8 Aug (NucNet): Germany’s decision to close its nuclear power plants by 2022 will set back efforts to decarbonise the electricity supply by 10 crucial years and could prove expensive for every household in Europe, an article in ‘New Scientist’ magazine says.
The article, by David Strahan*, says the German government has “admirable” plans to raise renewable electricity to 35 per cent of consumption by 2020. But even this planned increase falls five per cent short of filling the hole in zero-carbon electricity left by abandoning nuclear.
Germany plans to fill that hole with coal and other fossil fuels. It has plans to build 20 gigawatts of fossil-fuel power stations by 2020, including nine gigawatts of coal by 2013, the article says.
“So it looks as though by the end of the decade Germany will at best have about the same amount of zero-carbon generation as today – 40 percent – and probably less.
“Had Germany retained its nuclear capacity and achieved its renewables target, the zero-carbon share would have been 58 per cent. We are told this decade is crucial for our emissions reduction trajectory. For Germany it will be a lost decade during which emissions from its electricity generation are likely to rise.”
The article says that Trevor Sikorski, head of environmental market research at London investment bank Barclays Capital, calculates that Germany will emit an extra 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide between now and 2020. That is more than the annual emissions of Italy and Spain combined under the EU's emissions trading scheme.
* David Strahan is the author of ‘The Last Oil Shock: A survival guide to the imminent extinction of petroleum man’, published by John Murray.
The ‘New Scientist’ article is online:
www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128236.300-the-carbon-cost-of-germanys-nuclear-nein-danke.html
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
More Than Half German Population Supports Extended Operation Of N-Plants (News in Brief No. 99, 1 September 2008)
Nuclear Still Needed In Germany, Says Expert Report (News in Brief No. 151, 30 August 2010)
Germany Pledges To Shut All Nuclear Plants By 2022 (News in Brief No. 128, 30 May 2011)
