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How Germany Is Strengthening the Equity of Public Energy Utilities

Many of Germany's nearly 900 public energy utilities lack the equity capital needed to invest in the expansion and modernization of their electricity and heat networks. The investment requirement amounts to around €647 billion by 2045.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

How Does Germany Think About Buying Electric Cars?

With over 545,000 registrations, 2025 has become the strongest year to date for electric vehicles in Germany. A representative survey of 3,000 car buyers interested in purchasing confirms that this reflects a broad openness in society: 89 percent do not rule out an electric vehicle for their next purchase. Behind this general openness, however, lie very different circumstances — from charging options and income levels to specific attitudes toward the technology.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Electricity Costs Reduced to Zero through Flexibility

The ongoing energy transition is creating new opportunities: electricity generation from wind and solar sources is increasingly surpassing demand. For households equipped with heat pumps, electric vehicles, or battery storage systems, this presents tangible potential for cost savings.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

The Impact of Varying Renovation Rates on the Energy System and its Costs

A lower energy renovation rate does not lead to higher system costs under climate neutrality. A sensitivity study by Prognos and the Climate Neutrality Foundation yields new insights for the debate on building renovation.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

How Germany is securing the Ramp-up of Electric Mobility

Electric mobility is increasingly becoming a mass phenomenon in Germany: despite contentious political debates, 2025 turned out to be a record year. With over 510,000 newly registered electric vehicles by the end of 2025 and a market share of around 19 percent, the trend is clearly pointing upward. Particularly noteworthy: German manufacturers dominate the domestic market and are securing even higher market shares in electric vehicles than in the traditional combustion engine segment.

Climate Neutrlity Foundation and Agora Verkehrswende

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Municipal Heat Planning in Practice: Initial Findings from 15 Case-Study Municipalities

The first municipal heat plans have been completed. This provides an opportunity for an initial status review.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Investing in Future-Proof Infrastructure

Germany's approximately 900 energy utilities must modernize their networks and prepare them for the expansion of renewable energy. By 2035, they will need up to €68 billion in additional equity capital to do so. However, the companies are very differently positioned when it comes to financing these investments.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Affordable Solar Power with a Transatlantic Cable

What sounds like science fiction is technically feasible: solar power from South America could carry Europe through the winter. A transatlantic cable between Europe and South America could elegantly solve the problem of winter dark doldrums — those periods of low wind and sunlight. Rainer Baake and Prof. Wolf Grossmann have developed a concrete proposal to this end.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Lead Market for Green Ammonia: The Key to a Climate-Friendly Fertilizer Industry

Green ammonia is central to making the natural gas-dependent fertilizer industry both climate-neutral and competitive by the mid-2040s. The study shows that import pathways from countries with highly favorable renewable resources — such as Namibia — offer significant cost advantages over purely domestic production and could undercut the price of fossil ammonia as early as 2035.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Eight Strategic Dimensions for Germany's Future | Contextualizing the Energy Transition Monitoring

In the coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD announced a monitoring process that is intended to form the basis of the federal government's future energy policy work. The review will focus in particular on projected electricity demand, the state of grid expansion, and the expansion of renewable energies.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Solar Power for South Africa: Market Opportunities and Financing Solutions

Expanding solar energy in South Africa offers significant opportunities for greater energy security, lower costs, and climate protection. This two-part study examines the market potential, financing gaps, and practical solutions for the further deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV).

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Securing Green Hydrogen for the German Power Sector

On behalf of the Climate Neutrality Foundation, DNV has examined three hydrogen value chains in terms of costs and technological maturity in the study “Securing Green Hydrogen for the German Power Sector”

DNV

Climate Neutrality Foundation

International climate and transformation partnerships

Partnerships provide the framework for securing the industrial and economic transformation, making it resilient, and promote sustainable economic prosperity in the participating partner countries.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Further development of KfW into a climate and transformation bank

This study examines which measures need to be implemented in order for KfW to consistently develop into a climate and transformation bank.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Securing Germany’s Sovereignty

Resilient supply chains for the transformation to climate neutrality by 2045

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Unlocking grid capacity for rapid RES (renewable energy sources) deployment in South Africa

Renewable energy sources (RES) are abundant in South Africa – and they are the fastest way to reduce load-shedding if a RES curtailment framework is in place.

