Germany rules out nuclear power as an option during the energy crisis.
German Leader Rules Out Nuclear Option to Fill Energy Gaps
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says his government remains committed to phasing out nuclear power despite concerns about rising energy prices and possible future shortages due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
By Associated Press, June 8, 2022, BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that his government remains committed to phasing out nuclear power despite concerns about rising energy prices and possible future shortages due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Germany shut down half of its six nuclear plants in December and the remaining three are due to cease production at the end of this year as part of the country’s long-running plan to phase out conventional power plants in favor of renewable energy……………….
“We also know that building new nuclear power plants makes little sense,” he said at a news conference with foreign correspondents in Berlin.
“If someone decides to do so now they would have to spend 12-18 billion euros on each nuclear power plants and it wouldn’t open until 2037 or 2038,” said Scholz. “And besides, the fuel rods are generally imported from Russia. As such one should think about what one does.”
“That’s why the government, all the governing parties unanimously, are counting on (…) the massive expansion of renewable energy,” he added…………..
“The goal of completing the phaseout of coal in Germany ideally by 2030, and the climate targets, remain in place,” Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said. https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2022-06-08/germany-to-keep-more-coal-plants-on-hand-in-case-of-gas-cuts
Germany will vote against EU plans to label nuclear power as a green investment,
Germany says it will vote against EU plans to label nuclear power as a green investment, https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/05/17/germany-will-vote-against-eu-plans-to-include-nuclear-energy-as-a-green-investment By Kate Abnett with Reuters – UK Online Report Business News 17/05/2022
Germany will oppose European Union plans to include nuclear energy as a sustainable investment in its “taxonomy” policy for labelling green investments, the government said on Monday.
With the bloc aiming to achieve net-zero by 2050, massive investments into sustainable energy sources are needed. The European Commission is looking to class nuclear energy as ‘green’ making it easier for states and the private sector to invest.
Brussels is now seeking approval from EU countries and European Parliament for its plan to label gas and nuclear as climate-friendly investments. It has split opinions among states who disagree with the fuels’ green credentials.
Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, is among those planning to reject it when countries come to vote on the plan in the coming weeks.
“The Federal Government has expressed its opposition to the taxonomy rules on nuclear power. This ‘no’ is an important political signal that makes clear: Nuclear energy is not sustainable and should therefore not be part of the
taxonomy,” Germany’senvironment ministry and its economy and climate ministry said in a statement.
Nuclear energy is not sustainable and should therefore not be part of the taxonomy.
“Accordingly, the Federal Government would vote for the Council to object to the EU Commission’s delegated legal act,” the ministries said.
A ‘gold standard’ for green investing
To reject the rules, 20 of the EU’s 27 countries must oppose it – a high threshold seen as unlikely to be reached. Germany’s stance could also steer opinion in the European Parliament, however, where a majority of the assembly’s 705 lawmakers could block the gas and nuclear rules in a July vote.
The EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy was designed to provide a “gold standard” for green investing, by limiting which investments can be labelled climate-friendly to only those that truly protect the planet.
Austria is leading a call for legal action because of “serious concerns” about nuclear energy being too expensive and slow to actually fight climate change. Officials from the country have pointed out that, whilenuclear energy generation is CO2-free, the problem of nuclear waste has still not been solved.
The small but wealthy nation of Luxembourg is also considering legal action if the decision to label nuclear energy as ‘green’ goes ahead.
\The plan to label gas as climate-friendly has faced criticism from countries including Spain, although some countries had lobbied hard for the taxonomy to incentivise gas investments to help them phase out coal.
Gas emits less CO2 than coal when burned, but is also associated with leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Germany to reject EU green investment label for nuclear power
https://www.reuters.com/business/germany-reject-eu-green-investment-label-nuclear-power-2022-05-16/ , By Kate Abnett. BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) – Germany will oppose European Union plans to include nuclear energy as a sustainable investment in its “taxonomy” policy for labelling green investments, the government said on Monday.
Brussels is seeking approval from EU countries and European Parliament for its plan to label gas and nuclear as climate-friendly investments, which has split opinion among states who disagree on the fuels’ green credentials.
Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, is among those planning to reject it when countries come to vote on the plan in the coming weeks.
