STILL conneXXt Nr. 02 English

13 TITLE STORY ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRICITY GENERATED FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. DESPITE ALL ADVANCES MADE IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION, GERMANY, FOR EXAMPLE, STILL FIRES MORE LIGNITE FOR POWER GENERATION THAN IN THE LAST 20 YEARS. THE SITUATION IS SIMILAR IN MANY OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES... It is true that the energy transition really does have a positive problem. Anyone who travels through the country and sees solar systems and wind turbines everywhere might get the impression that our electricity is generated almost exclusively from renewables. In fact in many areas the base electricity supplies are still from coal. It will be decisive here to plan the phase-out of coal based on a consensus and to carefully implement that plan by 2040, for example. SOUNDS LIKE A VERY LONG-WINDED PROCESS. It is the only way to be successful. No one wants to phase out coal overnight, that would not work anyway. However, an extended phase- out offers all involved the benefit of a robust plan. I do, however, still have the impression that some people are trying to stop this structur- al change. This structural change is, however, already in full swing and instead of trying to oppose it, it makes much more sense to take proactive part in shaping it. A PROCESS WHICH IS ALREADY VERY COMPLEX EVEN IN EUROPE. HOW REALISTIC DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD WILL JOIN IN THIS CHANGE TO RENEWABLE ENERGIES? Ultimately – and that is not intended to sound pompous – the whole world needs renewable energies. They are in principle the only option with which all the world’s countries can achieve the goals as agreed in the Paris climate summit. And as far as solar, wind and hydro­ electric power are concerned, continents like Africa actually have much better prerequisites in terms of climate and geographical features than, for example, Germany. And whereas gas, oil and coal will become more expensive over the coming decades, the opposite is true for renewable energies. That means the energy transition also makes economic sense. “EVERYTHING WILL BE BASED ON ELECTRICITY” TITLE STORY Prof. Martin Faulstich, of the Technical University of Clausthal and former chairman of the German government’s environment council, discusses why renewable electricity is becoming more and more important. MR. FAULSTICH, YOU COINED THE TERM “ELECTRIC SOCIETY”. MANY PEOPLE THINK OF POWER GENERATORS, BUT NOT YOU. WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU DRIVING AT? This term was of course deliberately chosen to astonish, in order to motivate people to think about a very important issue: because of climate change in the future we will have to convert almost all of our power generation to renewable energies. These are primarily wind, water and sun, and these produce electricity. SO THE “ELECTRIC SOCIETY” IN THE SENSE OF ELECTRICITY BEING THE MOST IMPORTANT FORM OF ENERGY IN THE FUTURE? No doubt. Not only to run classic electrical consumers such as refriger- ators, computers and irons. Electricity will also be the basis for trans- port and heating sectors. The subject of electromobility is already gaining pace. And as soon as aspects like vehicle range and charging point infrastructure have been solved for the most part – which is already on the cards – zero-emission electrical drives will not only play a role in intralogistics and logistics, but also for “normal” road traffic. YOU ALSO MENTIONED THE HEATING SECTOR – WILL OIL AND GAS HEATING SOON BE REDUNDANT? No, not that soon. But in the sector of heat provision, the increasing use of electric underfloor and wall heating systems will increase. In addition, we already have access to more and more sophisticated technologies which enable us to use chemical processes to, for exam- ple, convert electricity into synthetic “natural gas”, which can then be used in industrial processes. Even kerosene for aircraft can be pro- duced synthetically. This means that in the future all kinds of energy services, as are required in households, industry and transport, can ultimately be based on electricity. And that is exactly what the meta- phor of “the electric society” is intended to express. 13

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