German Culture Project: Environmental Issues Energy Reserves: Germany’s Abandonment of Nuclear Power. Dirk Hamel-Wood

Abandonment of Nuclear Power After the Japanese Nuclear Crisis, 7 of the oldest nuclear reactors were taken offline for safety review. Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the German government have decided in wake of the disaster in Japan, that Germany would be better off without nuclear energy sources.

Abandonment of Nuclear Power 6 of the other older reactors will be taken offline before The 3 brand-new reactors will be shut down at the latest Germany relies on its nuclear reactors now for 23% of their energy, almost 1/4, so this will affect the country significantly.

Replacement by Alternative Energy Popular sources for alternative energy are wind parks and farms, and solar panels. Wind parks will be built off shore to the north of Germany in the North Sea. They are more efficient offshore, because the winds are % stronger and more constant. Solar Panels are a huge industry in Germany. They account for 3% of the produced energy.

Replacement by Fossil Fuels and Other Sources Since replacement by alternative energy sources isnt feasible, the gap will have to be filled by fossil fuels– specifically coal, and natural gas from Russia. The German government claims the decision to boost renewable energy, but the technology– and the funding– just isnt possible at this stage.

Public Opinion Before the decision to cut the nuclear energy division, Germany’s goal was to cut fossil fuel emissions by 40% by Professional sources simply say that it is not reachable by any means without nuclear power. The public wants the nuclear power plants shut down as soon as possible after the Fukushimi meltdown.

Public Opinion The nuclear power plants supply over four times the energy that the wind farms and plants produce. While the risk of a possible nuclear meltdown has been eliminated, it leaves Germany at a disadvantage, power-wise. Germany now has to purchase power from Russia (natural gas), and Austria (nuclear power)

Pictures 1.There were many anti-nuclear protests after the Fukushimi crisis 2. Wind power is one of the prominent alternatives. 3. Unfortunately, Germany has to turn to coal for the time being.

Quiz Questions How many nuclear reactors were taken offline after the Japan Crisis? A. 8 B. 7 C. 6 What percent of energy was formerly generated by nuclear power? A. 25% B. 40% C.23%

References nuclear-wind-energy ?op=1 nuclear-wind-energy ?op= us-germany-energy-idUSTRE75J42J us-germany-energy-idUSTRE75J42J Me– I wrote this Powerpoint