A year ago, Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants. Few events regarding energy have puzzled outsiders more.
In the face of climate change, calls to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, and the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we must move away from nuclear power before carbon-intensive energy sources like coal arrive. Berlin’s move to do so has drawn heavy criticism. (Greta Thunberg calls this “ error. ”)
This decision can only be understood within the context of postwar sociopolitical developments in Germany. In Germany, anti-nuclearism predates the public environment debate.
From the 1971 West German bestseller with the evocative title Peacefully to catastrophe: records of nuclear power plants,Huge protests hundreds of thousands largest in history Demonstrations in Bonn, the capital of West Germany. The anti-nuclear movement attracted national attention and widespread sympathy. It became a major political force long before the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Motivations include: Distrust of technocracy. Ecological, environmental and safety concerns. Suspicion that nuclear energy could cause nuclear proliferation. and a general opposition to the concentration of power (especially after its extreme consolidation under the Nazi dictatorship).
Instead, activists advocate safer, greener, and more accessible renewable alternatives, such as solar and wind power, and advocate for increased self-sufficiency, community participation, and citizen empowerment (“Energy Democracy”). ”) accepted the promise.
This support for renewable energy is not about CO₂, but about resetting power relations (through decentralized bottom-up generation rather than top-down production and distribution), protecting local ecosystems, and resolving the Cold War era. It was intended to promote peace.
german energy wende
The contrast here with Thunberg’s later “Fridays for Future” movement and its slogan “listen to the experts” is striking. An older generation of activists deliberately rejected the mainstream expertise of the time, which saw centralized nuclear power as the future and mass adoption of distributed renewable energy as a pipe dream.
This early movement contributed to the creation of Germany’s Green Party, which is today the most influential party in the world. The Green Party was born in his 1980, and he first entered national politics from 1998 to 2005 as a junior partner of the Social Democratic Party. The “red-green” coalition has passed a number of nuclear reactor proposals, announcing a ban on new nuclear reactors and shutting down existing ones by 2022. law Support renewable energy.
This accelerated the nationwide adoption of renewable energy. balloon-shaped It will increase from 6.3% of total domestic electricity consumption in 2000 to 51.8% in 2023.
These numbers are even more remarkable when you consider the contributions of ordinary citizens. In 2019, 40.4 percent of Germany’s total renewable generation capacity (up from more than 50 percent in the early 2010s) was fully achieved through community wind cooperatives, farm-based biogas installations, residential rooftop solar power, etc. was owned by.
Recent energy transitions in most other countries have been attempts to use all available low-carbon technologies to achieve net-zero targets. However, from its earliest beginnings, Germany’s now-famous “Energiewende” (also translated as “Energy Transition” or “Energy Revolution”) primarily The goal has been to transition to renewable alternative energy.
In fact, the book credited with coining the term “Energiewende” in 1980 was, significantly, titled: Energiewende: Growth and prosperity without oil and uranium Published by a think tank founded by anti-nuclear activists.
Successive German governments have more or less adhered to this policy over the past 25 years. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s pro-nuclear second government (2009-2013) was an initial exception.
It lasted until 2011 Fukushima accidentMassive protests by 250,000 people and a shock defeat for the Greens in a state election later forced the government to return to its 2022 phase-out plan. No wonder so many politicians today are reluctant to open that particular Pandora’s box.
Another political headache is where to store the country’s nuclear waste, an issue Germany has not been able to resolve. No community has agreed to host such a facility, and no community has been designated for this purpose. large-scale protests.
Instead, radioactive waste is being stored in temporary facilities close to existing reactors, with no long-term solution.
