Uploaded on 2018-02-10 by © TUM/H. Varga (note: image taken from muenchen.de!)

In Germany, the dominant fossil fuels are oil, gas and coal. Approximately 45% of the produced energy flows into the category “other” which is made up of residential as well as commercial and public services. The industry and transport sector use up around 25% each. According to “Die Bundesregierung”, It is planned to reduce the emission of CO2 by 55 percentage until 2030. Companies could be taxed higher if their emission rates are high. Greenpeace wants politics to set CO2 limits and value an emission. Companies emitting lots of CO2 need to pay a higher price and get bonus points when they invest into technologies improving their emissions. The issue with both proposals is that the consumer will have to pay higher fees for the products and services are companies are likely to pass on the cost. Let’s start by preventing energy use altogether, right at our doorstep. Do we really need more materialistic things of any kind? The newest, biggest car, furniture, tech gadgets, travel to far-away countries for vacation several times a year? This thought might come at a different cost as the job market might change as a result (layoffs, less productivity, less exports,…).