“The Federal Government has expressed its opposition to the taxonomy rules on nuclear power. This ‘no’ is an important political signal that makes clear: Nuclear energy is not sustainable and should therefore not be part of the taxonomy,” Germany’s environment ministry and its economy and climate ministry said in a statement.
“Accordingly, the Federal Government would vote for the Council to object to the EU Commission’s delegated legal act,” the ministries said.
To reject the rules, 20 of the EU’s 27 countries must oppose it – a high threshold seen as unlikely to be reached. Germany’s stance could also steer opinion in the European Parliament, however, where a majority of the assembly’s 705 lawmakers could block the gas and nuclear rules in a July vote.
The EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy was designed to provide a “gold standard” for green investing, by limiting which investments can be labelled climate-friendly to only those that truly protect the planet.
Nuclear energy generation is CO2-free, but produces radioactive waste. Separately, Austria and Luxembourg have threatened legal action over the plan to label nuclear investments as green.
The plan to label gas as climate-friendly has faced criticism from countries including Spain, although some countries had lobbied hard for the taxonomy to incentivise gas investments to help them phase out coal. Gas emits less CO2 than coal when burned, but is also associated with leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Olaf Scholz cites risk of nuclear war in refusal to send tanks to Ukraine
Politico, BY LAURENZ GEHRKE.April 22, 2022
Chancellor pushes back against demands from Kyiv and coalition partners. Asked what made him sure that sending German tanks to Ukraine would trigger a catastrophic reaction from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Scholz argued that “there is no textbook for this situation where you can read at what point we are perceived as a belligerent.”
“That’s why I’m not squinting at poll numbers or letting myself be irritated by shrill calls,” the chancellor added in an obvious reference to the growing criticism of his stance at home and abroad. “The consequences of a mistake would be dramatic,” he said.
The Ukrainian government has called on Western allies to urgently send large amounts of heavy weaponry to help in the fight against Russia’s invasion, which has now entered a new phase focused on the east of the country…………
Echoing remarks by Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Scholz said that instead of Berlin directly supplying heavy weaponry, several Eastern European NATO partners would deliver weapons from Soviet-designed stocks that “can be deployed without lengthy training, without further logistics, and without soldiers from our countries.”
Germany would then “gradually fill the gaps created by these deliveries … as just discussed in the case of Slovenia,” he said. https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-chancellor-olaf-scholz-nuclear-war-tanks-heavy-weapons-ukraine-russia-invasion/
Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Germany’s determination to close down all nuclear power stations
Scholz Shoots Down Appeal to Reverse Germany’s Nuclear Exit, Bloomberg, German Power Sources, Michael Nienaber and Arne Delfs, 6 April 2022,
Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated his opposition to reversing Germany’s exit from nuclear power to help cut reliance on Russian energy, saying the technical challenges would be too great.
Germany is rushing to end its heavy dependence on Russian fossil fuels following the invasion of Ukraine but the process has been complicated by the decision by former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s previous government to shut down the country’s nuclear power plants. The move was prompted by the disaster at Fukushima, Japan in 2011 and the remaining three reactors are due to go off line this year.
Germany’s dramatic departure from the nuclear industry. Other European States follow.
On the last day of 2021, as final preparations were being made for the New
Year’s Eve firework display in central Berlin, outside the German capital
another era was drawing to a close. It was the beginning of the end of
Germany’s decades-long dalliance with nuclear power.
On December 31, Germany shut down three of its six remaining nuclear plants. By the end of
2022, the other three will be shut as well. Two decades after an agreement
to eliminate nuclear power became law, the country’s phaseout has been
dramatic. In 2002, Germany relied on nuclear power for nearly 30 percent of
its electricity. Within a year, that percentage will be zero.
Germany isn’t the only European nation reevaluating its relationship with nuclear
energy. Its neighbor Belgium currently sources nearly 40 percent of its
electricity from nuclear power but has committed to closing down its seven
remaining reactors by 2025.
To the south, Switzerland has already shut down
one of its five remaining nuclear power plants, the first stage in what
will eventually be a total phaseout. Switzerland’s phaseout was decided
in a 2017 referendum, when the majority of the public endorsed an energy
strategy that subsidized renewables and banned new nuclear power plants.
