{"id":341122,"date":"2024-08-30T15:53:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T13:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341122"},"modified":"2024-08-30T15:53:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T13:53:40","slug":"study-quantifies-germanys-disastrous-switch-away-from-nuclear-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341122","title":{"rendered":"Study Quantifies Germany\u2019s Disastrous Switch Away From Nuclear Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"542\" data-attachment-id=\"341124\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=341124\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?fit=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?fit=723%2C542&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=723%2C542&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-341124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2024\/08\/29\/study-quantifies-germanys-disastrous-switch-away-from-nuclear-power\/\">Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/authors\/ross_pomeroy\/\">Ross Pomeroy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the dawn of the millennium, Germany launched an ambitious plan to transition to renewable energy. \u201cDie Energiewende\u201d initiated a massive expansion of solar and wind power, resulting in a commendable 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2022 compared to 2002.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But while Energiewende slashed pollution through building out renewable energy sources, it also phased out Germany\u2019s fleet of safe, carbon-free nuclear power plants, a longtime goal of environmental activists afraid of nuclear\u2019s salient \u2013&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearscience.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/02\/the_3_biggest_myths_about_nuclear_power.html?source=science20.com\">but in actuality small<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 dangers. The result, according to a new&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/14786451.2024.2355642#abstract\">analysis<\/a>&nbsp;recently published to the International Journal of Sustainable Energy, has been a boondoggle for consumers and for the environment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2002, nuclear power supplied about a fifth of Germany\u2019s electricity. Twenty-one years later, it supplied none. A layperson might think that cheap wind and solar could simply fill the gap, but it isn\u2019t so simple. Once up and running, nuclear reactors provide reliable, affordable \u201cbaseload\u201d power \u2013 electricity that\u2019s available all the time. Ephemeral renewables simply can\u2019t match nuclear\u2019s consistency. And since an advanced economy like Germany\u2019s requires a 100 percent reliable power grid, fossil fuel power plants burning coal and natural gas were brought online to pick up wind and solar\u2019s slack.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The net result of German politicians\u2019 shortsightedness in phasing out nuclear power is a vastly pricier grid. The new analysis shows that if Germans simply maintained their 2002 fleet of reactors through 2022, they could have saved themselves roughly $600 billion Euros. Why so much? Well, in addition to their construction costs, renewables required expensive grid upgrades and subsidies. Moreover, in this hypothetical scenario where nuclear remained, Germany enjoyed nearly identical reductions in carbon emissions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ntnu.edu\/employees\/jan.emblemsvag\">Jan Emblemsv\u00e5g<\/a>, a Professor of Civil Engineering at Norway\u2019s NTNU 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 instead used it to construct new nuclear capacity? According to his calculations, they could have slashed carbon emissions a further 73% on top of their cuts in 2022, while simultaneously enjoying a savings of 330 billion Euros compared to the massive costs of Energiewende.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Policymakers in other countries looking to decarbonize their grids should take note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This article was originally published by RealClearScience and made available via RealClearWire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the dawn of the millennium, Germany launched an ambitious plan to transition to renewable energy. \u201cDie Energiewende\u201d initiated a massive expansion of solar and wind power, resulting in a commendable 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2022 compared to 2002.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":341124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691830411,691818656,691818051,691818206,691819094],"class_list":{"0":"post-341122","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-die-energiewende","9":"tag-electricity","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-nuclear-power","12":"tag-renewable-green-energy","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0photo-of-a-village-with-windmills-in-the-background.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1qJY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":341570,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341570","url_meta":{"origin":341122,"position":0},"title":"Renewable Fiasco: If Germany just kept nuclear power, it could have saved $600b and cut emissions by 73%","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/09\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Germany already had nuclear power in 2002, if they just kept it and didn\u2019t build all the wind and solar plants, they wouldn\u2019t have had to spend 697 Billion Euro on subsidies, and would have cut their emissions by 73% more. If ever there is a statistic that says