Stories byClean Energy Wire

Germany became the third country, after France and the Netherlands, to publish a roadmap for moving away from oil, coal, and gas, but advocacy groups warn that the government's own policies, from gas subsidies to renewables reform, undermine it.

In a shock for Germany’s political establishment, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which rejects climate action, scored a landslide victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt over the weekend. While the immediate effects on the country’s energy transition are likely to remain very limited, the longer-term consequences could be...

Germany passed a reform of the country's heating law that removes a mandatory renewable energy share for new heating systems, allowing homeowners to keep installing gas and oil boilers, if they are operated with an increasing share of climate-friendly fuels.

As the energy crisis pushes fossil fuel subsidies to new highs, governments are hiding behind the need for international coordination to avoid cutting support for oil and gas at home, a civil society watchdog warns.

“The heat pump faces a financing problem, not a problem of acceptance, as one might sometimes assume from the political debate,” Carolin Friedemann, who heads Initiative Climate Neutral Germany, told Clean Energy Wire.

"The phaseout of gas is in full swing, both in Germany and across Europe," one analyst told Clean Energy Wire—but progress is too slow in industries with long investment cycles, where existing gas infrastructure has already been written off and analysts expect decades of low LNG prices amid a looming...

The two governments intend to strengthen collaboration on electric and hydrogen mobility and advancing battery and critical minerals partnerships. 

Germany is now the second largest producer of electric vehicles behind China and ahead of the United States, says an industry association.

Against the backdrop of strained relations with the United States and ongoing security concerns from Russia, states bordering the North Sea announced plans to invest up to one trillion euros to expand offshore wind capacity.

Households that continue to rely on gas heating systems in Germany may face additional costs of more than €4,000 per year by 2045 due to rising grid fees, an analysis by research institute Fraunhofer IFAM has found.

An alliance of German environmental NGOs has called on the European Parliament and the German government to ensure that the EU’s future budget makes a strong contribution to reaching nature and climate targets.

Most people in Germany only endorse the expansion of data centres if increasing energy demand can be met by renewable power sources, Clean Energy Wire reports.

The German government plans to hold auctions next year for state support to build new gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 10 gigawatts by 2032—a drastic reduction compared to earlier plans to build up to 20 gigawatts by the turn of the decade.

Germany’s economy ministry is working on a law reform that would enable local utilities to shut down gas grids and cut off consumers from gas supplies, Clean Energy Wire reports.

Following an analysis of eight weather scenarios, the analysts concluded they “do not see supply concerns being a major risk” in any of them.

The insolvency of a decommissioned nuclear plant’s operator in Germany is raising questions about who will pay to dismantle the reactor and manage its radioactive waste.

As German carmakers Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes unveiled new electric models in Munich in what analysts call a crucial attempt to stop their global market decline, environmental groups accused them of “greenwashing” for continuing to rely on combustion engine sales and lobbying against tougher EU emissions rules.

The city of Mannheim in Southwestern Germany is aiming to decommission its gas grid by 2035, so it is encouraging residents to give up their boilers. But since the Christian Democrats of Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to abolish the previous government’s heating law, many have been unwilling to do so.

A Berlin court has cleared the way for a referendum in the German capital to largely ban cars from the city centre, setting up a likely showdown between drivers and critics of car-based urban planning.

German automotive industry suppliers are bracing for a major upheaval as Chinese competitors gain ground, finds a survey among industry executives.