Climate activist has called for reactors to be kept running instead of using more coal-fired power amid Europe’s energy crisis
Climate activist Greta Thunberg has given her blessing for Germany to delay plans to shut down its last remaining nuclear power plants at the end of this year, saying the loss of their output amid Europe’s energy crisis would lead to more environmentally damaging alternatives.
“Personally, I think it’s a very bad idea to focus on coal at this point [nuclear power] is already in place, but of course it is a very infected debate, the 19-year-old Thunberg told The German public service company ARD in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.
The Swedish teenager has previously spoken out against nuclear power and called it “extremely dangerous, expensive and time-consuming.” When EU lawmakers were to vote last July to categorize nuclear power as “sustainable,” Thunberg voiced her opposition, saying: “No amount of lobbying and greenwashing will ever make it green. We desperately need real renewable energy, not bogus solutions.”
But with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine leading to unprecedented sanctions and a reduction in Russian natural gas supplies to Western Europe, Germany and other NATO countries are bracing for a potentially cold, dark winter. Just this week, Italy introduced new heating restrictions.
Germany, the EU’s largest economy, introduced a series of restrictions on the use of lighting and heating in order to reduce gas consumption in the coming heating season. The measures include lowering the heating temperature in offices and public buildings, with the exception of social institutions such as hospitals, from 20 to 19 degrees Celsius.
When asked if it would be better for the climate to keep Germany’s nuclear power plants running, Thunberg replied, “It depends. If we already have them running, I feel it’s a mistake to shut them down to focus on coal.”
Germany began the process of shutting down its nuclear power industry after Japan’s Fukushima reactor meltdown in 2011. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to phase out all of the country’s 17 reactors by the end of 2022. Only three of the units are still operating.
Berlin lawmakers said last month they want to use coal power to get through the winter and keep at least two of the country’s remaining reactors in standby status, available for restart only if no other option is available to prevent blackouts. After the sabotage of the natural gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, many EU countries including Germany no longer have the possibility to resume direct purchases of Russian gas, even in the event of a deep crisis.
Source: sn.dk