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Merkel, state leaders agree terms of brown coal exit - document


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Merkel, state leaders agree terms of brown coal exit - document

 

2020-01-16T024917Z_1_LYNXMPEG0F07Q_RTROPTP_3_RUSSIA-GERMANY.JPG

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks at a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, January 11, 2020. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has reached an agreement with the regions most affected by a plan to phase out the use of brown coal, or lignite, for its power plants by providing about 40 billion euros (34.50 billion pounds) in aid, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

 

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government wants to shut down all of Germany's coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest as part of measures to help it achieve a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 55% of their 1990 level by 2030.

 

The three-page agreement dated Jan. 15 did not stipulate when exactly the brown coal power plants would be shut and how much compensation the utilities operating them would get.

 

The paper said Merkel and the leaders of Brandenburg, Saxony, North-Rhine Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt agreed on a plan for the decommissioning of brown coal plants that they want to finalise with utilities. Closing the power plants would also mean shutting the mines that feed them, adding to the economic cost of the shutdown.

 

It also said that in 2026 and 2029 the government would review whether Germany was producing enough power from alternative sources to justify completing the coal exit in 2035, three year earlier than planned.

 

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will on Thursday unveil the details of the agreement. Details about the decommissioning timetable and compensation would be made public after talks with utilities.

 

Germany is the world's largest producer of lignite and it fuels about 19% of the country's electricity capacity. However, the fuel is considered the most polluting type of coal because its low heat content means more must be burned and it contains a large amount of impurities such as toxic chemicals.

 

Late last year, the German government agreed not to force hard coal power plants to close over the next seven years. The government plans to use a mixture of subsidies and tenders to encourage operators to close hard coal plants beginning this year.

 

(Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-16
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Germany's big mistake was to close nuclear power plants. This was done hastily although the so called greens has been advocating ending nuclear power for decades. This is one of the worst actions towards cleaner environment in modern times.

 

Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Germany has permanently shut down eight of its 17 reactors and pledged to close the rest by the end of 2022.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out

 

While Germany can produce some daytime/summertime energy with solar power (that's all good!), they have to add burning coal, oil and gas, to create base-energy to cope with the energy consumption.

 

One can only hope that the so called greens start to have more viable and sustainable long term views of the future. 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

And while the west cuts down pollution ,putting up power costs and eventually having blackouts ,China and the rest of the world could not give a flying f-rt and just do what they like ,why do we bother ?

Why we don't murder children, while others do so?

 

It's good if we take care of our environment. Even for clean water and air's sake. 

 

China is actually doing a lot for the environment. They are building new fission nuclear plants. China has also invested good amount of money and resources for mini nuclear power plants as well as developing fusion power. Hopefully these projects give good results at time. 

 

With enough cheap energy, lots of the pollution problems can be solved. Then almost full recycling of the materials is not only feasible, but it makes also economic sense. 

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