Research Paper 13: Climate change in Austria: Can Germany and Switzerland serve as an example?
Many European countries are aiming for climate neutrality by 2050 or, like Austria, even by 2040. A comparison of the energy policies of Germany, Austria and Switzerland to date reveals serious differences: While Germany has mainly relied on massive subsidies for renewable energies, Austria's approach was mainly characterized by regulatory measures such as bans and prohibitions, for example on the renewal of boilers, but also subsidies. Switzerland, on the other hand, has been relying on the market-based instrument of theCO2 levy since 2008. "Austria is one of the leading countries in the EU in terms of the share of renewables in electricity consumption. This currently stands at around 75 %. The reason for this is the high proportion of hydropower in electricity generation," says Tobias Thomas, Director of the economic research institute EcoAustria. In comparison: in Germany, renewables only account for 38% of electricity generation. Yet consumers in Germany have already spent around 200 billion euros on subsidizing renewables through their electricity bills since 2000. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve the target of a 100% share of renewables by 2030, even in Austria, as the potential for large hydropower plants has largely been exhausted and the example of Germany in particular shows that there is increasing resistance from local residents to the expansion of wind power plants. One way to achieve the renewables target would be to reduce Austria's electricity consumption. However, current projections such as those in the National Energy and Climate Plan do not assume a reduction by 2040 or 2050. "A significant decline in primary energy consumption can be observed in Switzerland, which introduced theCO2 levy back in 2008. With the reimbursement of revenue to households and companies, theCO2 levy enjoys a very high level of acceptance in Switzerland, even with a levy of 96 Swiss francs or around 85 euros per tonne of CO2," says Thomas. In Austria, the federal government is also planning a climate policy instrument forCO2 pricing for sectors that are not subject to the EU ETS. As the specifics are only to be worked out as part of a task force, it remains to be seen how consistently a market-based instrument forCO2 pricing will actually be pursued. "A comparison of the three countries' energy policies to date and the forecasts for energy demand and the energy mix show that market-based instruments forCO2 pricing are the better option compared to the massive subsidization of renewable energies," says Thomas. This can also be done at national level in sectors that are not subject to the EU ETS. "Overall, international, cross-sectoral, uniformCO2 pricing using market-based instruments remains the ideal solution," says Thomas.
