Annual Report 2010 - Verein der Kohlenimporteure eV

with its extremely ambitious objectives in its Energy
Concept, without having had a broad social debate about
its consequences. It should acknowledge that today’s
long-term objectives to 2050 cannot be a burden and
should therefore be understood more as environmental
policy wishes. Last but not least, the improved energyefficiency
and energy-savings objectives appear almost
Utopian, without drastic structural changes to existing
production and consumption patterns. The Institute
September 2011, comes to the conclusion that politicians
should not rely on the, “vision of a massive drop in
for the next 40 years should not rely only on optimistic
assumptions”.
The Association of German Scientists – Vereinigung
Deutscher Wissenschaftler (VDW) – comes to the
conclusion that, “after examining the measures planned
as to whether the objectives of the Energy Concept are
achievable with these measures”.
There is also the basic question of how so many
detailed and rule-setting energy sector “objectives” are
to be combined with a market economy? The narrow
focus on renewable energies is even contrary to the
self-proclaimed “open to technology” approach of the
the energy mix. The clear primacy of climate protection
is in contradiction with the energy policy triangle –
security, affordability and sustainability – and their
balance. All objections made against it so far have in
substance remained valid.
In addition to the economics of energy supply, security
of supply is also underrated in the Energy Concept. This
can be seen in German electricity supply which, for the
first time in its history, according to the energy scenarios,
will rely from 2020 and beyond on increasingly massive
imports. Thus, domestic power supply, which BDI has
referred to with concern, “depends on conditions in
foreign countries”. The power and influence of German
energy policy will decrease to an extent unknown so far.
The Energy Concept barely explains how, according to
the energy scenarios, significant fossil energy imports
can and should be secured, at least until 2020. The short
section on “securing raw materials and international
aspects” refers mainly to the EU level and supporting
international infrastructure projects. Major challenges
for security of energy supply thus remain unanswered.
End of Hard Coal Production in 2018 Finally Agreed
The end date for German hard coal mining has
been sealed. The original proposal of the European
Commission, published in July 2010, that would have
allowed state aid for hard coal mining across the EU
only until October 2014, was in contradiction with
the German law on financing hard coal mining that
a regulation on a socially acceptable expiry date being
agreed by the end of 2008, with a review clause in
2012. The review was dropped from a draft law agreed
at the beginning of 2011 on changes to the financing
a European Commission decision that left no scope
for an eventual review of the national decision to end
coal production. State aid to the remaining five mines,
according to the EU decision, may only continue if, for
each mine, a definitive, irreversible date for closure is
established in a closure plan.
The Spanish coal industry introduced a complaint
against the European Commission’s decision of 10
of Justice, according to which state aid had already
been approved for not only the German, but also for
the Spanish hard coal mining industry, with the same
objective of a definite end to uneconomic Spanish
hard coal mining. No hard coal mines will be closed in
Germany in 2011. Only in mid 2012, with Saar mine
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