Posted on 05/01/2019 2:49:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Germany, one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal, will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change, a government commission said Saturday.
The announcement marked a significant shift for Europe’s largest country — a nation that had long been a leader on cutting CO2 emissions before turning into a laggard in recent years and badly missing its reduction targets. Coal plants account for 40% of Germany’s electricity, itself a reduction from recent years when coal dominated power production.
“This is an historic accomplishment,” said Ronald Pofalla, chairman of the 28-member government commission, at a news conference in Berlin following a marathon 21-hour negotiating session that concluded at 6 a.m. Saturday. The breakthrough ended seven months of wrangling. “It was anything but a sure thing. But we did it,” Pofalla said. “There won’t be any more coal-burning plants in Germany by 2038.”
The plan includes some $45 billion in spending to mitigate the pain in coal regions. The commission’s recommendations are expected to be adopted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
“It’s a big moment for climate policy in Germany that could make the country a leader once again in fighting climate change,” said Claudia Kemfert, professor for energy economics at the DIW Berlin, the German Institute for Economic Research. “It’s also an important signal for the world that Germany is again getting serious about climate change: a very big industrial nation that depends so much on coal is switching it off.”
The decision to quit coal follows an earlier bold energy policy move by the German government, which decided to shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2022 in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
To have Germany at the mercy of French nuclear energy a strange but poetic justice.
If Germany follows through with this Daimler may have to move all its mfg. to Alabama and other non-EU locations.
Plus it will give the rest of the industrial world a real world example of the AGW cult and what it really does to a country’s economy. The Greenies are the modern Nazi’s in Germany.
“Are Germans aware that the man who spread the global warming theory, and educated al gore, disagreed with global warming at the end of his career? “
Are they aware it’s a hoax?
they will rely on even more Russian gas and fossil-fuel energy from neighbouring countries sent through interconnectors costing tens of billions of dollars for when the wind doesn’t blow (or blows too hard) and the sun doesn’t shine.
Idiots.
China is building Thorium Power plants and we need to also.
Nah! It’ll just make them more dependent on Russia.
I am sure it’s a total coincidence that the Germans make this announcement just as Nordstream 2 and it’s gusher of Russian gas comes online.
They could call that the Cuisinart Audubon Sanctuary.
Correct. It will be interesting to see how they accomplish the load balancing part of this scheme. I suspect there will be considerably more gas fired generation, probably a combination of combined cycle base load and simple cycle peakers. Cant see how you can stabilize the system with just wind and solar.
No problem. Uncle Vlad will be more than happy to send some troops to keep you all warm during those terrible winters.
And for Deutsche Bahn:
I recognize the location of your windmills. Indio, CA where the gap in the mountains causes unending winds as the difference in pressure between the coast and the southwest tries to equalize.
All for a #FakeScience hoax!
Why wait 19 years? Do it now! Global warming, we’ve only got 12 years, do it NOW!
Only replacement for hydrocarbon burning of one sort or another is nuclear... you can’t replace 85 coal plants with windmills and solar
It gets cold in Germany during the winter. Maybe they’re trying to freeze the immigrants out (sarc).
Palm Springs?
Indio is next to Palm Springs right in the gap in the mountains. It is where the bulk of the windmills are.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.