Germany’s ‘Energiewende has made things worse for climate’ says report

‘The donkey goes on to the ice until it breaks’ – German proverb [image credit: evwind.es]

Debatable claim in the headline, but the German ‘energy transition’ has certainly hurt electricity consumers as prices have shot up in the last decade, with fortunes being wasted on vain attempts to tweak the climate system.

As Bonn this week hosts the COP23 climate talks, a new report claims that Germany’s Energiewende programme “has made things worse for the climate”, reports PEI.

It says it has done this “by shutting down nuclear capacity and locking in dependency on coal for decades, despite hundreds of billions in investments and subsidy-schemes”.

The report has been published by Energy for Humanity, a non-profit organisation founded by documentary filmmaker Robert Stone, Swiss entrepreneur Daniel Aegerter and environmental activist Kirsty Gogan.

Gogan said: “Germany does not deserve its reputation as a climate leader.”

She argues that in terms of absolute greenhouse gas emissions, “Germany is by far the largest emitter in Europe. Germany alone emits 18 per cent of total emissions. Germany is not decarbonising as fast as other large emitters. Furthermore, by exporting electricity generated by fossil fuels, Germany is significantly increasing the CO2-intensity of neighbouring countries’ electricity consumption.”

Energy for Humanity believes that a mix of nuclear and hydropower are the best sources of power to complement renewables. With this in mind, Gogan praises France for its “timely decision to not force accelerated shut-downs on its nuclear fleet”. This she said means the country “is bound to stay on top as one of the most decarbonized nations, while Germany falls further behind. The UK has demonstrated that real climate progress is possible with a policy that supports all low carbon sources including renewables and nuclear.”

Continued here.