How Germany’s nuclear elimination was reversed

Written by Ross Pomeroy via RealClearScience,

At the turn of the millennium, Germany launched an ambitious plan to transition to renewable energy. “Die Energiewende” initiated a massive expansion of solar and wind energy, resulting in a commendable 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2022 compared to 2002.

But while the Energiewende has reduced pollution by building renewable energy sources, it has also phased out Germany’s fleet of safe, carbon-free nuclear power plants.a long-standing goal of environmental activists fear nuclear prominence – but actually small – dangers. The result, according to a new analysis recently published in the International Journal of Sustainable Energy, has been a hurdle for consumers and the environment.

In 2002, nuclear power provided about a fifth of Germany’s electricity. TI went a year later, he didn’t provide any. A layperson might think that cheap wind and solar could simply fill the gap, but it’s not that simple. Once operational, nuclear reactors provide reliable and affordable “baseline” power – electricity available all the time. Ephemeral renewables simply cannot match nuclear consistency. And since an advanced economy like Germany’s requires a 100% reliable electricity grid, fossil fuel power plants burning coal and natural gas have been brought into operation to offset wind and solar losses.

The net result of the shortsightedness of German politicians in phasing out nuclear power is a much more expensive grid. The new analysis shows that if the Germans had simply maintained their fleet of reactors from 2002 to 2022, they could have saved about $600 billion. Why so much? Well, in addition to construction costs, renewables required expensive grid upgrades and subsidies. Moreover, in this hypothetical scenario where nuclear remained, Germany enjoyed almost identical reductions in carbon emissions.

Jan Emblemsvågprofessor of civil engineering at NTNU in Norway and the architect of the analysis, imagined another scenario out of curiosity. What if the Germans had taken the money spent on expanding renewables and used it to build new nuclear capacity? According to his calculations, he could have reduced carbon emissions by a further 73% on top of their cuts in 2022, while enjoying €330 billion in savings compared to the massive costs of the Energiewende.

Policymakers in other countries looking to decarbonize their grids should take note.

By Zerohedge.com

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