Germany is first major economy to phase out coal and nuclear | Hacker News Reader

Germany is first major economy to phase out coal and nuclear

abcnews.go.com

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Absurdly terrible reporting.

Headline: Germany is first major economy to phase out coal and nuclear

Present tense. It's already happened.

Reality:

Bills approved by both houses of parliament Friday envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038

Target of 2038.

Also reality:

http://www.powerstations.uk/coal-countdown/

UK on track to shut down last coal power station by 2025, more than a decade earlier than Germany's target and only five years from now. There are only 4 left today so that's a shutdown of about one per year. This is not a legislative goal but rather an engineering reality of those plants reaching their max lifetime.

The UK already goes long periods without burning any coal at all:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/28/britain-bre...

But sure, Germany is the first major economy. Whatever, ABC News.

By all practical measurements of safety and cleanliness, nuclear is extraordinarily clean, safe energy yet it keeps being attacked ferociously and without good reasoning. It's tiresome to see when one considers just how much potential it has in terms of usable fuel supplies and possible near future innovations.

I kind of agree with you, wind energy on land influences our ecosystem more than nuclear energy - nonetheless there is more tangible pollution by nuclear power plants. Additionally one (parliament) may has to justify a power plant since there is a responsibility to neighbouring countries and the ecosystem. Nuclear energy _always_ implies a risk. The demand on energy is always increasing and such a power plant works in proportions which are not conceivable for us citiziens.

I am proud of my nation: We shifted our values - we rated our ecosystem higher than competitive advantages.

> nonetheless there is more tangible pollution by nuclear power plants

I'm struggling to see this. Do you mean uranium mining?

The pollution associated with the rare Earth metals to build a turbine is a magnitude greater.

I am referring to the waste associated with the operation of the power plant as such. There is propably a break even point in terms of pollution where nuclear power plants fail in comparsion to alternative power sources.

“ Bills approved by both houses of parliament Friday envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 ”

"This can be the next governments problem"

>first major economy to phase out coal

just after we strip mine this ancient forest over there https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-hambach-forest/

Power in Germany costs 3-6x more than I pay in St. Louis, depending on time of year. Russian natural gas is expensive.

We wills top killing animals for their meat, by 2135, so we can all chill out now.

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