The German
government seems
very committed
to meeting its CO2
emissions target.
Then they repeatedly
"shoot themselves
in the foot" to avoid
meeting their goal.
Germany is rapidly
shutting down their
no-CO2-emissions
nuclear power plants,
which were helping
reach their CO2 goal.
As nuclear plants
are shut down, the use
of coal can't be ended
as quickly as the other
EU nations have
promised to do.
Germany is an
industrial nation,
so it needs
consistent,
reliable,
inexpensive
( competitive )
sources of
electric power.
Germany is not a
good location for
solar power.
So what's left ?
Expanding
wind energy.
But wind energy
growth in 2019
was the lowest
since the
‘Energiewende’
began in 2000.
FOCUS writes:
“According to
the industry
associations
Bundesverband
Windenergie
( BWE ) and
VDMA Power
Systems,
only 325 new
wind turbines,
with 1078
megawatts,
were built
in 2019.
This was
55 percent
less than in the
previous year.”
Industry
associations
are asking the
government
to take action,
including easier
approval procedures
for new wind farms.
Because many
German states
have imposed
strict setback rules
to keep wind turbines
away from homes.
The 10H rules
in Bavaria say
a wind turbine
can't be located
near residents
at a distance
that is closer
than 10 times
its height.
Since modern
wind turbines are
unusually large,
that rule makes
most wind projects
in the south German
state impossible.
The industry
is pressuring
governments
to soften
all the rules,
but most
of the residents
do not agree.
An online poll
conducted
by FOCUS
shows two thirds
of all respondents
are not in favor of,
or are undecided,
on reducing the
setback distances.
In 2019,
Germany’s
Tagesspiegel
reported,
“The protest
against
wind energy
is booming
these days” ,
and according
to analysts,
“about 1,000 citizens’
initiatives are currently
fighting against
the wind industry
in Germany”
and that
“they are
very well
networked”.