8 ms·
Imagine how much better carbon emissions would be in Germany if they hadn't dismantled nuclear! https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/FR/live/fifteen_minute
by suddenlybananas 3mo ago
Imagine how much better carbon emissions would be in Germany if they hadn't dismantled nuclear!
https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/FR/live/fifteen_minutes https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/FR/live/fifteen_min... Anyone is free to compare France and Germany here.
- toomuchtodo 3mo agoThose carbon emissions are tuition. Germany is now ramping battery storage, as most of Europe is, to push out more expensive fossil gas. Ember Energy: Batteries and demand flexibility are ready to scale across the EU - https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/batteries-and-demand-flexibility-are-ready-to-scale-across-the-eu/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/batteries-and-deman... - June 24th, 2026 ("The EU battery fleet is projected to grow fourfold, from 37 GW in 2025 to 178 GW by 2030. As this growth unfolds, batteries reduce the need for regular gas backup. By 2030, EU batteries could deliver in a single hour over 80% of the power that all EU gas power plants combined can generate in the same period, up from about 20% in 2025.") Largest battery storage in Germany set for partial commissioning - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49104584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49104584 - July 2026 (0 comments) Germany's solar installations drop while new battery storage hits record - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48019046 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48019046 - May 2026 (8 comments)
- suddenlybananas 3mo agoThey could have done all this without dismantling nuclear power and emitting more carbon than they otherwise would have.
- toomuchtodo 3mo agoThey could've, but people and politics are hard and they didn't. It is what it is, can't change the past. We win or we learn.
- suddenlybananas 3mo agoThat kind of fatalism could apply to literally any idiotic policy. The German government knew what they were doing when they made that choice.
- looperhacks 3mo ago"You can't change the past" really isn't fatalism
- RandomLensman 3mo agoYou think voters had no role there? I don't see nuclear power enjoying some constitutional protection as such, so choosing against it seems ok.
- lnz_me 3mo agoi love the "but nuclear" crowd as they seem to gloss over that a nuke is a steam engine and needs water. water we don't have anymore. if you follow the news in europe you'll see every summer that country X (normally france) has to drastically reduce or switch off their nukes because no water.
- toomuchtodo 3mo agoRomania blasts rock to divert water from drought-hit Danube to nuclear reactor - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158035 - August 2026 (0 comments) What's happening in Hungary's power grid? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49154001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49154001 - August 2026 (0 comments) Hungary to shut down sole nuclear plant as Danube falls to record low - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145531 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145531 - August 2026 [dupe] EU considers emergncy meeting as nuclear shutdown leaves HU facing energy crisis - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49131244 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49131244 - August 2026 (1 comment) How Hungary became the best at solar [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125682 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125682 - July 2026 (1 comment) Danube's record low levels force shutdown of Hungary's only nuclear plant - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49120120 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49120120 - July 2026 (231 comments) France powers down several nuclear reactors due to extreme heat - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48899232 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48899232 - July 2026 (19 comments) Europe's extreme heat is shutting down power plants - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48697170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48697170 - June 2026 (2 comments) Commercial nuclear generation is incompatible with a rapidly warming planet due to cooling demands. Europe's summer heat has broken the Bell curve - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158483 - August 2026 Bloomberg: Europe’s Key Rivers Are Drying Up as Extreme Heat Impact Widens - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-02/europe-s-key-rivers-are-drying-up-as-extreme-heat-impact-widens https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-02/europe-s-... | https://archive.today/tVpQJ https://archive.today/tVpQJ - August 2nd, 2026 > Europe’s biggest rivers, including the Rhine and Danube, are drying up after a series of heat waves, disrupting the transport of goods and boosting freight costs. Soaring temperatures are curbing power generation at riverside reactors, pushing up energy prices and straining Eastern European economies. The river disruptions are becoming a test of how quickly the region can adapt infrastructure to a climate where extreme low water is likely to be increasingly common. Bloomberg: Europe’s Endless Heat Waves Imperil Once Reliable Power Sources - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-01/europe-s-endless-heat-waves-imperil-once-reliable-power-sources https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-01/europe-s-... | https://archive.today/EvSSS https://archive.today/EvSSS - August 1st, 2026 > A series of heat waves has weakened some of Europe’s most historically reliable sources of electricity, forcing the continent to lean more heavily on imported fossil fuels and variable renewable energy. France’s river-cooled nuclear plants have suffered a record amount of heat-related outages this summer, and hydroelectric plants in the Alps and Nordic region have been hobbled by hot, dry weather. The heat-related strains coincide with a surge in natural gas and coal prices, and the disruptions are poised to push power prices even higher, leaving Europeans facing steeper electricity bills.
- runarberg 3mo agoI’m not sure it is that simple. Nuclear is expensive infrastructure to maintain, by shutting them down you free up resources (including human expertise) that can be used elsewhere. I wonder if they had maintained their nuclear infrastructure, if that would have held back renewable build-out, because of economics.
- opo 3mo agoIf the building costs for the nuclear plants are paid for, nuclear costs are comparable to the costs for utility solar today (and much less than solar 10 years ago). Closing down nuclear plants while you keep burning coal is not a good decision, no matter how you look at it: deaths due to pollution (in Germany and downwind countries), deaths due to mining, economic costs, etc. We will also see in the future what affect all the extra CO2 that is being emitted. Even now, I just read that Germany ranks 8th globally for the amount of coal they burn. The people who made the decisions to close nuclear plants while they still burn coal are responsible for all that.
- hamper653 3mo ago> by shutting them down you free up resources (including human expertise) that can be used elsewhere. To buy coal?
- throw0101d 3mo ago> Imagine how much better carbon emissions would be in Germany if they hadn't dismantled nuclear! Germany has 15.4 GW of hard coal generation, and 14.7 GW of lignite, for a total of 30.1 GW: * https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-energy-consumption-and-power-mix-charts https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-energy-c... In 2010, before the shutdowns started, it had 21.5 GW of nuclear. So if all the other rollouts (renewables, etc) had stayed the same, but the shutdown of nuclear and coal was swapped, Germany could have reduced its emission generation capacity by an extra 66%. (Focusing mainly on coal, since that is (AIUI) the worst of the carbon emitters.)
- throw0101d 3mo ago(Meta: I understand some folks aren't a fan of nuclear. I disagree, but recognize people have different values and weighing of priorities. But I just find it fucking stupid that coal was left to keep running by people who claim that climate change is a priority. Certainly a discussion can be had about pros/cons of new nuclear, but why the fuck would you prioritize closing current nuclear over coal?)
- patall 3mo agoWho are those people that kept coal running but claim climate change is a priority? Because they are not the german green party, that much I know.
- bildung 3mo agoWell first, coal went down, too, if we are still discussing Germany. In parallel with shrinking nuclear generation. See the cleanenergywire link upthread for the numbers. So the coal vs. nuclear discussion is baseless already (again, if we still talk about Germany). Secondly, energy != electricity. Coal is mostly used for central heating (a plant heats water, water is then transported to a whole neighborhood). Electricity is sometimes also produced, but usually not the primary reason for the plant to exist in the first place. Nuclear plants are usually used for generating electricity (in Germany). Germanys carbon problem is the heating infrastructure being dependant on fossil fuels (mostly gas), but it has no lack of electricity sources. Thanks for stating your openmindedness re/ nuclear discussion, BTW, IME statements like this can really lift the whole level of discourse.
- artisinal 3mo agoDon’t forget the low IQ move that Germany did when they replaced the windfarm in NRW with coal.
- triceratops 3mo agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292341 I should call this Triceratops' law or something.