Germany/coal: rising emissions leave politicians doubly compromised

Political power has acquired a double meaning in Germany since Russia invaded Ukraine. Politicians now depend for their mandates on finding energy supplies for German homes and factories. Russia’s moves to curb natural gas supplies have forced this previously eco-conscious nation to increase dependence on coal, one of the dirtiest fuels.

Germany will fire up 10 gigawatts of mothballed coal power plants, in part to save natural gas supplies for winter. This will add to particulate pollution and carbon emissions, which have rebounded since 2020.

Germany is as hopelessly and compromisingly addicted to coal as it is to Russian gas. Coal-fired power plants made up more than 28 per cent of the country’s gross electricity generated last year, a figure that had barely budged over three years. Lignite, which is high in pollutants but low in energy, accounted for two-thirds of that output. Renewable sources powered 41 per cent of output with natural gas and nuclear covering roughly half the balance each.

Coal costs less than a third of natural gas. But gas produces half the amount of carbon. Assume that a partial gas-to-coal switch supplies 27 terawatt hours, or 5 per cent of annual German electricity output. That should add 10mn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions during the next six months, says Rystad Energy. That is up 6 per cent from its previous 2022 estimate for the power sector.

Stronger conservation policies are needed to deal with Germany’s energy crisis, thinks Georg Zachmann of think-tank Bruegel. Paying households to reduce their energy consumption could cut the country’s gas needs by up to a fifth.

The brow of Germany’s economic minister Robert Habeck must darken at releasing more soot into the atmosphere. But his own party, the Greens, are partly responsible. It has long opposed nuclear power, which Germany is phasing out. Extending the life of nuclear plants would reduce the need for coal and limit carbon emissions.

As Habeck is finding out, power politics is easier to pontificate on from opposition than negotiate in government.