there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO2)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO2)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/08b3c6c99-0001-0004-0000-000000234996_w1280_r1.77_fpx30.12_fpy54.98.jpg?fit=1200%2C678&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/08b3c6c99-0001-0004-0000-000000234996_w1280_r1.77_fpx30.12_fpy54.98.jpg?fit=1200%2C678&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/08b3c6c99-0001-0004-0000-000000234996_w1280_r1.77_fpx30.12_fpy54.98.jpg?fit=1200%2C678&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/08b3c6c99-0001-0004-0000-000000234996_w1280_r1.77_fpx30.12_fpy54.98.jpg?fit=1200%2C678&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/08b3c6c99-0001-0004-0000-000000234996_w1280_r1.77_fpx30.12_fpy54.98.jpg?fit=1200%2C678&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":253442,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253442","url_meta":{"origin":341122,"position":1},"title":"Political Power Failure: 88% of Germans Reckon Wind &#038; Solar \u201aTransition\u2018 Doomed to Failure","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Germans were said to be rock-solid supporters of the grand \u2018plan\u2019 to run on nothing but wind and solar. Well, not anymore.","rel":"","context":"In \"Blackouts\"","block_context":{"text":"Blackouts","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackouts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0burn-baby-burn-745.jpeg?fit=1201%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0burn-baby-burn-745.jpeg?fit=1201%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0burn-baby-burn-745.jpeg?fit=1201%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0burn-baby-burn-745.jpeg?fit=1201%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0burn-baby-burn-745.jpeg?fit=1201%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":208887,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=208887","url_meta":{"origin":341122,"position":2},"title":"Germany&#8217;s Energy Catastrophe","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If Russia permanently cuts off natural gas exports to Germany, it will likely send the country, the world\u2019s fourth-largest economy, into a severe recession. Lignite Power Plant in Neurath, Germany. Shutterstock Germany may be the only nation that has based its energy policy on absolution. Germans call it\u00a0Energiewende\u00a0(\u201cenergy transition\u201d), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1a4120207027627f0b.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1a4120207027627f0b.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1a4120207027627f0b.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1a4120207027627f0b.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1a4120207027627f0b.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":359781,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=359781","url_meta":{"origin":341122,"position":3},"title":"Taillight","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"December 2024 is something like the Stalingrad of the German energy transition. High power consumption with low yield in wind and sun. In terms of CO2 reduction, Germany has been treading water for years in the December months.","rel":"","context":"In \"Energy Transition\"","block_context":{"text":"Energy Transition","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=energy-transition"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Das_Ende_eines_Eisenbahnzugs_mit_roten_Schlusslicht__61a070f4-cb94-49b2-adf7-239b81b055dd.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Das_Ende_eines_Eisenbahnzugs_mit_roten_Schlusslicht__61a070f4-cb94-49b2-adf7-239b81b055dd.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Das_Ende_eines_Eisenbahnzugs_mit_roten_Schlusslicht__61a070f4-cb94-49b2-adf7-239b81b055dd.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Das_Ende_eines_Eisenbahnzugs_mit_roten_Schlusslicht__61a070f4-cb94-49b2-adf7-239b81b055dd.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":251216,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=251216","url_meta":{"origin":341122,"position":4},"title":"The contradictory Green policies to limit CO2\u00a0emissions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"An excellent way to undermine Western economies is to render their power generation unreliable and expensive.\u00a0 That objective of Green thinking is progressively being achieved by Government policy throughout the Western world but without any popular voter mandate.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":325506,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325506","url_meta":{"origin":341122,"position":5},"title":"It\u2019s coal to the rescue as wind and solar fail to keep German lights on","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/05\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In Germany they call it the \u201cEnergiewende,\u201d meaning energy transition, and it doesn\u2019t work. Germans have been forced to come to grips with sober energy reality after binging on more than half a trillion Euros of so-called \u201calternative\u201d energy, such as wind turbines and solar panels. This dramatically increased the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"coal-fired power\"","block_context":{"text":"coal-fired power","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=coal-fired-power"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0Broken-solar-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C744&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0Broken-solar-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C744&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0Broken-solar-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C744&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0Broken-solar-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C744&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0Broken-solar-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C744&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=341122"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341125,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341122\/revisions\/341125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/341124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=341122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=341122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=341122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}