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From Nora Miethke
It is not the case that East Germans reject climate protection and renewable energy across the board, as some media and politicians would have us believe. Two out of three eastern Germans think individual climate protection measures by the German government, such as faster approval procedures for wind turbines, the expansion of power lines or the promotion of hydrogen applications, are good or very good. A third would also be prepared to pay more for the energy turnaround. But two-thirds of eastern Germans are also dissatisfied with the German government's overall energy and climate policy package, regardless of whether they are young or old. Thus the result of a current survey on behalf of the energy supplier Envia-M, which was presented on Wednesday.
For Envia-M-CEO Stephan Lowis, this is not a contradiction. "We have tough phase-out targets, but no clear overall plan for how we want to achieve them. The population notices that, and that's where the dissatisfaction comes from," says Lowis.
East Germans want to invest in the heat turnaround
In July, the Institute for Applied Marketing and Communication Research (IMK) in Erfurt 1,000 East Germans on climate protection and the energy transition, half of them aged 16 to 26. Here are the most important results:
Around 30 percent of respondents are willing to spend more money on climate protection and the energy transition, especially in the areas of energy (67 percent) and more economical electrical appliances (59 percent). Among the younger generation, 36 percent would also pay more for resource-conserving clothing and food.
Almost every second respondent with home ownership (47 percent) has the financial means and is willing to invest in the heat transition. Compared with the previous year, the proportion of people who have already invested and would invest even more money in charging points, heat pumps or insulating their homes has risen from 15 to 25 percent.
Affordability most important climate protection issue
A big issue for many people is affordability. When asked which climate protection issue the German government should urgently address, four out of ten people answered: affordability. This was followed by a faster expansion of renewables (12 percent), reintroduction of nuclear energy (11 percent) and security of supply (10 percent). Among the younger generation, 32 percent also mentioned affordability, but in contrast to the respondent group as a whole, an early coal phase-out, higher CO2 prices for fossil fuels and faster expansion of the power grids are more important to the younger generation.
One hurdle remains local acceptance. Almost 70 percent of those surveyed, both young and old, would tolerate a solar plant in the immediate vicinity of their homes, but only 38 percent would accept a wind power plant. Among younger people, the figure is 41 percent. Acceptance drops to 30 percent for power lines and 22 percent for biogas plants. One in ten eastern Germans would not tolerate a plant near their home at all. "The low acceptance of power lines does not move us forward; energy transition only works with grid expansion," Lowis emphasizes. In order to be able to connect heat pumps in the basement, charging sockets in the garage or mini solar power plants on the balcony, he says, distribution grids need to be expanded. "We have targets for everything, but there is no clear target for grid expansion," says the Envia-M boss, criticizing the politicians.
