How will German energy policy look after the national election? The Free Democrats, which pose as the “German car party” in defense of combustion engines, are generally viewed as a friend of the automobile suppliers, many of which are not in a position to scrap their investments and machinery to turn into suppliers to the e-mobility future. If the Free Democrats want to be part of a coalition in which the Greens are a partner as well, pressure will be high to sacrifice positions, as the Greens insist on exit dates for all combustion engines, if possible, no later than 2025.
But, apparently, the big producers of cars have already joined the camp of “green” mobility; a bad omen of this is the tweet written by Volkswagen spokesman Michael Manske yesterday, who outed himself as a member of the Green Party, saying that, because of that, he “would be personally disappointed if they (the Greens) joined a coalition with the (Christian Democratic) Union after this election campaign.” Leading electronics producer Siemens is also opting for e-mobility. Volkswagen CEO Volker Diess demanded an accelerated exit from coal power, a massively expanded creation of solar and wind power, and an increase of the CO2 price from the presently-planned 45 euros per ton of emissions to at least 65 euros by 2024 at the latest.
Big industry also supports the transition from traditional power sources for their production to “green” hydrogen, which, because of immense generation costs caused by the dependency on solar and wind power, will be a big price-driver for energy costs. The FDP calls for huge new offshore wind power parks along the German coast to lower the costs.
