Economic Experts: Dispute Over Decarbonization in Freight Transport - Only Battery or Hydrogen as Well?
The "Wirtschaftsweisen" will present a new economic forecast in Berlin this Wednesday. It is expected that the Council of Economic Experts will lower the expectations for this year. As reported by the "Handelsblatt," the Council expects that the gross domestic product will grow by only 0.2 percent this year. Last fall, the "Wirtschaftsweisen" had forecast a growth of 0.7 percent for 2024. The federal government expects only a mini-growth of 0.3 percent. Among other things, it had noted that the global economy had not yet properly picked up again.
The EU Commission will also present its latest economic forecast this Wednesday. In its winter estimate in February, the Brussels authority did not look too positively at economic growth for the current year: it lowered its EU-wide forecast for 2024 for the third time in a row and expected growth of 0.9 percent. Previously, it had anticipated 1.3 percent. The authority estimated the increase in the eurozone for this year at 0.8 percent (previously 1.2 percent).
For Germany, the EU Commission also lowered its forecast: it predicted growth of 0.3 percent for the largest economy in the community, down from the previous 0.8 percent. Reasons cited included a shortage of skilled labor and weak foreign demand. The authority does not forecast such a small increase for any other eurozone country this year.
Dispute Over Report
The "Wirtschaftsweisen" will also present a report on decarbonizing freight transport on Wednesday—it concerns how heavy-duty transport can become climate-neutral. However, there are differences within the five-member Council of Economic Experts—insider reports confirmed by the media. Four members advocate for the electrification of freight transport. However, Veronika Grimm holds a different opinion: she believes that focusing solely on electric motors is wrong. Technologies such as hydrogen-powered fuel cells should also continue to be promoted.
Automotive Industry Supports Grimm
Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, stated: "In order to achieve climate neutrality in transportation, the potential of all available technologies must be fully harnessed. Battery-electric drives play a crucial role, complemented by hydrogen – both for use in fuel cells and in the production of synthetic fuels for the defossilization of existing vehicle fleets." Especially in the field of heavy-duty vehicles, fuel cell drives must also be considered as part of the technological diversity. "Fundamentally, it would be a consequential mistake to politically exclude a technology in advance on the path to climate-neutral mobility," said Müller.
Not the First Internal Dispute
There was already some turmoil surrounding Grimm a few months ago: The reason was that Grimm took up a supervisory board mandate at the energy company Siemens Energy. The other four "economic experts" saw this as a conflict of interest and asked Grimm to either resign from the mandate at Siemens Energy or from her position on the Advisory Council.
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