Wind and solar benchmarks for a 1.5°C world
This report presents a detailed methodology for determining the amount of wind and solar capacity that is required for a country to align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal. While the focus
Germany
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Solar panel subsidies not smart, says German MP
AUSTRALIA is taking a wrong path by offering subsidies to install solar rooftop panels, instead of promising households high prices if they sell excess power to the grid, a leading German MP has warned. Hans Josef Fell, the Greens' energy spokesman and co-author of Germany's pathbreaking Renewable Energies Act, said renewable energy now made up 14% of Germany's electricity generation, mainly due to good prices for selling excess power.
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German universities bow to public pressure over GM crops
Scientists have decried the decision by two German universities to pull the plug on field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops, calling it a "disgraceful' interference with scientists' freedom to research.
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Merkel Says Brazilian Biofuels Must Respect Amazon
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Brazil on Wednesday to adopt tougher environmental standards in producing biofuels but said rich nations needed to pay up to help protect rain forests and their biodiversity. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of ethanol, which it derives from sugar cane. Critics say increased production is pushing cattle ranchers and farmers deeper into the Amazon and accelerating the destruction of the world's largest rain forest.
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Economic Slowdown Challenges Solar Industry-EPIA
The economic slowdown, regulatory conflicts and competition from China pose the main risks to future growth of the solar industry, the head of the European Photovoltaic Industry Associations told Reuters. "The two key elements for me are the regulatory conflict in Europe, particularly in Germany with the revision of the feed-in law, and globally the economic slowdown," Adel El Gammal, secretary general of EPIA, said in an interview.
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WWF Says Food Supply At Risk From Species Loss
Governments are set to miss a self-imposed goal of slowing the rate of extinctions by 2010 and as a result are putting long-term food supplies at risk, a top environmentalist said before a UN biodiversity conference. Jim Leape, Director General of the WWF, told Reuters that countries at the May 19-30 UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in the German city of Bonn must admit they are doing too little and step up their commitments.
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Firms seek patents on climate-ready' GM crops
A handful of the world's largest agricultural biotechnology companies are seeking hundreds of patents on gene-altered crops designed to withstand drought and other environmental stresses, part of a race for dominance in the potentially lucrative market for crops that can handle global warming, according to a report being released Tuesday.
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VW, Nissan develop green batteries
German carmaker Volkswagen and Japan's Sanyo Electric Co will jointly develop a lithium-ion bat tery to be used in hybrid and electric cars, the Nikkei Financial Daily reported on Sunday. Volkswagen will aim to start importing and using the battery in its hybrid and electric cars by 2012, the Nikkei said. Sanyo makes nickel-hydrogen batteries that can be recharged repeatedly and Volkswagen and subsidiary Audi AG in the Volkswagen Group's first hybrid model to be rolled out as early as next year will use the batteries.
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GM Crop Foes March In Germany As UN Summit Starts
About 5,000 activists marched through the German city of Bonn on Monday to protest against genetically modified food at the start of a UN conference to discuss risks linked to the technology. Campaigners, many waving colourful flags and banners with slogans such as "Biofuel Creates Hunger" and "Good Food Instead Of GM Food", walked and danced through the western German city. Some drove tractors and floats. "We are protesting for biodiversity and against the destruction of nature, against GM, for the protection of biodiversity," activist Amira Busch told Reuters Television.
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Germany Warns Of Economic Risks From Species Loss
Nations must act to slow extinction rates, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday, arguing the loss of species threatened food supplies for billions of people. Just 10 days before the start of a UN summit on biodiversity in the western city of Bonn, Gabriel told the German parliament that both industrialised and developing countries had to step up their efforts.
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German Minister Stops Biofuel Blending Plans
German Minister Stops Biofuel Blending Plans GERMANY: April 7, 2008 BERLIN - German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Friday he had stopped government plans to raise compulsory bioethanol blending levels in fossil gasoline. Politicians and industry groups had criticised the plans to raise the level to 10 percent for some gasoline grades from five percent, fearing the increase would damage older cars.