Berlin (energate) - The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party wants to make climate protection that is 'Made in Germany' an export hit, according to the 'Weimar Declaration' says. Innovations and technologies such as CCS are supposed to help. energate spoke with Mark Helfrich, energy policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats) parliamentary group, about nuclear power, the danger of blackouts, fracking and the mistakes of the past.
energate: The CDU wants to become a 'climate protection party'. How does it want to achieve that goal?
Helfrich: By emphasising openness to technology and innovation. In particular, the issue of CO2 capture, storage and use must be tackled boldly.
energate: There is apparently disagreement within the CDU on how to deal with nuclear power in the long term. What is your position on this issue?
Helfrich: In principle, I am in favour of extending the operating lives of nuclear power plants - in case of doubt, even more extensively than we have discussed so far. In addition to the nuclear power plants that are still running, we also have other power plants that would be technically capable of returning. But as far as the issue of new construction and new investments in nuclear energy is concerned, I am very sceptical. We would not be able to reach a social consensus on this issue. But energy supply needs stability, also in the social and political environment. In contrast to new construction, I see greater social support for the issue of lifetime extensions.
energate: In recent months, there have been repeated warnings of blackouts from your ranks - including from party leader Merz - in connection with the debate on lifetime extensions. How high do you think the danger of blackouts is?
Helfrich: I think the danger of a large-scale blackout is limited. Regional power shortages are something else. What I find more important is the question of the supply and thus the economic availability of electrical energy. Yes, there can be situations where interventions in the grid are necessary in individual regions - that is like a blackout for those affected. But the issue of a lack of supply and high prices on the electricity markets is the problem that will grow over the next few years.
energate: To expand this, the CDU also wants to rely on domestic gas production. That quickly brings us to the issue of fracking. After the CSU (the Bavarian sister party of the CDU) and FDP (Liberal Democrats), is the CDU also in favour of fracking?
Helfrich: Domestic production begins with conventional production. On the subject of fracking, we are of the opinion that we should in any case gather findings within the framework of scientific test drilling. There is indeed considerable potential. However, the topic is also politically controversial. It essentially concerns the federal state of Lower Saxony, and it is sometimes easy to call for fracking from the perspective of another federal state.
energate: As you have already indicated, you are mainly relying on technology such as CCS and CCU. Isn't avoiding CO2 much cheaper than fracking and dumping? And where should CCS take place - also in this country?
Helfrich: We are no longer in a situation where we can only think in either-or categories. We need CO2 avoidance everywhere that is technically possible and cost-justifiable. But there are also areas where CO2 avoidance is not possible according to the current state of the art - for example, in cement production. Answers are needed for this. Norway has come a long way with CCS technology and I am glad that the 'traffic light coalition' is opening up at this point. But we also have to consider whether there is potential in Germany.
energate: What is your main criticism of the German government's energy policy? What would you do differently?
Helfrich: We would have approached the issue of the supply of electrical energy differently, I mentioned nuclear power. More could have been done on the subject of biogas, too. Personally, I would have liked to see more courage in limiting the impact of the gas price on the electricity price. The levy will keep us busy for a long time to come, because there will be lawsuits.
The fundamental question is: How do we manage to return to energy prices that do not endanger Germany as an industrial location in international comparison and that do not overburden citizens and public budgets? In my view, the issue of energy prices is a central point. The Federal Government recently gave me the answer that these high energy prices are needed because they are important as a price signal. In my view, this shows that awareness of the problem of high prices is not yet as pronounced as it should be.
energate: Are the price brakes basically the right instrument?
Helfrich: Of course we need protection for businesses and private consumers. In the CDU/CSU, we called for the basic design of capping a basic demand and, in addition, ensuring an incentive to save at an early stage, and we share it. We are critical of the implementation issues. But in general, I think it would be more important for us to focus more on how we can get prices down again than just cushioning the consequences of high prices.
energate: What is the CDU's position on industrial electricity prices?
Helfrich: This is also a reaction to prices that are too high by international standards. We are calling for an industrial electricity price. The Chancellor promised this to this country as early as 2021. After 24 February 2022, this is all the more urgent.
energate: Former economics minister Peter Altmaier has now admitted mistakes in climate protection. Where would you say the CDU has made mistakes in the past?
Helfrich: Especially on the communication side. It was not always clear where the CDU/CSU stood on renewables. In my home state of Schleswig-Holstein, we have shown under the existing federal laws that it is possible - in grid expansion, in the expansion of generation capacities and also as far as social acceptance is concerned. That's why the federal government is not to blame at all in many places.
But in retrospect, we would have wished that we had focused even more on the potential of renewables. We are now seeing in Schleswig-Holstein how renewable energy is becoming a raw material. This thinking entered the discussion too late. We should also have done more in the past on the subject of LNG in order to diversify. Because there was no immediate pressure to act, we got bogged down between the most diverse interests.
The questions were asked by Carsten Kloth
