This post is part 1 of the series about Germany’s Energiewende

Last month was released the 2020 Energy report from the German Ministry of energy. I think this is a good opportunity to take a look back at Germany’s energy journey, and offer a critical view on its energy transition : Because make no mistake, Germany is indeed into an energy transition, we may just not realize when it started and how will it end.

The Age of Coal

Dutch historian H.P.H. Nusteling called the 19th century the age of coal, and the prussian. That is particularily throughout germany’s history, as the In the early years of the 20th century, their scientists invented coal liquefaction , a chemical process to produce liquid fuel out of coal. At the time of writing this article, Coal is still the first electricity fuel in the world, and a signfficant source for germans thermoelectric plant.

(Coal Statistics)

After the war, Germany was banned from manufacturing synthetic fuels (Citation study of banning the synthetic fuel), and solid coal has a distinctive downside in comparison to oil. It is heavy and not easy to transport. When oil prices plummeted after the Suez Crisis, and despite the best efforts from West Germany officials to promote Coal (including subsidies, protectionist policies and cartels) (citation rotterdam port study), the Age of oil had begun. Germany started to import large amount of crude oil and developed refineries and petrochemical infrastructures, to switch its transportation and agriculture, replace timber with plastics, and even replace strongholds markets of coal like domestic heating and industrial processes with petroleum.

The other change that went to define Germany’s energy landscape came shorty after the war, when Konrad Adenauer saw in Atomic Power a path for Germany to compete again with the world most powerful nations. West Germany was banned from pursuing Nuclear Weapons but egan a successful civilian atomic program in 1955, with the opening shortly after in 1960 of the Kahl am Main Plant : The first of 17 nuclear power plants that were built over the 20th century, cimenting Germany into the Atomic Age.

The “Energiewende”

The term Energiewende -while being a perfect example of how the german language concatenate two words to form a new one- was first pronounced by an elected official to designate the political will to get rid of Nuclear Energy in 1980. In 1998, the vivid trauma of the Chernobyl catastrophe abd made Nuclear energy deeply unpopular, and when in 1998 Gerhard Schröder led a SPD-Green coalition to sweep the federal election, the path was free to phase-out Nuclear usage.

Picture of Gerhard Schroder

Angela Merkel, however, had different plans. She got elected without the need for a left coalition, and saw in Atomic power an ally to combat climate change and lead the energy transition the country needed. With her PhD in Quantum Chemistry and a world-class pragmatism, the public went along and she proceeded to renew the operating license of all nuclear reactors in activity for an extra 20 years.

The U-Turn

In 2011, the largest earthquake ever recorded hit Japan, triggered a 40m high tsunami traveling at 700 km/h which obliterated the Japanese eastern coastal areas. 15000 people lost their lives under the sheer power of the tidal wave, and infrastructure was crippled. But if people remember anything from this terrible accident, it is of course that the Fukushima Nuclear Plant overheated and eventually saw 2 out of its 4 containment roof explode.

At this time the outcome was unclear, and news outlet speculated about radioactive contamination, nuclear fallout and death tolls. Merkel had to act. 3 days after the incident, Germany put in motion a plan to phase-out Nuclear once and for all.

We now know that Fukushima’s incident didnt cause any death, and that no contamination occurred thanks to exceptional engineering of the security measures and very brave emergency workers, but to the eyes of the public, the damage was done. Nuclear is dangerous and it must go. During the next 10 years, Germany began a campaign to build an electricity grid dominated by renewables, and paraded around the world defending the wonders of Wind turbines and solars panels. Every year saw record new installations and cemented to the world its leading position in “clean energy transition”.

Where are we ?

There is one field where Coal remain the fuel of choice : Electricity production. In fact, Coal is by large the single most used energy source for electricity production, and because electricity demand increase each year, Coal production increases each year as well.

– Show coal production worldwide

• Chernobyl
• Gerhard Schröder after 16 years of conservatives - green and social democrat
• 2009 > Nuclear as transition, carbon urgency
• 2011 Fukushima
• Where are we now

Energiewende or Elektrischewende ?

• Oil, oil everywhere
• Natural Gas is the new Coal

The Economics of energy

• Private electrical providers in germany
• The free market means more natural gas
• Renewable subsidies, guaranteed contract, and energy prices in recent years

Climate targets

• Priorities are not straight
• Nuclear 2022 vs Coal 2038
• Short term political appease goes in front of long term gains

(closer look at the report 2020, the corona effect, and the mysterious forgotten )