# Report on Germany's Nuclear Energy Phase-Out

## Executive Summary

Germany's decision to phase out nuclear energy represents one of the most significant energy policy shifts in modern European history.

The country's Energiewende (energy transition) has created both opportunities and challenges as it moves toward carbon neutrality while managing energy security concerns, particularly in light of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

## Background: Germany's Nuclear Phase-Out

Germany's nuclear phase-out was not a recent decision but rather the culmination of decades of anti-nuclear activism and policy evolution:

- **2000**: The German government reached an agreement with nuclear power plant operators to gradually shut down all nuclear facilities
- **2011**: The Fukushima disaster accelerated this timeline, leading to the immediate shutdown of 8 of 17 reactors
- **2021**: The final three nuclear power plants were scheduled for closure by the end of 2022

This policy was driven by the Green Party's

# Report on Germany's Nuclear Energy Phase-Out

## Executive Summary

Germany's decision to phase out nuclear energy represents one of the most significant energy policy shifts in modern European history.

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Content: Global News
Germany says restarting nuclear plants is not a solution to gas shortages
Speaking at the "Right Questions" event organized by the German newspaper Bild on Friday evening, Birbuck said she believed a final exit from nuclear power by the end of this year was right based on "the facts I know now and given what the challenge is."
She said the challenge was not electricity supply but gas, saying “I don ’ t see nuclear power as a solution ” in light of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the looming energy crisis.
According to the current law, the remaining three nuclear power plants in Germany must be closed by the end of this year at the latest, as the three plants account for 6% of the total electricity generated in Germany, and so far about 10% of the electricity in Germany is generated by natural gas.
In repeated remarks, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck stressed that the main shortage is not electricity, but gas and heating for the industrial sector, and nuclear power plants cannot address this.
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Content: Germany shuts down three of its six nuclear power plants to switch to renewable energy
Saturday 01 January 2022 - 12: 41 GMT
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Content: Home / News / World /  Germany quits nuclear power; shuts final 3 plants
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Germany has shut its final three nuclear plants, marking the end of the country's end of nuclear era that has spanned more than 60 years.

Nuclear power has long been contentious in Germany.

The move has come as Germany's eyes achieve its green goal. Steffi Lemke, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection and a Green Party member, "The position of the German government is clear: nuclear power is not green. Nor is it sustainable".

Closure of three nuclear plant's history:

Germany shut three plants-- Emsland, Isar 2, and Neckarwestheim, representing the culmination of a plan set in motion more than 20 years ago.

During the 1970s, a strong anti-nuclear movement emerged in Germany. The movement gave birth to the green party, which is now part of governing coalition.

However, it was in the 2000s the German government pledged to phase out nuclear power and start shutting down plants.

But in 2009, a new government came to power and it seemed brief as if nuclear would get a reprieve as a bridging technology to help the country move to renewable energy.

Then Fukushima happened. In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused three reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to melt down.

Three days later then-Chancellor Angela Merkel who was previously pro-nuclear, announced Germany would accelerate a nuclear phase-out, with older plants shuttered immediately.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine provided another plot twist.

Germany isn’t the only country committed to walking away from nuclear — Italy gave up the technology in 1990, and Lithuania recently struck a deal to dismantle its Soviet-era reactors, which have sat idle for over a decade. But in many advanced economies, nuclear is experiencing a resurgence.

On Sunday, Finland will start regular power production at Europe’s newest and biggest reactor. The 1,600-megawatt Olkiluoto-3 unit that faced years of delays had been planned to enter commercial production on Monday. France is planning to build at least six new reactors by 2050 as well as experiment with smaller, modular ones. The UK has similar ambitions. And even in Japan, after a decade of paralysis following the nuclear accident in Fukushima, the public is warming up to the use of nuclear power. The Japanese government wants to restart reactors that have sat idle since the disaster and to extend the lifespan of existing units.

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Content: Europe has been rewiring itself in impressive ways in the four months since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine

The coming weeks will show whether that work of building a more resolute European Union for a future of new geopolitical challenges will continue—or, instead, if the rewiring will short-circuit before the job is done in the face of rising economic headwinds and Putin’s grinding war of attrition.

Thus far, the European Union (EU) has remained unified with the United States and others behind an unprecedented set of sanctions on Russia. Further, it has begun to strengthen its hard power through increased defense spending, and it has moved swiftly to reduce its shameful energy dependence on Moscow. Most recently the Group of Seven (G7) appears poised to announce an import ban on Russian gold.

In ways Putin never envisioned when he hatched his war, the EU has committed itself to ensuring Ukraine’s future as a democratic, independent, and European country through billions of euros of economic supportunprecedented arms deliveries, and now an offer of membership candidacy to Ukraine and Moldova.

As NATO prepares to open its summit in Madrid this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced Moscow’s growing concern about EU unity of purpose alongside the alliance. He said the EU and NATO were building a coalition to engage in a war with Moscow that he compared to “Hitler during World War II.” As laughable as Lavrov sounds to reasonable ears—this era’s tyrannical dictator sits in Moscow and not Berlin—it underscores Putin’s worries about Western common cause and his warped view of history.

