Latest news with #AgoraEnergiewende
Reuters
14-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
German emissions fell 3.4% in 2024, on track for 2030 climate goals
BERLIN, March 14 (Reuters) - Germany's Federal Environment Agency on Friday said greenhouse gas emissions in Europe's biggest economy fell by around 3.4% year-on-year in 2024, putting the country on track to meet its 2030 climate targets. Carbon dioxide emissions fell to 649 million tons last year, the agency said, below a preliminary figure of 656 million metric tons published by the Berlin-based Agora Energiewende think-tank in January and the 2024 legal target of 693.4 million. Germany aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030 compared with 1990, a step to becoming carbon-neutral by 2045. "Looking ahead to 2030, I remain confident that we will achieve our national climate targets," Climate Action and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement. Germany, however, is at risk of significantly missing its targets under the EU's Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) for 2021–2030, mainly due to insufficient progress in the transport and building sectors. Reduction in fossil energy drove Germany's 2024 emissions decline, thanks to a sharp rise in renewable energy expansion, which accounted for around 54% of the country's gross electricity consumption. But emissions cuts in the transport and building sectors remained modest last year, at 1.4% and 2.3% on the year respectively, missing their legal targets.
The Independent
27-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Vietnam plans energy shift toward building more solar, less reliance on gas and coal
Vietnam is revising its energy plans to focus more on large solar farms and less on reliance on coal and natural gas. The fast-growing economy now aims to get 16% of its energy from the sun — more than triple its earlier target of just 5%. A draft of the new policy outline, likely to be finalized in coming weeks, scraps plans to build offshore wind turbines, instead building more onshore wind capacity, rooftop solar and energy storage. Offshore wind and new gas projects have proven expensive and difficult. Large solar farms are cheaper and easier to build. But Vietnam also is emphasizing expansion of large solar farms to meet soaring demand for power generation. It forecasts it will need more than 211 gigawatts of energy by 2030 as its economy grows, 40% more than its previous estimate and more than Germany 's current total capacity. 'This reflects both an overall increase in potential power demand by 2030 and the fact that LNG (or liquefied natural gas) projects are not on track to be completed by 2030,' said Giles Cooper, a partner at the international law firm Allens based in Hanoi who specializes in energy policy. Solar power expanded rapidly in Vietnam from 2018 to 2020, helped by generous government policies, as it leaped past its neighbors and some richer nations like the United Kingdom. But construction of new solar capacity stalled in 2020 as the Southeast Asian nation realized that its creaky electricity grid was getting overloaded since electricity was only available when the sun shone. 'It was like the market almost stopped,' said Dimitri Pescia, of Berlin-based thinktank Agora Energiewende. Use of polluting coal, which releases earth-warming gases into the atmosphere, has surged and Vietnam is set to become of the world's top five coal importers, displacing Taiwan, according to the International Energy Agency. Like many other countries, Vietnam still needs to upgrade its rickety grid, which has failed to keep up with rapid growth of clean power generation. However, it has made improvements and gained experience dealing with energy sources that aren't always availables, Cooper said. Last year, authorities allowed electricity-guzzling factories to buy power directly from energy producers, aiming to ease pressure on the overstrained power grid and help big manufacturers like Samsung Electronics meet their climate targets. But that was hindered by a lack of space to build clean energy projects close to factories. Solar energy is 'seen as the most promising technology to kick start' those direct purchases, Cooper said. But while it's building clean power capacity, Vietnam is also ramping up use of coal. That's partly to make up for lost hydropower capacity due to drought, and also to meet soaring demand as businesses shift factories from China to Vietnam. Vietnam is Southeast Asia's second-biggest coal producer after Indonesia. It also imported 50 million ton of coal in the first three quarters of 2024 — a 31% increase, according to government data. Pescia noted that Vietnam's coal-fired power plants aren't very old and operators have yet to recoup their investments. 'Phasing out coal in a country like Vietnam will take more time,' he said. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Associated Press
27-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Vietnam plans energy shift toward building more solar, less reliance on gas and coal
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam is revising its energy plans to focus more on large solar farms and less on reliance on coal and natural gas. The fast-growing economy now aims to get 16% of its energy from the sun — more than triple its earlier target of just 5%. A draft of the new policy outline, likely to be finalized in coming weeks, scraps plans to build offshore wind turbines, instead building more onshore wind capacity, rooftop solar and energy storage. Offshore wind and new gas projects have proven expensive and difficult. Large solar farms are cheaper and easier to build. But Vietnam also is emphasizing expansion of large solar farms to meet soaring demand for power generation. It forecasts it will need more than 211 gigawatts of energy by 2030 as its economy grows, 40% more than its previous estimate and more than Germany's current total capacity. 'This reflects both an overall increase in potential power demand by 2030 and the fact that LNG (or liquefied natural gas) projects are not on track to be completed by 2030,' said Giles Cooper, a partner at the international law firm Allens based in Hanoi who specializes in energy policy. Solar power expanded rapidly in Vietnam from 2018 to 2020, helped by generous government policies, as it leaped past its neighbors and some richer nations like the United Kingdom. But construction of new solar capacity stalled in 2020 as the Southeast Asian nation realized that its creaky electricity grid was getting overloaded since electricity was only available when the sun shone. 'It was like the market almost stopped,' said Dimitri Pescia, of Berlin-based thinktank Agora Energiewende. Use of polluting coal, which releases earth-warming gases into the atmosphere, has surged and Vietnam is set to become of the world's top five coal importers, displacing Taiwan, according to the International Energy Agency. Like many other countries, Vietnam still needs to upgrade its rickety grid, which has failed to keep up with rapid growth of clean power generation. However, it has made improvements and gained experience dealing with energy sources that aren't always availables, Cooper said. Last year, authorities allowed electricity-guzzling factories to buy power directly from energy producers, aiming to ease pressure on the overstrained power grid and help big manufacturers like Samsung Electronics meet their climate targets. But that was hindered by a lack of space to build clean energy projects close to factories. Solar energy is 'seen as the most promising technology to kick start' those direct purchases, Cooper said. But while it's building clean power capacity, Vietnam is also ramping up use of coal. That's partly to make up for lost hydropower capacity due to drought, and also to meet soaring demand as businesses shift factories from China to Vietnam. Vietnam is Southeast Asia's second-biggest coal producer after Indonesia. It also imported 50 million ton of coal in the first three quarters of 2024 — a 31% increase, according to government data. Pescia noted that Vietnam's coal-fired power plants aren't very old and operators have yet to recoup their investments. 'Phasing out coal in a country like Vietnam will take more time,' he said. ___
