Germany’s Energiewende has also impacted Poland and the Czech Republic, but these effects are rarely discussed or well-understood by German lawmakers. EU-wide energy policies are needed in order to ensure that Germany’s transition to renewables is permanent, sustainable, and fair to its neighbors.
All posts tagged: Coal
E.ON threatens premature closure of nuclear plant
One common question from pro-nuclear Energiewende critics is what Germany would look like today if it had not switched off 40 percent of its nuclear capacity in 2011. In recent weeks, we have gotten a taste of the answer: massive voluntary shutdowns of coal and nuclear. Craig Morris investigates.
A bad bank for German hard coal?
Germany’s power plants fired with hard coal might soon run for fewer and fewer hours each year, being increasingly offset by renewables. Now, a labor union has called on power firms to sell these power plants to a “national company” as hard coal is phased out. Craig Morris says the firms like the idea.
Intermittent or variable?
Wind and solar power are often considered unreliable, especially by their detractors. But Craig Morris recently realized he needed to change his terminology – after learning how intermittent conventional power plants are.
MWs are not MWhs – Monitoring Report Part 2
Today, Craig Morris returns to the Monitoring Report published in December by Germany’s Network Agency to discuss what the organization expects over the next five years.
German energy consumption up
The AGEB (Working Group on Energy Balances), which tallies official energy statistics for Germany, expects consumption to increase by just over two percent this year. Craig Morris takes a look at the organization’s overview for the first three quarters.
2.5% of German power is coal for export – and counting
But because of the way we count carbon emissions, German coal power exports to its neighbors (including France, which is a major net importer of German electricity) will make Germany’s carbon balance look a bit worse than it is in reality. Craig Morris explains.
Energy subsidies: more honesty, please
Every October, a public outcry over financial support for renewables occurs in Germany. What is mostly forgotten: Fossil fuels and nuclear still receive much higher subsidies, as Matthias Ruchser explains.
German Exports of Coal Power Way Up
New figures out show a huge increase in German electricity exports for the first half of 2013. Green power being sold across borders? No, sadly not. It’s ugly power – brown coal itself, as Paul Hockenos explains.
Separating Fact from Fiction in Accounts of Germany’s Renewables Revolution
In recent months, much misinformation has been spread about the German Energiewende. Amory Lovins from Rocky Mountain Institute debunks some of the most pressing myths about the German Energiewende – from grid stability to the role of coal.