A new Internet tool from climate researchers is now showing, as a kind of early warning system, where there are still problems with the energy transition in Germany. The “Transformation Tracker” went online today.
Around 40 concrete key indicators are compared to this, as Gunnar Luderer, deputy head of the Ariadne project and expert at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said. The results are quite sobering. “Our analyzes show that progress in the energy transition is too slow in most areas to get on course for climate neutrality.”
Fossil future is also ordered
According to the researchers, it shows that there is still a lot to be done when it comes to long-lasting purchases by citizens. “New petrol or diesel engines are on the road for an average of 18 years, new gas heaters are in operation for 15-25, sometimes even 30 years.” This means that the fossil future – i.e. the climate-damaging combustion of coal, oil and gas – is sometimes ordered at the same time.
It is also worth taking a closer look at the successes. “It is initially sobering that many supposedly favorable developments in recent years are the result of the corona pandemic and the energy crisis,” said Frederike Bartels from PIK. Because greenhouse gas emissions, which fell in the course of the pandemic due to the shutdown of industrial production or less traffic, are now increasing again.
According to the Climate Protection Act, Germany must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. According to the Federal Environment Agency, the reduction is currently around 41 percent. Binding climate neutrality must then be achieved by 2045.
