On April 21, 2021, an online conference was held on the topic “Integration of Renewable Energies in the Transport Sector – What Strategies and Measures Can Germany and China Learn from Each Other?”. This event was organised as part of the Sino-German Cooperation on Mobility and Fuels Strategy as a Contribution to the Mobility and Transport Transition (MFS) between the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China (MoT) by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with support from the MoT.
The event was opened by representatives of the BMVI, the MoT and the GIZ. It was shown that Germany and China both are aiming for ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that these can only be achieved together through international cooperation and exchange. Mr. Franz Lehner from the National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) GmbH presented which measures and strategies are being taken in Europe and Germany to keep climate promises. He said that there is still great potential for saving emissions, especially in the transport sector. The National Hydrogen Strategy adopted in Germany in June 2020 contributes to the implementation of measures and thus to the coupling of renewable energies with the transport sector. Prof. Xu Honglei of the Chinese Transport Planning and Research Institute (TPRI) presented the basic concepts for coupling renewable energies with the transport sector in China. Hydrogen is already used in many applications and numerous research and implementation projects are currently planned in China. A sustainable future is possible through further developments in the field of transport modes and transport infrastructures.
A subsequent expert discussion completed the event. Overall, there was a dynamic and constructive exchange between politicians and experts on both sides, which laid the foundation for future cooperation projects. This conference was the first event of a four-part conference series that GIZ will hold under the heading of sector coupling in the coming months.