The Swiss referendum was driven by environmental concerns raised in the
wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, when three reactors melted after a
tsunami overwhelmed the power plant. That disaster, and concerns about the
disposal of nuclear waste, also hastened Germany’s nuclear shutdown.
Shortly afterward, then-chancellor Angela Merkel—who had previously said
she didn’t agree with shutting down nuclear plants early—announced that
Germany would no longer extend the operating life of existing plants.
Ars Technica 23rd Jan 2022
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/europe-is-in-the-middle-of-a-messy-nuclear-showdown/
Germany formally opposes inclusion of nuclear energy in EU’s ”sustainable” taxonomy
Germany cries foul over nuclear energy in EU’s green rule book, Daily Sabah, BY REUTERS, BERLIN JAN 23, 2022 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition government has raised objections to a European Union draft plan to label nuclear power plants as a sustainable energy source in a formal letter to Brussels, ministers said on Saturday.
The EU taxonomy aims to set a gold standard for green investments, helping climate-friendly projects to pull in private capital and stamping out “greenwashing,” where investors and companies overstate their eco-credentials.
“As the federal government, we have once again clearly expressed our rejection of the inclusion of nuclear energy. It is risky and expensive,” Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint statement with Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, both senior members of the Greens party.
In its letter to Brussels, published by the Economy Ministry on its webpage, the German government also pointed to the lack of any safety requirements regarding nuclear power plants.
“Serious accidents with large, cross-border and long-term hazards to humans and the environment cannot be excluded,” Berlin said in its letter, adding that the question of where to store radioactive waste in the long term was still unanswered.
Habeck and Lemke said that Berlin should reject the plan in their opinion if the European Commission disregarded Germany’s objections and left the draft plan unchanged.
However, German government sources told Reuters earlier this month that coalition parties wanted to avoid escalating the EU dispute and agreed in coalition talks behind closed doors to abstain in any upcoming vote.
Long delayed
The EU rules have been long delayed, with countries split over whether nuclear energy and natural gas deserve a green badge. Austria has already said it would take legal action if the European Commission proceeds with its draft plan to label both as sustainable investments………………………..
The commission hopes to adopt a final draft by the end of the month. https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/germany-cries-foul-over-nuclear-energy-in-eus-green-rule-book
France’s nuclear regulator warns on the ”security fragility” of both the reactors, and the reprocessing system
“The continued operation of EDF’s nuclear reactors should not be the
adjustment variable for French energy policy”. In an interview with “Le
Monde”, Bernard Doroszczuk, the president of the Nuclear Safety Authority,
warns about the lack of margins in terms of security of electricity supply.
First, the president of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), Bernard
Doroszczuk, wishes to underline a reassuring point. Despite the
complications due to the health crisis, “the level of nuclear safety and
radiation protection was completely satisfactory in 2021, he says in the
preamble to his interview with Le Monde. In particular the conduct of the
fourth ten-yearly inspections of the oldest reactors”.
The French nuclear “policeman” however warns against “an unprecedented double
fragility”: both for the reactors, but also for the installations which
manufacture, reprocess or recover the fuel.
Le Monde 19th Jan 2022
Germany’s admirable record in promoting renewable energy, as it leaves nuclear behind.
The nuclear shenanigans aren’t enough to take away Germany’s crown as a climate-forward country. The politics that sped up the nuclear phaseout also created room for a renewables boom. Starting with the Renewable Energy Sources Act in 2000, Germany’s energy policy, known as energiewende, created some of the most generous subsidies for solar power. ………..
Germany moved ahead with a plan to shut off nearly 50 per cent of its nuclear power plants, with the rest scheduled to close by the end of 2022. Some asked how a climate-forward country could lay waste to a source of zero-carbon power, [zero carbon? not so] especially when there’s a shortage of it. Others
pointed out that Germany’s renewables investments are for naught if it has to fill up the nuclear quota using dirty coal. Outrageous, right?
Not so fast, says Nikos Tsafos, an energy and climate analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s very easy to solve climate change if I’m not politically constrained.” Any sensible climate plan
requires that clean energy replaces dirty sources quickly, while at the same time efficiency measures cut the demand for energy overall.
That, in theory, would result in a smooth decline in emissions as laid out in scientific models. Reality, however, is anything but smooth. The transition will inevitably be shaped by human particularities.
