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"So what about gas? This did very slightly increase from 40 TWh in 2002 to 52.2 TWh in 2021. A growth of 12.2 TWh, vs the 109.4 TWh reduction in coal. So German
by guerby 4y ago
"So what about gas? This did very slightly increase from 40 TWh in 2002 to 52.2 TWh in 2021. A growth of 12.2 TWh, vs the 109.4 TWh reduction in coal. So Germany reduced coal by almost 10x as much as gas grew.
Did this increase reliance on Russia? No, it decreased it.
Of the coal that is burned in Germany, the lignite is domestically produced. Hard coal is imported for use in the electricity sector as German hard coal is economically unfavorable. "
- seydor 4y agoGas is the complement to the intermittency of renewables. This has made it indispensable, even if it is not the largest source https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c=DE&stacking=stacked_absolute_area https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c...
- dane-pgp 4y agoAre you defining intermittency in a way that isn't captured by capacity factor (where offshore wind looks as good as gas)? Also, what do you mean by "indispensable"? Surely when coal was the source for most of Germany's electricity, you could say that coal was "indispensable". Just as coal has been replaced by natural gas and renewables, it's possible to replace natural gas with over-provisioning of renewables (and using the excess electricity to produce synthetic gas).
- cbmuser 4y agoGermany produced about 30 TWh electricity in 1990 from natural gas. In 2021, it was about 95 TWh. Even the current government in Germany was planning to build more natural gas power stations to replace coal plants. Wind and solar do not provide dispatchable power and therefore cannot replace any conventional plants.