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Just as an FYI: The interview was conducted with Axel Springer, which owns BILD, Germany's biggest daily newspaper, comparable to the Daily Mail in the lack of

by V__ 2y ago

Just as an FYI: The interview was conducted with Axel Springer, which owns BILD, Germany's biggest daily newspaper, comparable to the Daily Mail in the lack of quality and journalistic integrity. BILD is trying hard to push against any "liberal" or "left-leaning" party, especially with the upcoming elections. The German far-right AFD party also just met with Musk and has been indorsed by him.

more_corn 2y ago
Ok, but shutting down nuclear plants and becoming even more dependent on Russian oil is insane. If there’s anyone id trust to run nuclear plants safely it’s the Germans.
- V__ 2y ago
  Germany has very quickly changed their import sources, for example by building LNG terminals, and isn't reliant on Russian imports anymore. This doesn't change the idiotic decision of the past to make oneself so reliable on Russia, but still. The problem with nuclear is threefold: expensive, slow, blocking. In comparison to other energy sources it is expensive (build + produce) and takes a long time to build. These to factors make it a bad solution if one wants to solve current problems, thus investments in nuclear are potentially blocking better solutions right now. Small Modular Reactor etc. may be a solution to these issues, but right now new nuclear is not viable for the short term. That however doesn't answer why they were shutdown in the first place: After Fukushima Germany decided (+10 years ago) to shut down all reactors. The plan was to invest heavily in renewables and thus create a fluent transition. The latter part didn't happen because Germans like to plan but don't like to spend. However, the plant owners still planned for the decommission. Ironically this of course coincided with the economic fallout from Russia's invasion in Ukraine. The plants were kept online a bit longer (which was extremely expensive) just in case, but it turned out to not be necessary. On the plus side: In the last few years investments in renewables and energy infrastructure are ramping up massively. Should have happened earlier, but it's the right direction for now. Tl;dr: It was planned for renewables to replace nuclear over time, but that didn't happen. Building new is too expensive. Keeping them online now it to expensive. Renewables are ramping up now, so this shouldn't be an issue in a few years. Still, the execution was dumb.
- Zigurd 2y ago
  Riddle me this: how did the Germans screw up their trains? I mean, that's kind of at the center of the trope of German competency.

by V__ 2y ago

more_corn 2y ago

Ok, but shutting down nuclear plants and becoming even more dependent on Russian oil is insane. If there’s anyone id trust to run nuclear plants safely it’s the Germans.

V__ 2y ago
Germany has very quickly changed their import sources, for example by building LNG terminals, and isn't reliant on Russian imports anymore. This doesn't change the idiotic decision of the past to make oneself so reliable on Russia, but still. The problem with nuclear is threefold: expensive, slow, blocking. In comparison to other energy sources it is expensive (build + produce) and takes a long time to build. These to factors make it a bad solution if one wants to solve current problems, thus investments in nuclear are potentially blocking better solutions right now. Small Modular Reactor etc. may be a solution to these issues, but right now new nuclear is not viable for the short term. That however doesn't answer why they were shutdown in the first place: After Fukushima Germany decided (+10 years ago) to shut down all reactors. The plan was to invest heavily in renewables and thus create a fluent transition. The latter part didn't happen because Germans like to plan but don't like to spend. However, the plant owners still planned for the decommission. Ironically this of course coincided with the economic fallout from Russia's invasion in Ukraine. The plants were kept online a bit longer (which was extremely expensive) just in case, but it turned out to not be necessary. On the plus side: In the last few years investments in renewables and energy infrastructure are ramping up massively. Should have happened earlier, but it's the right direction for now. Tl;dr: It was planned for renewables to replace nuclear over time, but that didn't happen. Building new is too expensive. Keeping them online now it to expensive. Renewables are ramping up now, so this shouldn't be an issue in a few years. Still, the execution was dumb.
Zigurd 2y ago
Riddle me this: how did the Germans screw up their trains? I mean, that's kind of at the center of the trope of German competency.