Elia Grid International / ESKOM

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Accelerating Renewables Roll-Out in South Africa

South Africa currently faces a serious energy crisis with regular loadshedding due to a 6-10 GW effective generation capacity gap. This study provides a potential solution to accelerate renewable capacity deployment as an emergency, temporary programme to help alleviate this short-term energy crisis.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Green ammonia from Namibia

The decarbonization of industry in Germany requires a stable supply of green molecules. Green hydrogen (GH2) in the form of its derivative green ammonia is especially relevant in this context. Since Germany will remain a net energy importer in the future, it is now important to actively promote the development of green hydrogen projects abroad.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

The climate action program

Climate Neutrality Foundation, together with Agora Energiewende and Agora Verkehrswende, has developed proposals for an immediate climate protection program. It identifies 22 measures that are prepared so that the new government can launch them in the first 100 days (in German only).

Agora Energiewende, Agora Verkehrswende, Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Regulatory proposal “Sustainable urban mobility”

Climate neutrality can only be achieved with a shift in mobility away from individual cars and toward cycling, walking and public transport. Here, local authorities are key players. They need be enabled to make more decisions in the mobility transition.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Transforming Agriculture towards Climate Neutrality

Agriculture is responsible for most of the residual emissions in 2045 that are difficult to avoid. Emissions from livestock and agricultural land use must be reduced as much as possible before costly technological options are used to offset the remaining emissions.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Climate stress test for the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan

The upcoming review of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (FTIP) is a chance to align transport infrastructure planning with climate change goals.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Policy instruments for a climate-neutral Germany

Germany aims to become climate neutral by 2045 and, as an intermediate step, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. This higher ambition is feasible, but requires a completely new quality and a much faster pace in climate policy.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Returning CO2 costs to citizens by lowering the EEG levy

An increase in CO2 prices with a simultaneous reduction in the EEG surcharge is a win-win strategy for climate protection: stranded investments in fossil technologies are avoided and the necessary electrification receives a powerful boost.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Agenda for a socially just heat transition

With a comprehensive package of regulatory measures, subsidies and a reform of carbon pricing and levies, the building stock can become climate-neutral in a socially responsible way.

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Avoiding Stranded Assets

Climate Neutrality 2045 and the end of fossil fuel use

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Labor market effects of long-term climate neutrality, with a focus on 2030

The transformation to climate neutrality and its impact on the labor market

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Hydrogen Strategy 2.0: How to accelerate the market ramp-up

The hydrogen strategy 2.0 ensures the necessary market ramp-up so that the climate targets can be achieved

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Onshore Wind Energy Act

How to accelerate approval procedures with an Onshore Wind Energy Act.

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Reducing fiscal privileges of aviation

No means of transport does as much damage to the climate as the aeroplane. Despite this, air travel enjoys government-subsidized competitive advantages over other modes of transport. Climate Neutrality Foundation suggests how these advantages can be eliminated.

Öko-Institut

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Climate Protection and Species Conservation

How the conflict of goals between climate protection and species conservation in the expansion of wind energy can be resolved constructively

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Carbon floor price

How to create planning security for the electricity sector with a carbon floor price

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Climate-Neutral Germany 2045

Climate neutrality means that no greenhouse gases are emitted beyond those absorbed by nature or other sinks.

Prognos, Öko-Institut, Wuppertal Institut (2021)

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Security of supply on the way to climate neutrality

On the way to climate neutrality, the market-driven flexibilization of demand, the development of controllable power plant capacity, and the European internal market in particular enable a high degree of supply security.

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Smart carbon pricing for cars

More electric vehicles through a smart carbon pricing scheme! A smart carbon pricing scheme based on the annual vehicle tax can create cost parity between electric vehicles and cars with combustion engines. This will speed up the switch to electromobility in order to achieve our climate targets.

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

More Land for Wind Energy

To accelerate the necessary expansion of onshore wind in Germany, significantly more qualified areas must be made available for wind energy. Targeted changes in federal planning law can increase the availability of land rapidly and with legal certainty.

Stiftung Klimaneutralität

Climate Neutrality Foundation

Climate-Neutral Germany 2050

The large-scale study “Towards a Climate-Neutral Germany”, commissioned in cooperation with Agora Energiewende and Agora Verkehrswende, shows how Germany can become climate-neutral by 2050, with cost-effectiveness, adherence to existing investment cycles and acceptance as core criteria.

Prognos, Öko-Institut, Wuppertal Institut (2020)

Climate Neutrality Foundation