Nuclear power and the French energy transition: It’s the economics, stupid!

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. German carbon emissions from electricity generation went up in 2011

Official figures from the Federal Environment Agency were released yesterday, showing total greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of 917 million tonnes for 2011, down by 20 million tonnes (2.2%) on the year before and about equal to 2009's low when manufacturing was hit by the financial crisis.

However, emissions from the electricity sector increased by 2-6% during 2011, the agency said, while Germany's energy situation was supported by a mild winter that reduced demand for heating by around 9% with significant drops in demand for gas and heating oil for this purpose.

The loss of eight reactors in mid-March had the impact of reducing nuclear generation from 133.0 TWh in 2010 to 102.3 TWh last year. This drop off of 30.7 TWh was offset to a certain extent by an annual increase in renewable production of 17.6 TWh. The vast majority of this came from wind and solar, according to figures from the Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/EE_Germany_escapes_emissions_rise_1304121.html

Because there isn't enough renewable capacity to make up for the loss of the nuclear. You're posting how marvellous it is that phasing out nuclear in Germany isn't costing that much; that's because cheap lignite is taking up a significant amount of the generation, and that is producing more CO2 than the nuclear generation did. This being the Environment and Energy group, greenhouse gas emissions should be of primary interest, not how much it costs.