Study on energy imports: Rapid independence from Russia possible

According to a study, Germany could become independent of Russian energy supplies in just a few months. To do this, however, consumers would have to accept a number of limitations.

An international team of energy experts and scientists believes it is possible that Germany will become independent of Russian energy by next winter. The scientists have developed a comprehensive concept that shows how this goal could be achieved in the very short term, albeit with great effort. The as yet unpublished study suits that SWR exclusively before.

The feasibility study was prepared by the “Zero Emission Think Tank”, an organization of scientists, including from Stanford University in the USA, the Berkeley Institute under the leadership of the long-standing director of the Fraunhofer Institute ISE in Germany, Eicke Weber, and “Energy Watch Group” and the German Institute for Economic Research. The scientists will publish their study on the occasion of the G7 summit in Elmau.

“The current energy crisis in particular is showing us how dependent we are not only on energy imports, but also on high fossil energy prices and the resulting social and political tensions,” says Weber, one of the authors of the study.

Massive expansion of wind power and heat pumps

In their “solution study”, the experts propose numerous concrete measures that could be implemented in the short term. Among other things, around 1,700 additional wind turbines should be installed by the end of the year, which have already been approved but have not yet been installed. This magnitude roughly corresponds to an increase as in 2016 or 2017. In the last three years, however, the expansion of wind power has slowed down. The wind turbines would generate around 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, with which hundreds of thousands of heat pumps could be operated.

Appropriately, around 330,000 additional, larger heat pumps should be installed by winter, each of which will supply several connected houses or apartments with heat. In this way, more than three million additional households that were previously connected to the natural gas grid could be supplied with heat from electricity. The additional electricity demand is to be generated by the new wind turbines.

“The measures described are so-called ‘no-regret’ measures,” says Ingo Stuckmann, founder of the “Zero Emission Think Tank” and one of the authors of the study. “These investments make ecological and economic sense, and they immediately lead to massive savings in energy costs.”

More insulation, less natural gas

In addition, the authors of the study propose an immediate, government-sponsored program for the internal thermal insulation of public and private buildings. According to the study, the “mobilization of civil society” is also necessary for implementation in the shortest possible time. For example, students could be involved who help to insulate their school in a “campaign week”. The authors have developed a “DIY system” for this purpose and show how rooms can be insulated quickly and easily with as little material as possible.

“With these massive savings in energy costs and gas consumption through this simple interior insulation of, for example, almost 4.8 million households, up to 100 billion kilowatts of natural gas can be saved, i.e. almost a third of Russian natural gas supplies,” says the study. At the same time, as many biogas plants as possible should be connected to the gas grid in order to fill the German gas storage tanks again by winter.

According to the scientists’ calculations, the additional heat pumps and the “interior insulation program” would require investments of around 40 billion euros. However, these measures would also lead to significant savings in gas and heating energy. According to the calculations in the study, energy costs of around ten billion euros could be saved for private households every year. In addition, CO2 emissions would be drastically reduced by up to a third to the same extent. “This means that Germany could even get back on the 1.5-degree path for the first time in decades,” says the study.

Consumer Restrictions

There would also be certain restrictions for consumers, which the scientists believe would be justifiable in order to achieve independence from Russia as quickly as possible. What is unusual about the concept: the proposed measures relate primarily to private households and also to traffic. This could completely prevent restrictions on industrial production.

Accordingly, room temperatures should be reduced by an average of two degrees, and there should also be a temporary speed limit on all roads. Specifically, the authors propose: 110 kilometers per hour on motorways, 80 km/h in rural areas and 30 km/h in cities. Every fifth car journey must be replaced by alternatives that are free of petroleum, which is to be achieved through significantly more electric cars, an extension of the 9-euro ticket and in cities, above all, through the short-term expansion of (temporary) pop-up cycle paths on existing roads . In addition, where possible, one day a week should be worked in the home office in order to save further trips.

According to the scientists, many of the measures would lead to massive cost and energy savings in the medium to long term and contribute to better climate protection. But it is also clear “that major challenges are to be expected in the implementation and scaling of the measures”.