Clean Energy Wire

1 day ago | cleanenergywire.org | Sören Amelang

One in two Germans say they feel weighed down psychologically by climate change and its effects. In a survey, 53 percent of respondents told the country’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) that mentally, they felt strongly or very strongly affected by climate change. “Climate change can not only have devastating physical consequences for people and the environment, it can also severely affect the human psyche,” the agency said.

2 days ago | cleanenergywire.org | Sören Amelang

A solid majority of people in rich countries are in favour of comprehensive climate action which includes payments to poorer countries, a study has found. “There is strong and genuine support for international carbon pricing, per capita reimbursement of revenues, and thus redistribution to poorer countries,” said the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which co-authored the study.

3 days ago | cleanenergywire.org | Sören Amelang

A large majority of new residential houses and buildings in Germany feature a heat pump as their main heating system, showed numbers from the government’s statistical office Destatis. The climate-friendly heating technology was installed in more than two thirds (69.4 percent) of the 76,100 homes finished in 2024, a five percentage point increase compared to 2023.

3 days ago | cleanenergywire.org | Sören Amelang

Around 3,000 people have died due to high temperatures during each of the past two summers in Germany, said both the country’s environment agency (UBA) and its disease control authority, the Robert Koch Institute. People aged over 75 with pre-existing conditions – such as dementia, or cardiovascular and lung diseases – are particularly affected, the researchers found.

5 days ago | cleanenergywire.org | Sören Amelang

Clean Energy Wire: There are very different players in fusion research – start-ups like Focused Energy, but also the international megaproject ITER in France. How would you characterise the current state of play in the private sector, and how does it differ from government research projects such as ITER? Markus Roth: ITER is a major experiment, launched in the mid-1980s, as a political statement by Ronald Reagan and Michael Gorbachev.