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Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Germany, Germany currently gets ~30% from wind and 10% from solar in 2020.

You're saying at 40% of current energy needs they've entirely maxed out Germany's solar and wind potential? That there's no more acreage left for new panels and turbines?




Maxed out? No probably not. But by the end of 2022 they will have spent 680 billion Euros on the transition. All the low hanging fruit is gone, so getting another 40 percent of their power needs from renewables will cost more than that. They're going to have to do things they haven't been willing to do so far, like building wind turbines near residential areas. And that still only gets them to 80% of consumption.

So sure, renewables are great, and it's good that Germany is doing so much to reduce carbon emissions. Because that's the point of renewables: reducing carbon emissions. And if that's the point, why on earth would you shut down nuclear power plants and switch to burning lignite???


Yes you can build more wind and solar but people need power also during the dark and sometimes windless winter months. Storing enough power isn't currently feasible so it's basically either coal, gas or nuclear.




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