CDU on climate and energy

The CDU wants Lusatia to remain an energy region and rejects a politically mandated coal phase-out before 2038. At the same time, the region is to become a location for battery production. The program points to Lusatia's long tradition of energy production.

Lusatia should stay an important energy region. The CDU does not want to quit coal before 2038. Batteries should be made in Lusatia. A big floating solar plant should be built on a lake near Cottbus.

The CDU wants to stick to existing agreements on the coal phase-out and rules out a political exit earlier than 2038. Lusatia is to be developed into a "Battery Valley" with battery production. The Cottbuser Ostsee lake, with Germany's largest floating solar project, is to serve as a model. The program justifies this with jobs, prosperity and a stable power supply.

The CDU wants to use a Bundesrat (upper house) initiative to reform grid fees and lower the electricity tax. In the program's view, people in Brandenburg pay too much for power because of high grid fees, even though the state generates a lot of renewable energy. Grid expansion is to be aligned with renewables expansion and kept cost-effective.

Electricity is expensive in Brandenburg. One reason is high fees for power lines. The CDU wants new rules for these fees. The tax on electricity should go down. Power made in the region should be used there if possible.

The CDU wants a Bundesrat initiative to reform grid fees and cut the electricity tax. Regionally generated power is to be used or stored locally first, partly to boost public acceptance. Power generation is to stay technology-neutral, for example with hybrid plants, and integrated power management is to be set up. Renewables expansion is to be synchronized with grids and storage, and planning rules for large storage facilities simplified. Underground cables are to be laid only where absolutely necessary. Instead of special levies such as a wind or solar euro, the CDU wants other measures to build acceptance.

The CDU wants to help municipalities draw up the heat plans required by federal law by 2027. Planning is to be technology-neutral, and gas networks are not to be dismantled without an affordable alternative. In the program's view, early and solid heat plans ease the burden on property owners.

Towns must plan by 2027 how homes will be heated. The state should help them. Any technology should be allowed. Gas pipes should stay until there is an affordable alternative. Citizens should have a say early on.

A heat transition association is to help municipalities with concepts, working structures, tenders for local heating networks and data analysis. The state is to run tenders for external service providers on behalf of municipalities, for example for heat simulations. Gas networks are not to be dismantled without an affordable alternative. Timely public participation and transparency are to be ensured.

The CDU wants wind power expansion to be what it calls compatible with Brandenburg and keeps the minimum distance of 1,000 meters from residential areas. Wind turbines are not to be built in forests worth protecting. The Wind-Euro payment to municipalities is to be developed further to increase acceptance.

More wind turbines can be built. They must be 1,000 meters away from homes. No wind turbines should go in valuable forests. Towns get money from wind turbines. This money is called the Wind-Euro and should be improved.

The state law on wind turbine distances is to be reviewed in light of taller turbines and adjusted if necessary. The radius for direct marketing of wind power is to be widened. Environmental and safety issues such as fire protection, soil contamination and climate gases in turbines are to be taken into account. The CDU calls for recycling of wind turbines, especially rotor blades.

The CDU wants Brandenburg to become a pioneer in geothermal energy and to tap the potential of solar thermal as well as rooftop and ground-mounted solar power. For geothermal, red tape is to be cut and permits sped up. When it comes to solar sites, food production on high-quality soil is to take priority.

Brandenburg should use more heat from the ground. This is called geothermal energy. Applying for it should be easier. Solar energy should be used more too. But good farmland should grow food first.

Bureaucratic hurdles for applying for and using shallow geothermal energy are to be removed. Together with municipal utilities, transferable financing models for deep geothermal, such as funds, are to be developed, with state help on liability and insurance issues. Mining-law permits are to be accelerated and water-law requirements reviewed. The CDU supports agrivoltaics as extra income for farmers; farmland with temporary solar installations is not to be rezoned. The public is to be better informed about funding programs.

The CDU wants to support the hydrogen economy on an industrial scale and explicitly backs "blue" hydrogen as a bridge technology. Brandenburg is also to develop a strategy for capturing, transporting and using CO2. In the program's view, the state would otherwise fall behind as a business location.

Brandenburg should make and use a lot of hydrogen. Hydrogen made from natural gas is fine for a while. Pipelines and storage for hydrogen should be built. CO2 should be captured and reused. A CO2 pipeline should run through Brandenburg.

Existing plans are to be implemented quickly and the state's hydrogen strategy updated. The core hydrogen network with pipelines is to be built out fast, hydrogen storage sites examined, and producers and buyers brought together on a marketplace. The state is to clarify how much water is available for electrolysis. Together with industry, energy companies, associations and researchers, a master plan for CO2 technologies and a carbon management strategy are to be drawn up. CO2 is not to be stored in Brandenburg, but an eastern German CO2 pipeline is to run through the state.

The CDU commits to international climate targets and to climate neutrality by 2045 at the latest. Its approach is meant to be market-based, socially minded, and technology-neutral while keeping Brandenburg competitive.

The CDU wants to protect the climate. Brandenburg should be climate neutral by 2045 at the latest. That means no extra CO2. Markets should help, not bans. CO2 should be cut first where it is cheapest.

Land users are to be rewarded for ecosystem services through market-based instruments. Brandenburg is to serve as a real-world lab for adapting to climate change, and research, for example on climate-adapted crop varieties, is to be stepped up. A state strategy for storing, using, and transporting CO2 is to be drawn up and the related technologies promoted. CO2 is to be cut first where it is cheapest and easiest; existing industries are to be supported in their transition.