Germany is moving toward a future driven by renewable energy, but questions are rising about whether it can afford to do so. A new study estimates the country’s exit from coal power, which provides 40 percent of electricity, would cost taxpayers €72 billion.
Germany may have one of the world’s most ambitious plans to convert to renewable energy, but it is also a country that still relies heavily on coal, much to the dismay of environmental groups.
The Germany branch of Friends of the Earth Germany, BUND for short in German, called coal-fired power plants “the focal point of environmental destruction” and said it would organise an anti-coal demonstration this coming weekend in the coal regions east of Berlin.
BUND, which has 500,000 members, is the largest environmental group in Germany, and by no means alone in its criticism of coal. The anti-coal legions have support across the political spectrum.
Phasing out coat quickly will not be easy. A new study by the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne estimates that eliminating the use of coal-fired plants between 2020 and 2045 will cost the country some €71.6 billion ($81.7 billion).