The German approach of increasing economic growth and reducing CO 2 emissions with renewable energies is doomed to failure for the Siegen economist Niko Paech. Technological progress is religiously overestimated, while rebound effects are massively underestimated, he said on Tuesday at the remote Chaos Communication Congress (rC3).

In principle, the emissions per capita and per year of 12 tons of CO 2 equivalents down to a ton, the professor explained at the digital hacker conference. But the “ecological game of hide and seek” and the associated modern indulgence trade do not help.

According to Paech, the photovoltaic system on the roof or the purchase of “eco-fair coffee” only stabilize the “eco-suicidal way of life” without really changing anything in terms of climate protection and sustainability. The money saved in the production of electricity at home is mostly only “spent on the dirtiest consumption”.

Germany is not an eco-model student A technology has never been invented that could have eliminated the ecological damage without only relocating it, explained the researcher. Even photovoltaic modules and wind turbines did not fall from the sky and did not solve the growth problem in view of the climate crisis, species loss and limited resources.

Germany is by no means a model student in “green growth”. At first glance, the Federal Republic managed to steadily increase the share of renewable energies. 2019 but only 15 percent of the total amount of primary energy was actually generated regeneratively , of which half comes from biomass, which does not have a green CO 2 balance.

In addition, Germany remains at a high level in terms of final energy consumption overall as “climate protection grubby” below the European average for green energies. At the same time, gross electricity generation is growing due to digitization, said Paech.

The most energy-intensive components of the production chains will also be relocated, especially to China and India. That could prettify your own bill, but it was “fake news”. Even the “transfigured” Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) had little effect. In particular, the transmission grids and storage capacities are far from the level that is necessary for a strong growth in solar and wind power.

Zero-sum game emissions trading and unlimited production From the scientist’s point of view, European emissions trading is not adequately included in the EEG balance. A power plant operator who reduces CO 2 emissions and, if necessary, collects money from the state for this, can sell his certificates. Another supplier that still relies on coal and operates extremely inefficient power plants can get them cheaply. So it remains with a zero-sum game and further shifts of the CO 2 – emissions ultimately around the world.

This also applies to the “unlimited production “, Paech continued in his account. The processes are being broken down further and further and shifted to where the lowest economic costs can be expected and there are no unions, for example. So everyone in this country can afford a Samsung Galaxy. However, the price for this is the loss of autonomy and a lack of control over the supply chain.

As the corona pandemic recently showed, it can collapse quickly, especially in crises. This also means that a “high social drop has been reached”. “Viruses and CO2 molecules throw us back to the question: What is the price for technological prosperity?” Emphasized the supporter of the post-growth economy.

Paech has already shown possible solutions: The “global industrial chain “should be scaled down to 50 percent, in parallel the local economy must be expanded. The working hours should be reduced to 20 hours per week in order to jointly build up a secondary economy in the remaining time and to share consumer goods from cars to washing machines and, for example, smartphones, To repair printers and computers.

This must be accompanied by a cultural change in order to break the previous vicious circle, says Paech. What is needed are prosumers, manual skills and new social networks and movements. In doing so, the individual is doing a lot for health and “self-efficacy”, while social resilience and crisis stability increase at the same time.

( cwo)