http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/germany-to-be-the-first-major-industrialised-power-to-shut-down-all-its-nuclear-power-plants/story-e6frg6so-1226065685608

GERMANY has announced plans to become the first major industralised power to shut down all its nuclear plants, with a phase-out due to be wrapped up by 2022.

Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen announced the decision by the centre-right coalition, which was prompted by the Japan nuclear disaster, describing it as "irreversible".

He said the vast majority of Germany's 17 reactors would be offline by the end of 2011.

Mr Roettgen was speaking after a meeting of the ruling coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany has 17 nuclear reactors on its territory, eight of which are currently off the electricity grid.

Seven of those offline are the country's oldest nuclear reactors, which the federal government shut down for three months pending a safety probe after the Japanese atomic emergency at Fukushima in March.

The eighth is the Kruemmel plant, in northern Germany, which has been mothballed for years because of technical problems.

The environment ministers from all 16 German regional states had called for the temporary order on the seven plants to be made permanent.

Mr Roettgen said that none of the eight reactors offline would be reactivated.

Today's decision is effectively a return to the timetable set by the previous Social Democrat-Green coalition government a decade ago.

And it is a humbling about turn for Ms Merkel, who at the end of 2010 decided to extend the lifetime of Germany's 17 reactors by an average of 12 years, which would have kept them open until the mid-2030s.

That decision was unpopular in Germany even before the earthquake and tsunami in March that severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan, prompting Ms Merkel's review of nuclear policy.

Her zig-zagging on what since the 1970s has been a highly emotive issue in the country has cost her since at the ballot box.

Ms Merkel herself has blamed the Fukushima nuclear disaster for recent defeats in state elections.

In the latest, on May 23, the anti-nuclear Greens pushed her conservative party into third place in a vote in the northern state of Bremen, the first time they had scored more votes than the conservatives in a regional or federal election.

Monday's decision will make Germany the first major industrial power to give up atomic energy.

But it also means that the country will have to find the 22 per cent of its electricity needs covered by nuclear reactors from another source.

Interesting times... with the Swiss following suit!  ;)

For me the main issue is the last sentence

What will the use to meet their 22% power need?

(1) Solar

(2) Wind

(3) Cheap Coal from Lithuania


hint: options 1 & 2 are wrong

Maqqa wrote on May 30^th, 2011 at 10:00pm:

For me the main issue is the last sentence What will the use to meet their 22% power need? (1) Solar (2) Wind (3) Cheap Coal from Lithuania hint: options 1 & 2 are wrong

Oh, it's interesting alright!

It's externality I versus externality II i.e. Market Failure I versus Market Failure II !!  :o :o

It's already been done, several times, in the correct sections.

This thread has nothing to do with this section.

But, quite a few of your threads are irrelevant!

your facts are also irrelevant but you are still here

BatteriesNotIncluded wrote on May 30^th, 2011 at 10:07pm:

Maqqa wrote on May 30th, 2011 at 10:00pm: For me the main issue is the last sentence What will the use to meet their 22% power need? (1) Solar (2) Wind (3) Cheap Coal from Lithuania hint: options 1 & 2 are wrong Oh, it's interesting alright! It's externality I versus externality II i.e. Market Failure I versus Market Failure II !!  :o :o

Germany could learn a thing or two from the Danes ...


Quote:

According to a new forecast from the Danish Energy Authority, Denmark is set to reach a 21% share of renewable energy in the total energy mix by 2011, beating the target of 20% set in the current energy policy which runs until 2012. The news is reported by the Danish Energy Association in its daily newsletter. The new forecast gives projections for Denmark's energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases up to 2030. By 2020 the Danish Energy Authority expects that the share of renewable energy in Denmark's total energy mix will have risen to above 28%, primarily as a result of increased use of biogas, waste, biofuel and solar thermal heat. By 2020, consumption of coal, oil and gas is expected to have declined by 14% in relation to 2008. http://www.ambathen.um.dk/CMS.Web/Templates/Content%20Pages/DefaultPage.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7B98A354FE-450D-40C2-863E-03C48FDF6D66%7D&NRORIGINALURL=/da/menu/Klima/DagligArtikelOmKlimaOgMilj%25C3%25B8/Renewablessettoreach21ofDenmarkstotalmixby2011.htm&NRCACHEHINT=NoModifyGuest&printmode=True

http://www.power-technology.com/projects/hornsreefwind/images/1-wind-power.jpg

Maqqa wrote on May 30^th, 2011 at 10:22pm:

your facts are also irrelevant but you are still here

so there goes our uranium sales.down the gurgle.. not sure of Germany bought ours... but I am sure other countries would have...

oh well pity we cant sell wind and sun isnt it.??


interesting though how the Germans dont muck about... do you think it took 2 years and a million reports and meeting to decide this macca???...lol..

I wonder how this mob decides whos turn it is to make the tea.... oh kevs of course when hes home...ha.ha.

Maqqa wrote on May 30^th, 2011 at 10:00pm:

For me the main issue is the last sentence What will the use to meet their 22% power need? (1) Solar (2) Wind (3) Cheap Coal from Lithuania hint: options 1 & 2 are wrong

Yes maqqa a good post. It will be very interesting how they go about replacing that load. It certainly is simpler for them than it would be for France but none the less they have pollution reduction targets under the EU to meet and an ETS to help of set the issues that will arrise from the problem. Geeze wonder what we would do without any economic tool to assist industry with transition?

It would be foolish to under-estimate the germans but 22% is a big gap to fill in such a short time.  It wil be fascinating to watch.

longweekend58 wrote on May 31^st, 2011 at 9:20am:

It would be foolish to under-estimate the germans but 22% is a big gap to fill in such a short time.  It wil be fascinating to watch.

and they still manage to turn out huge fossil fueled cars..

cods wrote on May 31^st, 2011 at 9:28am:

longweekend58 wrote on May 31st, 2011 at 9:20am: It would be foolish to under-estimate the germans but 22% is a big gap to fill in such a short time.  It wil be fascinating to watch. and they still manage to turn out huge fossil fueled cars..

This subject too will be watched with fascinated attention worldwide!  :D :D