French President Macron has proposed closer cooperation with Germany to strengthen the EU. One aspect is higher carbon prices – between 25 and 30 euros per ton of CO2. Craig Morris explains what impact different prices would have on Germany’s energy system. A new study by Energy Brainpool (PDF in German) comes to an unsurprising finding: Europe’s carbon emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS) has no effect on shares of gas, hard coal, and lignite in Germany. The price of carbon continues to flail along below 10 euros per ton of CO2; it’s closer to seven euros at present and even fell below four euros in 2016. French President Macron has now called for the price to be set at a minimum of 25-30 euros. France has long been a supporter of higher carbon prices, but the German government remains lukewarm about such ideas, which would make France more competitive relative to Germany due to the high share of low-carbon nuclear power in France (around 75%) and the high share of coal power in Germany (around 40%). … Continue reading France wants a carbon price. How high should it be?