The nuclear shenanigans aren’t enough to take away Germany’s crown as a climate-forward country. The politics that sped up the nuclear phaseout also created room for a renewables boom. Starting with the Renewable Energy Sources Act in 2000, Germany’s energy policy, known as energiewende, created some of the most generous subsidies for solar power. These came in the form of guaranteed prices (or feed-in tariffs) for generating solar power. German taxpayers paid billions of euros to support a new technology. The demand created giant solar companies, including many in China, that progressively made the technology cheaper (with additional support in the form of Chinese subsidies) and thus more accessible to the rest of the world.
Financial Post 11th Jan 2022
Germany to stick to its guns on phasing out nuclear and coal energy
 | |||
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germany-stick-guns-phasing-out-nuclear-coal-energy-scholz-2022-01-12/Reuters BERLIN, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Germany will push ahead with phasing out nuclear and coal energy despite rising energy prices, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday, adding that nuclear power made no economic sense given the high cost of storing waste…….
Scholz told parliament that his government would instead expedite the process of gaining permission to expand solar and wind farms to push prices down and meet power demand expected to rise to about 800 terawatts (TW) in 2030 from around 600 TW today.
Downright absurd to classify a technology with the potential danger of nuclear power plants as green and sustainable.
I am very sure that not a single private company will ever build a nuclear power plant on its own account and at its own risk. The taxonomy does not change that. At best, it reduces the enormous government subsidies needed to push this technology into the market
“Nuclear is the opposite of what wind & solar need to partner with” – ex energy state sec Nuclear phase-outEnergiewende Clean Energy Wire, 11 Jan 22 Without the anti-nuclear movement, the energy transition in Germany would likely look different. But despite a strong focus on fighting nuclear power, the civil society movement that marked the rise of the Green Party has always had the climate in mind and wanted to ensure that reactors weren’t substituted with coal plants.
Clean Energy Wire spoke to Rainer Baake, director of the Climate Neutrality Foundation, former energy state secretary, and one of the architects of the original German nuclear phase-out in 2000. He says that with all democratic parties pledged to the exit timetable, it is “absolutely out of the question” that Germany returns to using this high-risk technology. With a decision to include nuclear as a sustainable investment, the EU Commission would discredit the taxonomy, he said. “However, this will not stop the energy transition in Germany.”
……………………………………. The whole energy transition consists of replacing conventional power plants, nuclear as well as fossil power plants with renewables. And that’s what we started with simultaneously. When the nuclear phase-out was decided, the Renewable Energies Act was created. As a consequence of the Kyoto protocol, we decided on an emissions trading system in Europe. Nuclear energy will be history on 31 December 2022 and we will also completely phase out coal in this decade and replace both with renewables. The next step will be to exchange fossil natural gas against hydrogen.
…………………… Can nuclear power, as supplied by today’s nuclear power plants, make a meaningful contribution to an electricity system dominated by renewables? As base load or for other system services?
Is it a problem for the German energy transition if other (European) countries, also with the help of the new European taxonomy, invest in nuclear power instead of renewables?
The opposite is true. A climate-friendly electricity system dominated by weather-dependent production from wind and solar plants requires a great deal of flexibility to balance fluctuating supply with fluctuating demand. Nuclear power plants are technically and operationally designed to produce as consistently as possible. They are the exact opposite of what wind and solar need to partner with.
Is it a problem for the German energy transition if other (European) countries, also with the help of the new European taxonomy, invest in nuclear power instead of renewables?
I find it downright absurd to classify a technology with the potential danger of nuclear power plants as green and sustainable. And even more so because it produces radioactive waste that remains dangerous for the unimaginable period of a million years, and for which we have not yet found a safe solution. With this decision, the EU Commission discredits the taxonomy. However, this will not stop the energy transition in Germany.
I am very sure that not a single private company will ever build a nuclear power plant on its own account and at its own risk. The taxonomy does not change that. At best, it reduces the enormous government subsidies needed to push this technology into the market.
While innovations and learning curves over the past 20 years have ensured that renewable energies have become increasingly cheaper, the costs of nuclear energy have risen more and more. In this respect, it is no wonder that, according to IEA figures, 70 percent of global investment in the power sector now goes to renewable energies.
