German Cabinet Approves Package of Climate-Protection Measures

                                                                                         

With a comprehensive climate protection package, the federal government wants to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 per cent by 2020. The federal cabinet on Wednesday [5 December] approved a package of 15 measures to create, above all, incentives for the use of renewable energies. By 2020, the share of electricity generated from these sources should be increased to 25-30 per cent and their share in heat supply should grow to 14 per cent. Moreover, new technologies for more energy efficiency and climate protection should be promoted.
After the cabinet meeting, Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) [Social Democratic Party of Germany] stressed that the programme is a "joint achievement by the grand coalition", for which the Black-Red [CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union) - SPD] alliance is able to "claim all the credit". The package shows how an economically-developed country can combine growth and climate protection, he stated. "This is a programme for economic growth and it is a climate protection programme," Gabriel said, calling it the greatest and most ambitious paper worldwide.
Federal Economics Minister Glos (CSU) pointed out that it was a matter of "paving the way" for Gabriel for the UN climate summit in Bali. Moreover, with the package, the federal government wanted to reduce "step-by-step" Germany's dependency "on expensive energies". The goal of the programme is to achieve ambitious, efficient climate protection but it is the politicians' duty to guarantee also the security of energy supply, he said. In this connection, Glos regretted that the same people who "fear global warming" are also "afraid of the peaceful use of nuclear power".

About the author:
Velimir Lackovic runs internet portal "Energetika" ( http://www.energetika.co.yu )
dedicated to renewable energy sources,oil gas and energy efficiency. Velimir has
completed gratuadte studies in power systems engineering and
has industry experiance of over 20 years in this field.

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