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We don’t know how long this—let’s not water it down with words like “conflict”—war will last. We also don’t want members of NATO to be dependent on a hostile fo
by SllX 5y ago
We don’t know how long this—let’s not water it down with words like “conflict”—war will last. We also don’t want members of NATO to be dependent on a hostile foreign power for heating fuel.
If it takes longer than a year, fine, it’s something that should have been started years ago but there’s no other time available to us than the present and future, so let’s try the present. Solar+Wind+Batteries are a necessary but not sufficient part of a future energy plan for a large industrialized nation, so see if infrastructure that already exists today is usable and can be brought back online in a useful capacity for a bill of materials competitive with the alternatives.
- V__ 5y ago> We need to expand renewables, rigorously cut consumption at all levels, diversify, and rapidly ramp up hydrogen. [1] Russian coal imports are projected to go down to 25% (from 50%) in the next month or so, and by autumn should be more or less zero. Independence from gas should be achieved by 2024. LNG terminals will be build and floating LNG terminals have been secured. [1] https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2022/03/20220325-minister-habeck-germany-is-quickly-cutting-its-dependence-on-russian-energy-but-we-still-need-to-act-prudently.html https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2022/03/... That's about the same timeframe which could be reasonably expected for the recertification/upgrading/etc. of the nuclear plants. The goal is to get independent of Russia.
- SllX 5y agoSounds good. What is the argument against getting those plants back online if that’s how little time it will take? I assume Germany seeks to grow and prosper as a nation, not stagnate at prior energy usage levels, or make themselves overly dependent on imports from another but different nation?
- V__ 5y agoThere are multiple reasons, first that 2 years would still be a very optimistic time frame. The energy companies got a huge reimbursement for the shutdowns and are therefore not interested in prolonging, because it would actually cost them more money than investing in other technologies. But the biggest reason is sadly the German publics prolific anti-nuclear views. There is basically zero public support behind the idea.
- SllX 5y agoWell that’s just unfortunate, because more than likely that means they’ll always be dependent on some kind of energy imports when they don’t have to be.
- V__ 5y agoYeah, either that or major investments in energy storage. My strong feeling is that Nordic countries will invest more in nuclear and export to the rest of Europe.