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If only Germany had invested in a long-lasting, baseload power generation system that produces no CO₂ emissions and involves splitting atoms…

by _hypx 3y ago

wudangmonk 3y ago
The requirement says 65% renewables, is nuclear power considered a renewable too?
- _hypx 3y ago
  FYI, Germany shut down all its nuclear power. It's not really a meaningful differentiation at this point.
- credit_guy 3y ago
  Why renewables and not low carbon?
- YmiYugy 3y ago
  Yes, but so is all electricity, because the law only considers local emissions. This might seem counterproductive given how coal heavy the German grid is, but unless customers are able to produce 65% of their required energy via solar panels, which is really tough in the winter, it would be basically impossible to comply with that law. Decarbonizing the grid is of course the aim of other policies, but given how large parts of German media and basically all but the Green party seem to be focused on actively or quietly obstructing any effective climate action.
Mizoguchi 3y ago
Too risky for the environment they said, so they switched to Russian gas.
Fgehono 3y ago
If only you would understand the context better. Germany was not allowed to do nuclear after WW2. German then took the Three Mile Island accident much more serious. And later in the 80 there was tchernobyl. Even today you need to check some meat you hunted from the Bavarian forest against radiation. Tchernobyl is part of Germans history too. Germany has double the density of France which makes nuclear even harder to do. I really hate comments like yours, simplifying complex things like this makes it out that we are just too stupid for nuclear... No there are reasons
- _hypx 3y ago
  It isn't complex. Germany's behavior is pure phobia. Japan has an even higher population density than Germany and is still pursuing nuclear. The simply fact is, nuclear is among the safest energy source possible. With modern safety standards and Germany's lack of plate tectonics, it is basically impossible for a serious nuclear event to occur in Germany.
  - Fgehono 3y ago
    Ah so it's pure phobia. Interesting. So you checked all reasons and concluded that's it? What studies did you consult? And even if it's 'only' phobia wouldn't it also be a problem of politics and education then? And while I don't necessarily against nuclear, I do really believe that every investment in nuclear would be much more beneficial towards wind, solar, geo, power lines and energy storage. Why? Makes people more independent and therefore the country better equipped for catastrophies. It creates synergies with all other energy storage problems like ev's, laptops and smartphones. It makes people more energy aware. The investment will push prices down for everyone including 3th world countries. Less risk for dirty bomb material. No long term storage problem. Less dependencies to other countries because Uran etc doesn't exist everywhere while the other materials are much easier to get globally. Also castor Transports are super expensive and the whole supply chain too due to terrorism risk and health risk. I also have worked with plenty of people in my life, the assumption that people are always able to handle dangerous materials which are not visible harmful feels stupid.
    - _hypx 3y ago
      Since science has clearly found nuclear to be one of the safest energy sources possible, it is phobia. Literally no German has ever died from one of its own nuclear reactor. None of those issues are as big as the challenges of climate change. Nuclear waste can be buried or reprocessed, supply chain problems are much smaller than dependency on Russia oil & gas, and Germany is much more at risk from Russia aggression than the very remote chance that anything they do with nuclear could be turned into a weapon against them.
- 3y ago
rhaway84773 3y ago
Yeah, amazing why countries didn’t invest in a source of energy that was, is, and likely will be the most expensive and only gets more expensive with time. Really amazing why no one did that.

If only Germany had invested in a long-lasting, baseload power generation system that produces no CO₂ emissions and involves splitting atoms…

by _hypx 3y ago

If only Germany had invested in a long-lasting, baseload power generation system that produces no CO₂ emissions and involves splitting atoms…

wudangmonk 3y ago

The requirement says 65% renewables, is nuclear power considered a renewable too?

_hypx 3y ago
FYI, Germany shut down all its nuclear power. It's not really a meaningful differentiation at this point.
credit_guy 3y ago
Why renewables and not low carbon?
YmiYugy 3y ago
Yes, but so is all electricity, because the law only considers local emissions. This might seem counterproductive given how coal heavy the German grid is, but unless customers are able to produce 65% of their required energy via solar panels, which is really tough in the winter, it would be basically impossible to comply with that law. Decarbonizing the grid is of course the aim of other policies, but given how large parts of German media and basically all but the Green party seem to be focused on actively or quietly obstructing any effective climate action.

Mizoguchi 3y ago

Too risky for the environment they said, so they switched to Russian gas.

Fgehono 3y ago

If only you would understand the context better. Germany was not allowed to do nuclear after WW2. German then took the Three Mile Island accident much more serious. And later in the 80 there was tchernobyl. Even today you need to check some meat you hunted from the Bavarian forest against radiation. Tchernobyl is part of Germans history too. Germany has double the density of France which makes nuclear even harder to do. I really hate comments like yours, simplifying complex things like this makes it out that we are just too stupid for nuclear... No there are reasons

_hypx 3y ago
It isn't complex. Germany's behavior is pure phobia. Japan has an even higher population density than Germany and is still pursuing nuclear. The simply fact is, nuclear is among the safest energy source possible. With modern safety standards and Germany's lack of plate tectonics, it is basically impossible for a serious nuclear event to occur in Germany.
- Fgehono 3y ago
  Ah so it's pure phobia. Interesting. So you checked all reasons and concluded that's it? What studies did you consult? And even if it's 'only' phobia wouldn't it also be a problem of politics and education then? And while I don't necessarily against nuclear, I do really believe that every investment in nuclear would be much more beneficial towards wind, solar, geo, power lines and energy storage. Why? Makes people more independent and therefore the country better equipped for catastrophies. It creates synergies with all other energy storage problems like ev's, laptops and smartphones. It makes people more energy aware. The investment will push prices down for everyone including 3th world countries. Less risk for dirty bomb material. No long term storage problem. Less dependencies to other countries because Uran etc doesn't exist everywhere while the other materials are much easier to get globally. Also castor Transports are super expensive and the whole supply chain too due to terrorism risk and health risk. I also have worked with plenty of people in my life, the assumption that people are always able to handle dangerous materials which are not visible harmful feels stupid.
  - _hypx 3y ago
    Since science has clearly found nuclear to be one of the safest energy sources possible, it is phobia. Literally no German has ever died from one of its own nuclear reactor. None of those issues are as big as the challenges of climate change. Nuclear waste can be buried or reprocessed, supply chain problems are much smaller than dependency on Russia oil & gas, and Germany is much more at risk from Russia aggression than the very remote chance that anything they do with nuclear could be turned into a weapon against them.
3y ago

rhaway84773 3y ago

Yeah, amazing why countries didn’t invest in a source of energy that was, is, and likely will be the most expensive and only gets more expensive with time. Really amazing why no one did that.