AfD on climate and energy

The AfD rejects spending billions on climate measures it considers ineffective and a burden on citizens. Instead, it wants to promote exports of green technology, projects in emerging economies, and reforestation.

The AfD says the climate changes because of nature and people. Germany causes only two percent of the world's CO2. So the party wants to spend less on climate measures at home. It prefers selling German green technology abroad. It also wants to plant more trees.

The platform sees both natural and human causes of climate change and calls for an open scientific debate that includes critics of the mainstream view. The AfD points to Germany's two percent share of global CO2 emissions and concludes that environmental policy must start globally. Locally, it relies on environmental and nature protection and cites an ETH Zurich study on reforestation. It rejects declaring a climate emergency. Policy should weigh economic, social, and ecological concerns against each other.

The AfD demands that wind turbines be at least ten times their height away from residential areas. It justifies this with health risks from infrasound, which it says a University of Mainz study has confirmed. A noise guideline of 45 decibels is also to apply.

The AfD wants more distance between wind turbines and homes. The distance should be ten times the height of the turbine. The AfD says wind turbines make very low sounds. These sounds can make people sick. There should also be a limit for noise.

The program cites a University of Mainz study according to which infrasound from wind turbines endangers health. It says residents often report heart problems, headaches, and nausea. In addition to the distance rule, the AfD wants to implement the World Health Organization's recommendation: a guideline value of 45 decibels for average noise from wind turbines near residential areas.

The AfD rejects any further expansion of wind and solar power as long as storage and backup power plants are lacking, and it wants to stop wind power expansion and lower electricity prices. It considers the energy transition in its current form largely failed and socially unfair.

The AfD wants no more wind turbines. Solar power should not grow further either. The party says there is not enough storage for electricity. Without wind and sun, there is then no power. The AfD wants electricity to become cheaper.

In the AfD's view, wind and solar power cannot supply baseload electricity, so expanding them further without storage and backup plants would endanger grid stability. The platform puts the expected total cost of the energy transition at more than one trillion euros and argues it has not substantially cut CO2 emissions or energy use. It says consumer electricity prices have risen by more than one hundred percent since 2000 and that taxes, levies and surcharges have tripled. The AfD sees this as redistribution from the bottom to the top in favor of investors. It also criticizes the feed-in priority and payments under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), as well as damage to landscape and nature.

The AfD demands that wind turbines stand at least 2,000 meters away from residential areas and workplaces. It justifies this with health risks that, in its view, come from the turbines' infrasound.

Wind turbines should stand far away from homes. The AfD wants a distance of at least 2,000 meters. It says wind turbines make very low sounds. The AfD believes these sounds make people sick.

The platform points to studies and physicians who consider infrasound harmful to health, mentioning heart function, sleep, concentration and well-being. The distance rule is to apply regardless of the demanded expansion halt. The AfD also wants to link it to the 10-H rule in force in Bavaria since November 2014, under which the distance to homes must be at least ten times the turbine's total height. This should be implemented quickly, especially for replacing old turbines with larger ones (repowering).

The AfD wants to initiate the nationwide abolition of the Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG, Renewable Energy Sources Act). It considers the law the main driver of electricity prices and the reason for the rapid build-out of wind and solar plants.

The EEG is a law. It supports electricity from wind and sun. The AfD wants to get rid of this law. It says the law makes electricity expensive.

In the platform's view, the EEG sets the wrong incentives, because without it nobody would build wind turbines in Saarland's low-wind regions. Existing payment obligations are to be moved into the general budget in a one-time step. This is meant above all to relieve businesses in a worsening economic situation. The AfD also expects this to cap grid fees and stop further increases in electricity surcharges.

The AfD wants thermal power plants to carry Saarland's electricity supply as long as there is not enough storage. It criticizes the phase-out of nuclear power and coal and calls the CO2 debate dishonest.

The AfD wants to keep getting electricity from thermal power plants. These include coal plants. It says only these plants always deliver power reliably. The AfD thinks leaving coal and nuclear power is wrong.

In the platform's view, only thermal power plants deliver electricity without swings in voltage and frequency. Nuclear power could have played a role as a CO2-free, baseload-capable bridge technology. The coal phase-out is said to hit entire regions economically and endanger supply security. The AfD supports renewables if they can provide baseload power and are environmentally friendly, such as river shaft hydropower plants. It also sees nuclear fusion as a possible long-term solution.

The AfD wants to support insulation and energy saving in buildings only where it makes economic sense. Renovations of existing buildings should not be ordered but achieved through state incentives and in agreement with owners.

The AfD does not want to force owners to renovate old buildings. Renovating here means changing a house so it needs less energy. The state should offer owners financial help instead. Costs for citizens and companies should not be too high.

The party rejects measures and costs it considers disproportionate, pointing to the strained economic situation. Support should not mainly serve to push through alternative energy sources. Rules for cutting consumption should not target the electricity market alone, and efficiency incentives should be technology-neutral. The platform views favorably green-waste sites with local thermal use and connection to local heating networks, as well as expanding shallow geothermal energy.