German Greens expect renewables budget decision this week
Date: 12-Nov-01
Country: GERMANY
Together with its Social Democrats (SPD) ruling coalition partner, the junior Green Party is blocking plans by Economics Minister Werner Mueller, an independent, to cut funding for renewables to 170 million marks in 2002 from this year's 300 million marks.
"There will be a final decision on funding for renewable energy next Wednesday and we will have a good result," Hans-Josef Fell, the Green Party's parliamentary spokesman on research, told Reuters.
Fell said in mid-October that "nearly everyone" in the Green Party and SPD factions want an increase in the budget to 400 million marks next year.
Asked if "good result" was a reference to that figure, he said, "it could be."
The current 300 million mark funding applies to the solar thermal, biogas and geothermal forms of renewable energies.
The Green Party is also blocking Mueller's plan to cut the research budget for renewables to 65 million marks from 210 million marks next year.
Germany supports renewable source of energy as environmentally-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels as part of its commitment to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.
