Germany agrees to end reliance on coal stations by 2038
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Germany has agreed to end its reliance on polluting coal power stations by 2038, in a long-awaited decision that will have major ramifications for Europe’s attempts to meet its Paris climate change targets.
The country is the last major bastion of coal-burning in north-western Europe and the dirtiest of fossil fuels still provides nearly 40% of Germany’s power, compared with 5% in the UK, which plans to phase the fuel out entirely by 2025.
After overnight talks, the German coal exit commission of 28 members from industry, politicians and NGOs, which has worked since last summer to thrash out a timetable for ditching coal power, agreed an end date of 2038. A review in 2032 will decide if the deadline can be brought forward to 2035.
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However, RWE, which runs many of the country’s coal plants, said the 2038 date was “far too early” for the company and said the 2032 review would be a chance to extend the final end date. In a statement the firm said the proposals: “would have far-reaching consequences for the German energy sector and in particular for RWE.”
Rolf Martin Schmitz, RWE’s chief executive, warned the plan would have “serious consequences” for the company’s lignite, or brown coal, business.
Coal union members greeted a meeting of the coal exit commission in Berlin on Friday with a demonstration urging against a hasty phaseout.
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About €40bn will be awarded under the commission’s plans; the industry had hoped for €60bn. The German energy secretary, Thomas Bareiß, has said the move away from coal was necessary but would be a “very expensive transition”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/26/germany-agrees-to-end-reliance-on-coal-stations-by-2038
Not soon enough but better than nothing I guess.
That date could have been a lot sooner if they didn't shut down their nuclear plants.
They really need to just admit that was a mistake and restart the nuclear plants, or at least halt the shutdown before it gets worse. Even if you do believe nuclear energy is bad, the option Germany went with instead is going back to literally the worst form of coal that exists, lignite.
Politicians admitting they made a mistake? Hahahahaha.
I don't really get why Germany shut down its nuclear power plants early. Increased scrutiny and reviews after Fukushima would've made more sense.
Belgium is having issues with its nuclear reactors because they want them all shut down but there are no viable alternatives so the aging reactors are breaking down. Green party hardliners kept pushing for this.
Basically they just panicked. People don't realize that a situation like Fukushima or for that matter Chernobyl is basically impossible in an EU nuclear facility because Europe doesn't currently experience the kind of tropical storm that damaged Fukushima (if they keep using coal at this rate then they might someday) and the RBMK reactor used at Chernobyl was a terrible design being run by incompetent people (the Fukushima disaster also was mostly human error on the part of Tokyo Electric).
From what I've heard it's not just the politicians but the people they represent, nuclear just isn't very popular in Germany even compared to places like the US.
Which is hilarious, green party indirectly supporting coal. That's why I can't take them seriously.
France built several reactors ontop of a seismic fault.
On the bright side, having 14 fingers has dramatically improved my typing.
Greens have a habit of picking terrible allies.
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