Germany's greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced to zero in 30 years with a major investment and future-oriented program. Coal, oil and gas will be replaced by electricity and hydrogen from renewable energies in all areas of life and the economy. To achieve this, the expansion of wind and solar power plants must be roughly tripled over the next ten years and the German climate target for 2030 raised to -65%. These are the findings of a comprehensive study commissioned by Agora Energiewende, Agora Verkehrswende and Stiftung Klimaneutralität.
Within 30 years, Germany can transform itself into a climate-neutral nation and gain further prosperity and economic strength. This requires a comprehensive investment program that prioritizes the expansion of renewable energies, includes the extensive electrification of transport, heating and industry, includes the energy-efficient refurbishment of almost all buildings and initiates the development of a hydrogen infrastructure.
In a first step, emissions would be reduced by 65% by 2030 compared to 1990. This would be followed by a second step involving a complete switch to climate-neutral technologies, which would reduce emissions by 95%. Finally, in a third step, unavoidable residual emissions would be offset byCO2 capture and storage. These are the key findings of a comprehensive study commissioned by Agora Energiewende, Agora Verkehrswende and the Climate Neutrality Foundation. After the summary was presented in October, the comprehensive full version of the study is now also available.
By raising the 2030 climate target by ten percentage points to -65% greenhouse gas emissions, Germany would also be making its contribution to an increased EU climate target for 2030. This is currently being negotiated between the European Parliament and the EU member states as part of the European Green Deal and is expected to be raised from -40% to between -55% and -60% by the end of the year.