Germany: Building the Energy Bridge

The German cabinet took a major step forward today in securing their vision of Germany’s energy future. A range of new proposals were passed, with the most talked about being the operational lifespan of the country’s nuclear plants. The plants were initially commissioned to operate through 2020, but plants built before 1980 were instead given an 8 year extension and newer plants were given an additional 14 years of operating time.

Germany has committed fully to the goal of making renewable energy the country’s primary energy source. The plan that was signed off on today outlines that ambitious goal. Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes that the lifespan extension of the country’s 17 nuclear plants will allow enough time for the renewable energy sector to expand. She’d better be right, because the German cabinet has turned its back on nuclear energy and now describes its role as “bridge technology” for future energy sources. The outright abandonment of nuclear energy is an interesting one. It’s still unclear why instead of having nuclear energy work in conjunction with Germany’s renewable sector, which accounts for a mere 16% of the country’s energy output, they have instead declared nuclear energy to be a dead end.

Germany's nuclear plants will be discontinued in 2034

Today’s plan details just how lofty the German renewable energy goals are. By 2050, Germany hopes to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 80%, and to have increased renewable energy to 60% of its total output. In order to facilitate the plan, the four German companies who operate reactors will be mandated to invest in additional security measures for the plants, and in return for the additional profits they expect to gain from the life extension, they will return half of those revenues to the government.  

Although the proposals have yet to pass the lower house of parliament, their affirmation looks promising. The renewable energy sector in Germany employed over 210,000 people in 2006; it remains to be seen whether its rapid expansion will result in a net job gain when the nuclear industry evaporates, or if renewable sources will be able to satisfy the expected energy demand.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, The Energy Collective