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Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Germany dumps nuclear energy

Germany will close all its nuclear power plants by 2022 while Scotland is aiming for 100 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources. And Malaysia is still thinking about nuclear energy?
This is an excerpt of a report by Tony Paterson of the Independent:
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-led coalition announced plans yesterday to close all Germany’s atomic power plants by 2022, in a move that put the seal on a dramatic policy U-turn in the immediate aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The decision – which makes Germany the biggest industrial power to completely renounce atomic power as an energy source – will include a planned 10 per cent reduction in electricity consumption and a doubling of renewable energy sources to 35 per cent by 2020.
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Announcing the move Chancellor Merkel, who only nine months ago put forward plans to extend the use of nuclear power, declared: “Our energy system has to fundamentally change and can be fundamentally changed. We want electricity to be safer and, at the same time, reliable and economical.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish government is already committed to generating the equivalent of 100 per cent of Scotland’s own electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020. See this report from the Herald Sun.
And Malaysia is still thinking about nuclear energy instead of doing more research into renewable energy?

1 comment:

Personal Home Inspector said...

Germany is a world-leader in the use of solar power - but it won't replace all their nuclear power, or anywhere close. This seems like a political move as usual, rather than a considered energy policy.