[DigitalToday reporter Jae-won Choi (최재원)] The German government has unveiled a national roadmap to reduce reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. It envisions gradually ending the use of fossil fuels in the energy system while achieving climate neutrality in 2045.

On Sept. 30 (local time), CleanTechnica reported that the German government released a "Roadmap for the transition away from fossil fuels" on Sept. 23. This is the first time Germany has specified a fossil-fuel phaseout as a national policy goal. It is the third country to present such a national roadmap, after France and the Netherlands.

The core is expanding renewable energy and electrifying transport, heating and industry. Germany plans to raise renewables' share of electricity consumption from about 55 percent currently to at least 80 percent by 2030. By that time, total solar capacity will expand to 215 GW and onshore wind to about 115 GW, while separately pursuing an additional 12 GW of onshore wind.

Coal-fired power will end no later than 2038 under current law. The new roadmap also reviews the possibility of bringing that forward to 2035, but the end date has not been officially changed. It also plans to convert newly built flexible gas power plants over the long term to climate-neutral fuels such as green hydrogen, so that by 2045 the power sector will move away from fossil fuels.

Methane emissions will be cut 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels. That target follows the Global Methane Pledge, which Germany joined in 2021. In heating, it will expand heat pumps and district heating, and in transport it will increase the adoption of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Environmental groups also criticise the policy's consistency, citing plans to expand new gas power generation while phasing out fossil fuels. The German government says it will use gas power as a transitional power supply method and later switch it to a hydrogen-based system.

The roadmap's success is expected to depend on how much it can accelerate electrification, including renewables, the power grid, electric vehicles and heat pumps.