The three German ruling parties, with major ideological differences, continued to talk about “growing together” after their coalition took office. But now the first fission fungus has sprung out of the ground. Will the government, which sees itself as a revolutionary in the field of sustainability, embrace natural gas as a sustainable energy source?
The reason for the discussion is the European Commission’s proposal to include gas and nuclear energy on the list of green energy subject to certain conditions. That list is intended for investors who want to invest their money in a sustainable way, and should lead to more investments in power plants.
In the first instance it is therefore about money: for the measures that Germany must also take to emit less CO2, it makes little difference what you call green and what not. At the same time, the political interests at play are great.
Difficult position
The country will need new natural gas plants in the near future, there is no doubt about it. This is because energy generation from other sources is being phased out, while the demand for electricity is increasing. In that sense, Germany has put itself in a difficult position.
For example, in an attempt to become climate neutral in time, the current government has decided to close all coal-fired power stations ‘if possible’ as early as 2030 instead of 2038. In addition, the generation of energy from nuclear power stations has been phased out for twenty years.
The nuclear reactors would be too dangerous, and the thousands of years of storage required for the radioactive waste would not be sustainable. The government is holding on to stopping nuclear energy for the time being, with the last three reactors closing this year.
And so the Germans have to get their energy elsewhere. The government recently agreed to build more power stations that generate electricity by burning gas. These must be modern power stations that first work temporarily on natural gas and then switch to more environmentally friendly hydrogen gas. That could take a while.
‘Greenwashing’
The wish of the previous German government was that the European Commission wants to add natural gas to the list of green energy sources. But the current coalition also includes the Greens. Although they have also signed up for the addition of the temporary natural gas plants, this does not mean that they agree that the European Commission wants to label a fossil fuel ‘green energy’.
The fact that the Greens govern with the liberal FDP and social-democratic SDP, which are sometimes far removed from them in terms of content, has been defended by the party to its supporters, arguing that it is an opportunity to enforce more sustainability. If they don’t respond now, it will be bad for some of those supporters. Environmental groups have already criticized the European Commission’s proposal, calling it ‘greenwashing’.
“Doubtful”, environmental minister Steffi Lemke of the Greens calls the proposal. “It was not necessary in my opinion,” she says in an interview with TV channel Phoenix. “Because we know that in the long term we will also have to go without or with little natural gas.”
The advantages
But not everyone in government feels that way. The SPD is largely silent, and FDP chairman and finance minister Lindner tells Süddeutsche Zeitung that he also sees the benefits of the proposal.
By considering the modern gas-fired power stations as sustainable under certain conditions, Germany can more easily find investors who want to put billions into the construction of the factories in the coming period. Lindner: “I am grateful that the arguments seem to have been adopted by the Commission.”
Critics do fear that this will make investors less aware of other sustainable technologies for which money will be needed in the near future, and that the attractiveness of the European ‘green label’ for investors will decrease.
Germany, like the other Member States, has until January 12 to respond to the European Commission’s proposal. Then it will become clear whether the government is not only speaking out against ‘sustainable’ nuclear energy, but whether the Greens have also made a strong case for a German request to remove natural gas from the list.
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