German econ & climate minister #Habeck Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz says agreement on binding EU energy efficiency target and ambitious new renewables target (40% by 2030) plus making renewables an overarching public interest is “a big success” consilium.europa.eu/en/topics/ener…

German env min SteffiLemke will negotiate on 2035 combustion engine ban #Fitfor55 at EU Council meeting “so that the European Commission can develop a mechanism to ensure CO2 reduction in the future, but also guarantee openness in terms of technology”. Says it will be a long day.

German Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz says the govt position is: "We want to make it possible for passenger cars with CO2-neutral drives, including e-fuels, to be registered after 2035" (speaking at #G7 press conference)

Again, this is rather different from the compromise Germany just read out in Council, which limits e-fuels to specific vehicle types x.com/keappunn/statu…

Construction is due to begin on Wednesday on what could become the world's biggest plant to capture carbon dioxide from the air and deposit it underground, the company behind the nascent green technology said. reut.rs/3NwxqBX

Parliament amends energy transition laws, weakens 2035 renewables target Germany aims at share of 80% renewables in power consumption by 2030 & wants to have a GHG neutral power system "after the completion of the coal exit” cleanenergywire.org/news/parliamen…

“Russia’s war has convinced the last person in Germany that we need more renewables & energy efficiency to safeguard not only the climate but also our energy security. Renewable energy is also freedom energy“ – 🇩🇪 Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock GermanForeignOffice at #PCD2022 cleanenergywire.org/news/climate-c…

Is Germany reverting to coal to fight the gas supply crunch? While painful for climate activists and parts of govt, economy ministry argues #coal can help ease energy shortages during winter and should not endanger Germany’s climate targets - the Q&A cleanenergywire.org/news/qa-german…

Great summary by Kerstine Appunn on the why, how, when, ... of Germany bringing back retired #coal power plants as a way to tackle the current #EnergyCrisis Which plants can be used, under which circumstances? What does it mean for coal exit plans? For #climate targets?

Third German energy relief package introduces power price brake, windfall taxes, and freezes CO2-price €65 bln package partly to be financed with tax on "insane" energy company profits also proposes nationwide public transport ticket at reduced fare cleanenergywire.org/news/third-ger…

German economy ministry to call for putting two of Germany's three remaining #nuclear plants into reserve beyond scheduled phase-out at end of the year - DER SPIEGEL Reactors to remain in operation as emergency reserve until spring 2023 spiegel.de/politik/deutsc…

Germany pushes to extend lifespan of all three remaining nuclear plants Chancellor Scholz settles dispute within gov't coalition, ordering to put reactors into reserve until mid-April 2023 reuters.com/business/energ…

The first permits for large-scale CO2 storage in the Danish North Sea are in place. From 2030 up to 13 million tonnes of CO2 a year could be pumped underground, danish Klimaministeriet announces via.ritzau.dk/pressemeddelel…

And here's the Clean Energy Wire "evergreen" article (dated but not out of date) on "The carbon balancing act - Emission reduction and removal in the bid for net-zero" cleanenergywire.org/news/carbon-ba…