3 ms·

unfortunately, as energy strategy is a multi-decadal commitment, the decisions on what to do should not be left to mercurial changes in popular sentiment

djohnston 4y ago
They were making the wrong decision for decades, moving away from nuclear while continuing to increase dependence on Russian gas (against the advice of 4-5 different US administrations). I agree that strategies shouldn't be made on knee jerk changes in public sentiment, but in this case the public is just starting to understand the correct answer that was always there.
- danhor 4y ago
  The move away from nuclear and the move towards gas are more-or-less unconnected. After the (currently in place) decision to shut of nuclear from 2011, the gas part of the electricity first dipped a bit, then went a bit above 2010 levels after 2019. But it's not like our dependency on gas for electricity was radically different before the decision to exit nuclear (at least the current one) and right now. If you prioritized getting away from fossil fuels, instead of nuclear, the current situations might look differently but I don't think that would've been politically feasible. If nuclear were just left running and providing 22% of german electricity, I don't think we'd be in a much better situation right now. The major issue isn't electricity, but other forms of energy usage like heating. But that wasn't ever something done with electricity (at least on a large scale) in germany, even in the nuclear heyday (as opposed to france).
hef19898 4y ago
In Germany we had one well thought out decision regarding nuclear power. That was over turned twice due to "sentiment", maybe a third time now. And everytime that hapened it turned out, well, not perfect.
btilly 4y ago
So are you saying that Germany should continue its multi-decadal course towards being dependent on Russia for its energy needs? As Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried." Yes, its shortcomings are obvious. But it is still worth accepting.
- machtfurden 4y ago

djohnston 4y ago

They were making the wrong decision for decades, moving away from nuclear while continuing to increase dependence on Russian gas (against the advice of 4-5 different US administrations). I agree that strategies shouldn't be made on knee jerk changes in public sentiment, but in this case the public is just starting to understand the correct answer that was always there.

danhor 4y ago
The move away from nuclear and the move towards gas are more-or-less unconnected. After the (currently in place) decision to shut of nuclear from 2011, the gas part of the electricity first dipped a bit, then went a bit above 2010 levels after 2019. But it's not like our dependency on gas for electricity was radically different before the decision to exit nuclear (at least the current one) and right now. If you prioritized getting away from fossil fuels, instead of nuclear, the current situations might look differently but I don't think that would've been politically feasible. If nuclear were just left running and providing 22% of german electricity, I don't think we'd be in a much better situation right now. The major issue isn't electricity, but other forms of energy usage like heating. But that wasn't ever something done with electricity (at least on a large scale) in germany, even in the nuclear heyday (as opposed to france).

hef19898 4y ago

In Germany we had one well thought out decision regarding nuclear power. That was over turned twice due to "sentiment", maybe a third time now. And everytime that hapened it turned out, well, not perfect.

btilly 4y ago

So are you saying that Germany should continue its multi-decadal course towards being dependent on Russia for its energy needs? As Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried." Yes, its shortcomings are obvious. But it is still worth accepting.

machtfurden 4y ago