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Germany Swaps Nuclear for Solar and Wind Power
YES! Magazine / News Analysis
Published: Friday 8 June 2012
“Last year, in response to the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a plan to close down all 17 of Germany’s nuclear reactors and replace them with renewable energy, mostly solar and wind power.”
Germany, the world’s most aggressive adopter of renewable energy, is taking a bold leap toward a future free from nuclear energy. In March, the German government announced a program to invest 200 billion euros, or approximately $270 billion, in renewables. That’s 8 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the DIW Economic Institute in Berlin.
Last year, in response to the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a plan to close down all 17 of Germany’s nuclear reactors and replace them with renewable energy, mostly solar and wind power.
Germany has already closed eight nuclear reactors, and the rest will be shut down by 2022. For now, natural gas is filling the void left by nuclear power, which formerly produced 20 percent of the country’s electricity. Under Merkel’s plan, 80 percent of Germany’s energy will come from renewables by 2050, according to the German Advisory Council on the Environment. Studies by the council show that 100 percent renewable power is a realistic goal for Germany.
In contrast, the United States has been much less ambitious. The president’s “New Energy for America” plan aims to supply the country with 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.
Eighty percent of German residents want to see their country abandon nuclear power, but some Germans have also opposed new energy projects in their backyards. The website for “Wind Power Opponents,” Windkraftgegner.de, lists more than 70 protest campaigns, most of which are regional, grassroots groups organized to stop specific projects.
Germany’s renewables plan will be expensive, but so was the Fukushima meltdown—it did $50 billion in damage to Japan’s economy by some estimates. Dealing with the effects of climate change won’t be cheap either. Even German nuclear power companies are investing in the plan. Not only will it make Germany’s energy infrastructure among the safest in the world, it should provide many chances for economic growth, according to press statements by Philipp Rösler, Germany’s economics minister.
3 comments on "Germany Swaps Nuclear for Solar and Wind Power"
June 08, 2012 7:15pm
All 22 nuclear reactors made up 17% of 100% capacity of which 25% is reserve as set out by law. The maximum peak ever used was 76%.
"Nuclear" plants served the purpose of creating a nuclear industry only which could compete internationally. This entire industry is going to be shut down. Orders for three nuclear power stations in UK are not going to be fulfilled.
Neither a reduction in standard of living nor export competitiveness will occur.
Arguments to the contrary are usually disseminated by people with a vested interest in nuclear industries outside of Germany. These dubious arguments never get substantiated - they are pure rethoric for the benefit of "locals".
June 08, 2012 3:34pm
Germany is putting itself at great risk as reducing Nuclear will increase dependence on Russian 'gas', a commodity that was shut down last year by Russia for political purposes.
Wind and Solar are mostly intermittent forms of power and without the ability to store that power it is a great waste of money as it is the 'Power Supplied to the Grid' that matters and not the potentially available power when the sun is its brightest and the wind blowing at just the right speed -which are the energy numbers usually quoted by advocates.
Clearly safety backup plans for cooling Nuclear Plants need to be reviewed, however providing teams to do that is a vastly superior solution then to shut them down in a hurry when there is not a good available alternative. Closing the Nuclear plants will just reduce the standard of living for Germans and make Germany uncompetitive for its exports.
June 08, 2012 1:28pm
Do we have to wait for a meltdown here before we switch?