A recent survey showed that a slight majority of Germans would agree to give nuclear power a role for climate protection reasons. Do you see the possibility that attitudes towards nuclear power could change again in Germany?
What survey? Since Chernobyl, all the polls I know of have shown clear majorities in favour of phasing out nuclear power. Take a look at the last federal election, all democratic parties are sticking to the timetable for the nuclear phase-out and support the expansion of renewable energies. The last three reactors will go offline at the end of this year. This will mark the end of the use of nuclear energy in Germany.
Is there any scenario next year in which Germany will let the existing nuclear power plants run longer after all, as some are calling for?
I consider such a scenario to be absolutely out of the question.
Do you see the new small-scale nuclear reactors as a chance for a renewed use of nuclear power in the fight against the climate crisis?
These reactors, which allegedly are completely safe and produce no nuclear waste, have one major disadvantage: they don’t exist.
The 400 nuclear power plants in existence worldwide today cover only about ten percent of the demand for electricity. If we wanted to replace global fossil power generation with small nuclear reactors, we would need many thousands of these power plants. Precisely because they are so small, they would have to operate with highly enriched uranium. The danger that nuclear fuel would be illegally diverted and used to build bombs is real. No one can want that, and hopefully the free world will not allow it. https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/nuclear-opposite-what-wind-solar-need-partner-ex-energy-state-sec
German government struggles to unite on EU energy proposal
German government struggles to unite on EU energy proposal, DW, 4 Jan 22,
The EU Commission’s proposal to classify nuclear power and natural gas plants as “green” investments has sparked debate in Germany’s new coalition government. Conflict is also brewing between EU states.
Less than a month after Germany’s new coalition government was sworn in, it is facing a major test: To find a united stance in response to a controversial proposal by the EU Commission, published on New Year’s Eve.
The EU Commission wants to label natural gas and nuclear power as climate-friendly, and include investments in both energies on its long-awaited taxonomy list — a green labeling system for investments in the energy sector.
The list is part of the bloc’s plans to decarbonize the European economy and build clean power plants, which will require the investment of billions of euros.
Under the draft proposal, the gas and nuclear plants must meet certain criteria: Investment in new nuclear plants as they are planned in France, the Netherlands, and Poland, can be considered “sustainable” only if respective states ensure they meet the latest technology standards, and provide a concrete plan for the disposal for high-level radioactive waste.
Natural gas plants could also be granted a green label for a limited period of time, provided certain criteria are met. These could involve limits on the amount of greenhouse gas emitted or proving that the plants can also be operated with green hydrogen or low-carbon gas.
The classification of economic activities by the EU Commission under the so-called taxonomy is intended to enable investors to switch their investments to more sustainable technologies and companies.
Divided coalition………………
Climate and Economy Minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, told German press agency dpa that he felt the EU proposal “waters down the good label for sustainability.”
“It’s questionable whether this greenwashing will be accepted by the financial markets anyway,” the Green politician said.
Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) also rated the EU proposal as “questionable.”………….
Klaus Jacob of the Research Center for Environment Policy at Berlin’s Freie Universität says the debate within the government was completely foreseeable.
“This isn’t a predetermined breaking point in the coalition,” Jacob told DW…………………….
Nuclear phaseout nearing completion
The three governing coalition parties are, however, in agreement when it comes to the phaseout of nuclear energy. Germany’s last nuclear power plants are due to be decommissioned just a year from now.
The decision to phase out nuclear power was made during the 1998-2003 coalition between the SPD and Greens under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, in response to the realization that there was no way to store nuclear waste safely. Almost two decades earlier, Germany’s anti-nuclear protests gave birth to the Green Party and the phaseout has long been one of its core policies.
Angela Merkel’s coalition government of center-right Christian Democrats and FDP then rolled back the phaseout. But in 2011, after the accident at the Fukushima atomic power plant in Japan, Merkel made an about-turn and decided to push through with the phaseout after all.
Referring to the EU’s plans to green label nuclear energy, Environment Minister Lemke said the Commission “creates the great danger of blocking and damaging really viable, sustainable investments in favor of dangerous nuclear power.”……………
EU fissure
The 27 EU member states now have until January 12 to comment on the Commission’s draft. But it’s unlikely that the proposal can be blocked. Besides Germany, only Austria, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Portugal have voiced criticism.
