Is a Nuclear Free Germany the Green blueprint for us all?
Andrew Chappell 6th June 2011
The path towards a world dependent upon a larger renewable energy source base opened up a little more this week. Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, announced this week that they will be phasing out all nuclear power plants by 2022. This comes on the back of great social disquiet regarding initial coalition plans to extend the life of German nuclear reactors. This position has been completely reversed and now Germany is set to lead the way towards a nuclear-free society.
Voices have been calling from all corners of our planet for a move towards renewables for some time, however is this apparent German wisdom as wise as we all initially conceive? There are going to be a number of challenges along the way to create this smooth transition from nuclear to green sources of energy. From an optimistic outlook the Germans could yet again become bold leaders of a world too timid to begin bridging the gap towards a green future.
The facts are clear; Germany needs to find sources of energy that amount to around a quarter of its current consumption. Under the current proposal the six oldest reactors, which were temporarily set offline after the Fukushima crisis, will now never be used again. Another plant, the Kruemmel reactor based in northern Germany, which was already offline due to persistent technical problems will be permanently off the books. Six more are planned to go offline by 2021 and a further three by 2022. Note that they are just ‘going offline’ rather than being permanently decommissioned, allowing some room for manoeuvre if everything does not quite go according to plan.
So from which sources do they expect the slack to be taken up? There is a predicted value of 10% of current energy usage which can be saved through more efficient buildings and machinery. However the main source is aimed at wind energy. Principally built in northern Germany along its coastline, however this presents problems itself in that many of the current reactors lie in the heart of the Germany economy in the regions of Baden-Wurttemberg and Bavaria surrounding Stuttgart and Munich respectively. There will be a need for a so-called ‘Electricity Autobahn’ running from the source, the North Sea wind farms, to where it is demanded: southern Germany. This has already caused a stir in the heartlands where they are opposed to the construction of a highway of pylons. It seems that some Germans want the benefits and safety of a non-nuclear strategy but are unwilling to forfeit the costs of doing so.
It could, on the other hand, present another wealth of opportunities for the European giants to further build on their manufacturing successes. Opportunities in technology, innovation and as a consequence, exports, jobs and expertise in such areas are the principle gains where the government hopes to gain. Environmental entrepreneurs should start thinking about whether there is a potential market for their eco-friendly products, with these political decisions making it that little bit easier to bring them to market.
How do their plans fit in with the wider European community? From a broad point of view, they are heading out into the wilderness among few friends. Only Sweden and Switzerland have signalled their intention of moving down the non-nuclear route for the medium term whilst their neighbours are pursuing the road in the completely opposite direction. France and Britain seem to have no intentions to follow their European super powers into the green abyss, both preferring the nuclear route to solve their respective energy gaps at least in the medium term if not for longer; to the east Poland and the Czech Republic are only just beginning their love affairs with nuclear power. If Germany fail to reach their ambitious targets they may well end up importing a large amount of their energy in the future.
Conventional opinion is that in the end all countries should end up heading towards a green fuelled economy. Although not all may be doing that at this moment in time, Germany has already begun their story ‘Life after Nuclear’, it may well be another success story for this country providing a blueprint for others to follow. The green revolution may have well and truly begun.