Gernot Wagner

Last 3 German nuclear reactors are going offline this week.

Last German coal plant? 2038.

#climate #priorities

Image: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421519303611#fig5

Apr 11, 2023 at 1:49amWeb
Show threadGernot WagnerApr 11, 2023

For more on some of the hard (and some not-so-hard) tradeoffs with nuclear: https://gwagner.com/wsj-nuclear/

Many more pieces on the bottom of that page (some English, some in German):

Is Nuclear Power Part of the Climate Solution?

Investing in the next generation of nuclear reactors could give the world an important tool for reducing carbon emissions.

Gernot Wagner | Economist and Author
Show threadGernot WagnerApr 16, 2023
This might be the first serious take in a serious Austrian daily I read that questions the German nuclear exit. Kudos, Matthias Auer
https://www.diepresse.com/6276287?giftcode=754cee1bea79097536cd0d50ee6dad829a7deae0&utm_source=web&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=artikelschenken #nuclear #AtomAusstieg #climate #Klima
Deutschlands Atomausstieg: Schalten die Falschen ab?

Atomkraft. Deutschland nimmt seine letzten AKW vom Netz. Für das Klima sind das keine guten Nachrichten. So wenig es manche auch hören wollen: Die Welt wird die Atomkraft noch brauchen.

Die Presse
Show threadSmokeyGeoApr 16, 2023
@gwagner 👀
Show threadRickd6Apr 11, 2023
@gwagner and what do Sophia Kianni, Vanessa Nakate, and Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) think of this?
Show threadSmokeyGeoApr 11, 2023

@gwagner great piece. While nuclear costs a fortune to build new, what's a real shame is the many plants that have closed- not all of which required costly upgrades to keep their licenses.

In the US, Indian Point (in NY) and Pilgrim (in Massachusetts) shut in the last couple years- to silence from environmentalists who should have been touting their benefits. Indian Point alone supplied the entire electric demands for 1/4 of New York City.

Instead, it takes a truly massive effort to replace their capacity with offshore wind and hydroelectric imports from Quebec (whose transmission lines are extremely difficult to build). So a lot of effort to get back to where we were in 2019.

Show threadRuth MottramApr 11, 2023
@gwagner there is no facepalm big enough...
Show threadRobert IlbrinkApr 11, 2023
@gwagner STUPID, I'm not in favor of (traditional) nuclear power generation, but closing down EXISTING plants and using fossil power generation instead is just plain stupid and short sighted.
Show threadacidApr 11, 2023
@gwagner it get's even worse when you consider that the top 7 co2 emmitters in the EU are german coal plants...