Implementation can only be prevented if at least 20 EU countries (representing at least 65% of the total EU population) or at least 353 members of parliament vote against it.
Other EU countries are continuing to push nuclear energy and campaign for it to be included on the EU’s list of sustainable energy sources eligible for investment — prominently France which holds the rotating EU presidency and is heading for presidential elections in April.
Austria, meanwhile, is threatening to go to the European Court of Justice to stop the draft from being passed.
Edited by Rina Goldenberg https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-struggles-to-unite-on-eu-energy-proposal/a-60319292
German Greens fight plan to funnel billions of euros into the nuclear industry via deceptive taxonomy ”sustainable” label
German Greens lead attack on EU plan to label nuclear power ‘sustainable’. Brussels’ proposal is central to European goal of channelling billions of euros into green investments, Ft.com, Mehreen Khan in Brussels and Joe Miller in Frankfurt 3 Jan 21,
Germany, Austria and Luxembourg have hit out at Brussels’ plans to classify nuclear power as a sustainable technology in the EU’s landmark labelling system for green investment, which is central to Europe’s plans to decarbonise the bloc’s economy. German economy minister Robert Habeck, who is a member of the Green party in the country’s governing coalition, said: “It is questionable whether this greenwashing will even find acceptance on the financial market.” He told German press agency DPA on Saturday: “In our view, there was no need for this addition to the taxonomy rules.”
Brussels’ proposal is part of a so-called “taxonomy” list, which aims to help channel billions of euros of investment needed to decarbonise the bloc’s economy. The plan, the first attempt by a leading regulator to bring clarity to investors seeking to put private capital into sustainable economic activity, covers about 80 per cent of the bloc’s emissions and is intended to be a “gold standard” for markets to decide what is truly green or not. But the process has been beset by fierce political infighting inside the European Commission and its member states.
Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s minister for climate and energy, said on Saturday that Vienna would consider suing the European Commission if the classification of nuclear power as green went ahead. Claude Turmes, Luxembourg’s energy minister, meanwhile called the inclusion of nuclear power a “provocation”. The inclusion of nuclear power is widely seen as a victory for the French government which has urged Brussels to ensure the new rules do not punish a technology that provides almost two-thirds of French electricity. Nuclear reactors do not generate CO2 emissions but produce highly toxic waste…………..
The Brussels draft text will form part of a consultation with EU countries and independent experts that will run until January 12. However, anti-nuclear EU governments do not have the power to veto the taxonomy, which diplomats say is likely to win majority support in the EU Council. Astrid Matthey, one of the independent experts who advises the commission on the rules, criticised the draft for “contradicting the very purpose of the taxonomy”.
“The conditions under which both technologies are to be included are far from ensuring that we reach the Paris climate targets and do-no-significant-harm to the environment. There is still a long way to go for this draft to become aligned with the Green Deal and the EU’s environmental targets”, said Matthey. https://www.ft.com/content/92ab113f-ab17-4492-be65-56c9173cfc53
A technology that leaves behind hazardous wastes ”cannot be sustainable”
Federal government calls EU nuclear push “greenwashing”. Environment
Minister Lemke and Economics Minister Habeck sharply criticize the EU
Commission’s nuclear proposal. A technology that leaves behind hazardous
waste “cannot be sustainable”., Spiegel 1st Jan 2022
In Germany, coal-produced electricity has dropped, along with nuclear, while renewable-provided electricity continues to increase
Paul Dorfman: I disagree with Lord Howell of Guildford’s assertion (letter, Dec 29) that the decline of nuclear power in Germany has been accompanied by an increase in coal burning. Electricity generation
from coal in Germany dropped nearly 40TWh in 2020 as nuclear generation fell by 11TWh the same year.
The growth in renewables has outstripped the drop in nuclear power by almost double. Since 2011, nuclear in the German electricity mix halved from 22 per cent to 11 per cent, while the share of renewables increased from 17 per cent to 45 per cent.
Not only that, but Germany regularly has the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe after Scandinavia. The simple fact is that nuclear power plants are by far the most expensive technology for generating electricity.
Times 29th Dec 2021
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