Germany Passes Bills To Phase Out Coal by 2038, Eliminate Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 2050

The German government has approved a set of bills to phase out coal as an energy source and make a transition towards renewable sources. The country intends to close its last coal power plant in 2038.

The bills were approved by both houses of parliament and the country will be spending $45 billion to help affected regions cope with the transition.

AFP

This is a step towards Angela Markel¡¯s goal of making Germany Europe¡¯s first country to stop emitting greenhouse gases; the current target is 2050. The ¡®energy transition¡¯ is an effort to get Germany off ¡®planet warming¡¯ fuels and switch to renewable sources for country¡¯s energy needs.

"The days of coal are numbered in Germany. Germany is the first industrialized country that leaves behind both nuclear energy and coal,¡± Environment Minister, Svenja Schulze, reportedly said.

Germany has an existing commitment of phasing out nuclear power by the end of 2022.

Greenpeace and some other environmental groups have staged protests against the plan. Their argument is that the government¡¯s plan won¡¯t reduce Germany's greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the targets set out in the Paris climate accord.

Also Read: Renewable Sources Of Energy Are The Way Forward To Fight Climate Change

AFP

"Germany, the country that burns the greatest amount of lignite coal worldwide, will burden the next generation with 18 more years of carbon dioxide," Greenpeace Germany's executive director, Martin Kaiser, told The Associated Press.

Kaiser believes that Chancellor Angela Merkel is making a ¡®historic mistake¡¯. According to him an end date of 2030 for coal would have sent a strong signal for European and global climate policy. Merkel wishes Europe to be the first continent to end its greenhouse gas emissions, by 2050.

In 2018, Germany closed its last black coal mine but it still imports fuels and extracts its own reserves of lignite. Officials are concerned that the loss of mining jobs could affect economically-fragile regions from where lignite is extracted, though efforts are already underway to turn the vast lignite mines into nature reserves and lakeside resorts.

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Schulze, the environment minister, said there would be regular reviews to examine whether the end date for coal can be brought forward. According to her, by the end of 2022, eight of the country's most polluting coal-fired plants will have been closed.

The head of German Industrial Union for Mining, Chemicals and Energy, the country's largest miner's union, Michael Vassiliadis, has welcomed the new bill, describing it as a 'historic milestone.

The execution of the bills is something to look forward to.

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