Freie Wähler on climate and energy

The Free Voters want affordable energy from a mix of renewable and conventional sources plus new technologies. They reject an earlier coal phase-out. Renewable plants should be built in a decentralized way, with municipalities and residents sharing in the revenue.

The Free Voters want cheaper energy. They want to use many energy sources. These include wind, sun, water, and also coal. Coal should not end earlier than planned. Towns and citizens should earn money from the energy too.

The platform justifies the energy mix by pointing to high energy prices, which the party says burden companies and consumers. Wind, solar, and geothermal plants should be concentrated at suitable sites and take local residents into account. Hydropower would be expanded, and idle pumped-storage plants such as Niederwartha would be brought back into service. Biomass power plants are planned for rural areas. Municipalities would get help founding citizen energy cooperatives. The coal phase-out should not be moved forward.

The Free Voters are betting on hydrogen and methanol and want the state to fund research on them. Nuclear fusion research should get top priority. The party rejects subsidies for electric mobility at their current level.

The Free Voters are counting on hydrogen and methanol. These are substances used to make energy. Saxony should fund research on them. Nuclear fusion should be studied too. Electric cars should get less public money.

Funding would go to research on higher efficiency, on hydrogen as a storage medium, and on safety in transport and use. A timeline would set out when hydrogen and methanol become available so that consumers and manufacturers can plan. The shift from natural gas to hydrogen should succeed through simple subsidies and without new regulatory hurdles. Electricity and gas would both be covered in a grid expansion plan. In the party's view, electric mobility has a large carbon footprint and high resource use. In general, the platform relies on technology-neutral research rather than bans.

The Free Voters want to abolish carbon pricing, which they regard as a hidden tax increase. For energy retrofits of buildings, incentives should replace mandatory requirements.

The Free Voters want to end the carbon price. The carbon price makes heating and fuel more expensive. The party sees it as a hidden tax. People who upgrade their homes should get funding. Nobody should be forced to upgrade.

The platform calls carbon pricing a hidden tax increase and wants to scrap it. Programs for energy retrofits of buildings and building systems should be flexible and technology-neutral. In the party's view, retrofit rules must not lead to business owners being unable to afford office buildings or citizens being unable to afford their own homes.