Germany: despite climate concerns new coal power plants are being built

<i>by Filippo Proietti</i> European Union states agreed on a binding 20 percent cut in CO2 emissions by 2020. Yet over 20 coal-fired power plants – major producers of greenhouse gases – are planned for Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said measures for protecting the environment are a top priority during her six-month European Union presidency. Germany and other EU-member states agreed on a binding reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels. The EU also proposed a 30-percent cut if other nations followed suit. There?s a hitch, though, for Germany, said Reinhard Loske, a member of the German parliament and climate expert for the Green party parliamentary group. Currently, up to 26 coal-fired power plants – which would burn either hard (anthracite) or brown (lignite) coal – are either being built right now or are in the planning stages in Germany. ?If all of those plants end up being installed, there is no way we can reach our climate protection goals for reducing emissions,? Loske said. Coal-fired power plants are one of the biggest producers of greenhouses gases, which scientists have said are primarily responsible for global warming. Loske said estimates show that North Rhine-Westphalia would produce more CO2 emissions per year than all of Switzerland, if all the units planned for the state were built. According to the German environmental organization Umwelthilfe (Environmental Aid), brown coal-powered plants in Germany produce 950 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour, while hard coal plants produce 750 grams. New gas-powered plants produce 365 grams. ?No one who takes climate change seriously can now accept over 20 coal-fired power plants being built in this country,? Loske said. Global warming is estimated to cost Germany as much as 800 billion euros by 2050 and costs would continue to climb if no additional protection measures are put into place, according to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. ?If there is not a significant intensification of climate protection, by the year 2100 the total costs caused by climate change could be nearly 3,000 billion euros,? said Claudia Kemfert, the institute?s environment expert. The report takes into account costs from the direct effects of climate problems including floods, droughts, forest fires and major storms as well as indirect consequences such as increased energy costs and measures to protect dikes and water protection walls. ?We require nothing less than an energy revolution,? Kemfert added. ?The costs of climate protection are clearly lower than the costs of climate change.? Nearly all industrial sectors would be affected by the change, especially the finance industry and existing companies, she said. The institute calculated that the average German household would face annual extra costs of about 250 euros for heat and electricity. Kemfert said economic losses can be expected even if there is a reduction in greenhouse gases.