Germany is one of the largest consumers of coal in the world. However, the country has announced that it will be shutting down all of its 84 coal-fired power plants over the course of the next 19 year. Germany has announced that it is taking this step to meet the international commitments that it has made in combating the climate change. All of this was revealed during a government commission on Saturday.
Germany started off as the leader when it came to cutting down on CO2 emissions, however, slacked off during the recent years and kept missing its reduction targets. As of now, coal plants make up for 40% of electricity in Germany.
Ronald Pofalla, chairman of the 28-member government commission, said, This is a historic accomplishment. It was anything but a sure thing. But we did it. There won’t be any more coal-burning plants in Germany by 2038.’ The statement was issued following a marathon 21-hour negotiating session that was finally concluded at 6 AM Saturday.
The plan features expenditure of $45 billion for mitigating the pain in the coal region. The commission’s recommendations will be adopted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. Claudia Kemfert, professor for energy economics at the DIY Berlin, the German Institute for Economic Research, said, ‘It’s a big moment for climate policy in Germany that could make the country a leader once again in fighting climate change. It’s also an important signal for the world that Germany is again getting serious about climate change: a very big industrial nation that depends so much on coal is switching it off.’
This is not the first time that Germany has stepped forward with such a bold move. Back in 2011, following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany vowed to cease operation at all of its nuclear plants by 2022. So far, twelve out of the nineteen nuclear power plants have been closed. With its aim of ending its reliance on nuclear and coal power plants, Germany will be relying on renewable energy to provide the 65-80% of the nation’s power requirements by 2040. As of right now, renewable energy accounts for a total of 41% of Germany’s electricity.
We appreciate the decision taken by Germany considering the fact that global warming is an actual disaster that is in the making and we must do everything that we can to address this issue. What do you think of the decision taken by Germany? Do let us know!