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Consumer advice centers are receiving increasing reports of sharply rising maintenance costs for new heat pumps. Maintenance costs are sometimes exceeding €630 (gross). This is particularly concerning because specialist companies often present this service as a prerequisite for manufacturer-provided services, for example, stating: “The manufacturer insists on annual maintenance of the system to maintain the […]

The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe heard appeals in climate lawsuits brought by the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) against BMW and Mercedes. Three managing directors of the DUH are suing as private individuals, claiming that their personal rights are violated by emissions. However, their application seeks a court-ordered ban. They demand that both

In Gehrden, in the Hanover region, a pilot project for a 30 km/h speed limit on a main road through the town ended on March 1st after an evaluation concluded that the measure did not achieve the expected results. The primary reason for the decision was that many drivers ignored the speed limit. The project

On February 28, 2026, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU) announced plans to expand gas production in Germany to strengthen security of supply in “challenging geopolitical times.” At the same time, the federal government is planning new regulations for heating systems with the Building Modernization Act, increasing political pressure to provide sufficient gas

In the Baden-Württemberg state election campaign, shortly before the state elections on March 8, 2026, Cem Özdemir is strikingly shifting his stance. He is calling for significantly stricter immigration control and speaks of the need to limit irregular migration. At the same time, he is considered open to postponing the EU’s 2035 deadline for phasing

A court in the US state of North Dakota on Friday ordered Greenpeace to pay $345 million in damages for protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The lawsuit stemmed from a complaint filed by the pipeline’s operator, Energy Transfer, regarding actions taken in 2016 and 2017 around the more than 1,700-kilometer-long pipeline, which runs through

In the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, the Schleswig-Holstein Administrative Court has issued an injunction against oil production on the Mittelplate oil drilling platform, brought by the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH). The production halt is effective immediately. According to the court, the reason is the lack of an enforceable production permit, as a mandatory biennial inventory

The last concrete development project in Berlin’s CleanTech Business Park Marzahn has failed because a conflict over species protection involving the strictly protected European green toad legally struck down the building permit, even though, according to the proceedings, the toad itself was never actually sighted on the construction site. The trigger was a lawsuit filed

In the port city of Sines on Portugal’s Atlantic coast, large quantities of green hydrogen were supposed to be produced using cheap solar power and exported to Europe, but these export plans have effectively frozen. Around five years ago, then-Prime Minister António Costa promised a “green hydrogen future” for the site, while international consortia were

Ahead of the state elections on March 8, 2026, Baden-Württemberg is heading towards a pattern that has eroded the Ruhr region for decades: too much prosperity from a single leading industry, too little buffer against the collapse of the entire value chain. Back then, coal and steel were driven out of the market; today, the

The draft bill for the amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) marks a potential shift in German energy policy: New private photovoltaic systems will no longer receive a fixed feed-in tariff. Their operators will be required to market their electricity directly on the open market. The German government justifies this move with significantly

A wind turbine in the municipality of Kirrweiler in the Kusel district of Rhineland-Palatinate went up in flames and burned to the ground. The fire broke out on the evening of February 26, 2026, presumably due to a technical defect in the nacelle. Because of the turbine’s height, the fire department could not intervene directly,

The French household appliance group SEB has announced a comprehensive cost-cutting program that will hit the long-established German brand WMF particularly hard. WMF’s parent company plans to eliminate up to 2,100 jobs across Europe, including up to 600 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The closure of WMF plants in Riedlingen, Hayingen, and Diez is also

The renovation of the railway line between Hamburg and Berlin is drawing criticism because travel time is increasing despite an investment of at least €2.2 billion. After completion of the construction work, the fastest ICE train will take 107 minutes instead of the previous 103 minutes. Furthermore, the line will remain closed for several weeks

At the beginning of 2026, Germany faces a social shift whose dynamics are accelerating significantly: poverty is moving into the middle class, following the loss of approximately 120,300 jobs in the industrial sector alone in 2025. The automotive and manufacturing industries are particularly affected, while high operating costs, weak export markets, and a persistently weak