and pointed out that there is a comparatively high probability that the 1.5-degree limit could already be exceeded in the coming decade. In addition, it is reported that climate change has recently progressed somewhat faster than most projections had previously assumed. In the reporting on the latest publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, however, it was somewhat overlooked that it also included recalculations of the …

Offsetting transactions with voluntary CO 2 certificates become a reputation problem for companies

The basic idea of offsetting transactions Whoever buys a service or a product today often has the opportunity to purchase exactly this service or product CO2-free. Airlines use this offer just as much as petroleum companies that sell their petrol. It is not uncommon for consumers to have no choice but to buy a product that has already been made CO2-neutral. Although this form of CO2 neutralisation is becoming more and more common, it is a little surprising that many people often do not know and understand the mechanisms behind it. The basic approach is quite simple: companies finance projects …

Ministerial bashing over e-fuels – we don’t go along.

E-fuel and battery drive compared Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing had announced his abstention for the vote in the EU Council of Ministers on the ban of all combustion engines from 2035 onwards, unless an exception was made for climate-neutral e-fuels. Because without the German “yes” the “no” of Italy and some Eastern European states cannot be outvoted, the vote was postponed. Criticism is now pelting Wissing from the Greens and environmental associations. We don’t quite understand why. E-fuels must not be confused with biodiesel or fuels with the ethanol admixture that is common today, such as in E-10. E-fuels …

Does the temporary holding of European emission rights have a climate effect?

EU emissions trading: a brief introduction In Europe, about 11,000 installations are only allowed to emit CO2 and other greenhouse gases if they hold an emission allowance for each tonne. These EU emission rights are issued by the EU (or individual states) and are limited in quantity. Each year, the amount of newly emitted emission rights is also reduced, so that over time not only does the scarcity continue to increase, but a reduction path is actually achieved in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases. Currently, the number of new EU emission rights emitted is reduced by 2.2% per year; …