A case study on the politics behind sustainable energy policy: germany's 'atom-moratorium' and 'energiewende
| Autor | Richard J. Schell |
| Páginas | 55-69 |
A CASE STUDY ON THE POLITICS BEHIND SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY POLICY: GERMANY’S “ATOM-MORATORIUM” AND
“ENERGIEWENDE”
RICHARD J. SCHELL
I. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 55
II. The Establishment of Nuclear Power Plants and the Origins of Anti-Nuclear
Activism ...................................................................................................................................... 57
III. The Fukushima Disaster & the Atom-Moratorium ................................................ 59
A. Catastrophic Nuclear Meltdown .......................................................................... 59
B. The Reaction within Germany and the Adoption of the Moratorium ....... 60
IV. The Political Debate Surrounding the Moratorium ................................................ 61
A. Whether the Government Could Unilaterally Impose the Moratorium ... 61
B. Whether this Decision Was Just a Political Move by the Government .... 62
C. Whether the Moratorium Would Lead to Increases in Energy Costs and
on Dependency on Energy Imports ................................................................................ 63
V. Energiewende .................................................................................................................... 64
A. Short-Term Fossil Fuel Exploitation .................................................................. 64
B. Long-Term Renewables Strategy .......................................................................... 65
C. The “Erneubaren-Energien Gesetz” of 2014 ....................................................... 66
D. Corporations Shift to Renewable Energy ........................................................... 66
E. Democratizing the Energy Debate ........................................................................ 67
F. Opposition ................................................................................................................... 68
VI. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 69
I. INTRODUCTION
Nuclear power has been of particular importance to European countries
due to its low cost and atmospheric emissions that are almost inexistent when
compared to fossil fuels. However, the dangers of a possible Chernobyl or a
Fukushima like incident occurring in Germany—a country slightly larger than
New Mexico—have also been a part of the discussion surrounding this particular
energy source. Alongside this is the fact that, although nuclear energy does
produce cleaner emissions, power plants produce more hazardous waste in
depleted radioactive material that cannot be disposed easily. As a result of these
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