Openbau Garzweiler. Image: Raimond Spekking / CC-BY-SA-3.0
The energy and climate weekend: numbers games for workplaces and no change of course at RWE
At the weekend in Berlin 15.000 members of the unions IGBCE and ver.di for the preservation of the German brown coal sector and according to own words "Against the social blackout of entire regions" demonstrated. Several trade union functions and operating rate languages on the demonstration in front of the Chancellery of a one-sided load on the lignite. Instead of risking the loss of tens of thousands of workplaces and the collapse of entire company, the Federal Government should increase gross efforts to climate protection companies, where socially and economic sense gives: in building renovation, transport and in the power-warm coupling, the IG BCE merged Chairman Michael Vassiliadis.
That a lot of improving in the designated areas is certainly right, but of a one-sided burden on the lignite can hardly be the talk if you look at the development of power generation in Germany in recent years.
After an analysis of prognos and the OKO Institute on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics, the lignite power plants have not made a contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions in Germany since 2000 since 2000. In 2000, they emerge 164 million tonnes of CO2, in 2015 169 million tonnes. Without the planned climate contribution of the Federal Government, their emissions in 2020 were still at 159 million tonnes, the prognosis. CO2 emissions from hard coal, on the other hand, have a 20% ridge between 2000 and 2014. Coal-fired power plants are responsible for over 75% of greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector, lignite power plants for over 50%.
The analysis also refers to the procuring numbers in the lignite. 16.000 people were busy in 2014, 5430 in brown sole power plants. A workplace reduction in power plants as a result of climate delivery is less to bound, or. could also be due to the general structural change in the regions. In the area of the open pit, the number of employees will be reduced by certainty. "Since more than 50% of the emissions of the electricity sector are eliminated on the lignite, the climate desire can not be achieved without a reduction of lignite flow and thus the amount of lignite amounts up to 2020", It is called.
The Federal Environment Agency also pays only with a very low degradation of work straps. If the price quantity was reduced by 20% in the journey, there were about 3.200 workplaces affected. This reads a little differently than the Vassiliadis "Social blackout of whole regions".
Inferior to numbers were on Saturday the Brownohlegner, who traveled to a human chain in the Rheinische Braunkohlerevier Garzweiler. Around 6.000 people demonstrated against an extension of the tape, which is among other things affected by the place. Already now Alasandath is largely relocated, 2017 it should be decomposed. Above all, however, one demonstrated for an exit from coal streaming until the year 2040.
The Swedish Court of Auditors also reported to the topic of coal outwards in the past week. The Swedish government agencies criticized the state-owned company Vattenfall for the planned sale of the German brown coal. Vattenfall job profits on environmental requirements, the sale of the lignite building buildings and power plants is not compatible with the climate goals of the EU.
In the fall, the Swedish Government announced that the State Energy Group should become climate-friendly. Accordingly, Vattenfall had not expanded his tape in Germany. But with a sale goods, however, neither the climate nor other hose villards served in the Lausitz. In this sense, the Court of Auditors also criticized the Swedish government who clearly confesses into a Europe-wide CO2 reduction.
Consequences of the break
The German Energy Group RWE also showed little climate-political insight on his Annual General Meeting last Thursday. The company continues to stake in the crisis, according to the CEO Peter Terium. With an increase of 1.7 billion euros to the previous year’s losses in the amount of 2.8 billion euros, the operating result has improved, for the coming years, the result of the falling prices on the electricity borse sees a decline in revenue. The dividend was in 2014 at a Euro per share, for 2015, the Group has not yet become a much anticipated Divierendendehohe.
Terium criticized the planned climate delivery for old coal-fired power plants, it was "The immediate out of a coarse part of the lignite metabolism and lignite power plants mean". According to the Management Board, RWE intends to invest in renewable energies, networks and sales.
Rudiger Haude from the Solar Energy Mailing Association doubts this absorbance. Investments of one billion euros in offshore wind farms in the coming three years are not exactly much. "In the circumstances, it is clear that RWE makes its money mainly with conventional power plants. Terium demands that conditions had to be created in which the construction (!) and the operation of conventional power plants worthwhile", Write Haude in his report on the Annual General Meeting.
While carbon gegner demonstrated from the gates of the Gruga-Halle, the critical actions confronted the participants of the Annual General Meeting with the health and social consequences of coal mining. They call for the dividend to reduce the dividend to 30 cents per share and invest the released sum in the expansion of renewable energies. In the Rheinische Revier, the open pitors led to high particulate matter pollution, partly the limits of the WHO were exceeded around the Funfache. Especially healthy is the fine dust for children. The critical actions also pough human rights violations and environmental destruction in the coal reduction.
From the USA, the public health professor Michael Hendryx arrived, who is the health consequences of the "MountainTop Removal" spoke. In this method, mountain peaks are blasted to come to the cured coal, which is also associated with a significant fine dust stress and toxic recreation.
Affected from the coal exportlanders Russia and Colombia described the effects of coal mining in their homeland. In Western Siberia, a mountain was blown up, which is sacred to the indigenous population of the shores, residents of the mountain region Kemerovo were forced to sell their country, otherwise they threatened to help their houses. In the Colombian mountain region Cesar, people are barely able to renew themselves through land losses and pollution. About murders and expulsions by paramilitars has already been reported at this point (bloody coal).
Renewable warm, growing EEG credit
Also in the warm area shows that the shutdown of coal-fired power plants does not necessarily have to be a problem. According to one of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia, the households of households in the state could cover their warm supplies from surface soil. The study describes the technically usable potential at depths of not more than 100 meters.
At the time of the EEG contribution account, the billions are at the time, but a transfer to the electricity consumers is initially not planned. 4.8 billion euros credit records the EEG account. However, a reduction in the EEG surcharge could be made at the earliest to January. But this year reduction has also been partially passed on to consumers. According to a report by IWR, the Federal Government first wants to expand its contests for electricity-intensive companies. The number of companies or businesses freed from the EEG surcharge is of 2.098 in 2014 on 2.154 increased in 2015.