Yet as impressive as the EU rewiring project has been thus far, it’s likely to short-circuit in the months ahead unless the political conviction grows even stronger around this historic moment. That will demand faster implementation of new defense and energy policies—and greater support for Ukraine.

As Putin gains ground in Ukraine, with new strikes on Kyiv today almost certainly timed to coincide with the G7 meeting in Germany, it will take all the political will European leaders can muster. They will face greater public pressures to end the war with benchmark gas prices climbing an additional 15 percent in the last week amidst the double shocks of Russian cuts and a fire at Freeport LNG in Texas, with inflation reaching 8.1 percent in the euro area in May, and with economic recession dangers rising rapidly, given the threat of Russian gas cutoffs this winter.

On another front, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde summoned her colleagues to an emergency session last week in Frankfurt that was designed to generate solidarity around steps to preempt any danger of a new Eurozone debt crisis reaching Italy from the dual shocks of rising inflation and slowing growth.

Putin is counting on the usual fatigue and political divisions that set in among Western democracies when they must weigh growing domestic concerns against international dangers. He’s seen enough to encourage him, including newly re-elected Emmanuel Macron’s failure to win a majority in the National Assembly, the first time in thirty years that’s been denied the French president.

And for all the impressive arms shipments and economic support the Biden administration has delivered Ukraine, the weaponry firing range of some fifty miles remains insufficient to stop the Russian carpet-bombing, for fear of expanding the war.

Beyond that, Putin knows US midterm elections are likely to weaken Biden further amid domestic disputes over the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade abortion protections and the country’s continuing disputes over gun laws. Even as Putin’s war grows uglier, Americans are seeing less of it on their TV screens.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also looking weaker than in his first days in office, as he hosts the G7 leaders in the Bavarian Alps this weekend.

Scholtz faced such a storm of criticism that he’s been dragging his feet on heavy weapons deliveries to Ukraine that his Defense Ministry was compelled to publish a full list of completed and planned deliveries, including seven self-propelled Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers that at long last have arrived in Ukraine.

It’s worth remembering that Europe’s greatest moments of forward progress typically come at times of crisis, as has been the case again following Putin’s war in Ukraine. It’s at such times that member states better manage their divisions and work more effectively around the EU’s mind-bending bureaucracy.

The problem is that the current European divide that looks hardest to fix is a fundamental disagreement over how important a Ukrainian victory is and what it would take to bring it about.

The closer you live to Russia as an EU citizen, the more you argue, as I did in this space on June 5, that Putin doesn’t need the diplomatic off-ramp that Macron is offering but rather the dead-end that can only be brought by tougher sanctions and a more effective Ukrainian counter-offensive backed by longer-range weapons.

Russia’s closest neighbors know that a bad peace in which Ukraine gives up new territory will only provide a respite before Putin resumes his imperial efforts to take all of Ukraine and ultimately other former Soviet areas.

In Western Europe, the desire is greater for a peace that would end the war now, even if the outcome leaves Putin in power and, as Macron has said, avoids humiliating him.

“Despite the celebratory rhetoric in Brussels about the European Union’s surprisingly robust response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…” writes Eoin Drea this week in Foreign Policy, “the war has not united the bloc in any unprecedented or transformative way. In fact, it’s having exactly the opposite effect: Beneath the soaring vista of Ukraine as a catalyst for a more muscular and geopolitically effective EU like deep divisions, shifting allegiances, and a much more complex reality.”

Counterbalancing that gloom, Macron, Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis visited Kyiv on June 16 to hammer home their support for Ukrainian security and European ambitions.

Shortly after they returned, the European Parliament voted with 529 votes to 45 against and 14 abstentions to adopt a resolution calling on the heads of state or government to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, which they have now done.

That symbolism must now be complemented by even greater substance. The rewiring of the EU has only just begun to strengthen its defenses, diversify its energy sources, tighten its transatlantic links, and ensure Ukraine’s survival as a sovereign, free European state.

To stay the course, European leaders and citizens must understand what they are doing isn’t just for Ukraine but even more for themselves. The lessons from two devastating World Wars and a Cold War are that staying unified is a prerequisite for victory and that appeasing despots is always self-defeating.

This article originally appeared on CNBC.com

Frederick Kempe is president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council. You can follow him on Twitter @FredKempe.

THE WEEK’S TOP READS

#1 How Far Do Putin’s Imperial Ambitions Go?
Yaroslav Trofimov | WALL STREET JOURNAL

In this chilling analysis, Yaroslav Trofimov lays out in frightening detail just how far Putin’s imperial ambitions might take him.

Trofimov opens with a bizarre and telling scene, in which Putin, long before his Ukraine invasion, makes a spectacle out of contradicting a nine-year-old on the question of where Russia’s borders end.

“’At the Bering Strait with the United States,’ the nine-year-old boy ventured hesitantly.  Putin, who chairs the board of the Russian Geographic Society, contradicted the boy to triumphant applause ‘The borders of Russia,’ he pronounced, ‘never end.'”

“Earlier this month,” writes Trofimov, “Putin said that he views Ukraine as just the first step, with many other territories potential targets.” Just this month in St. Petersburg, while honoring the 350th anniversary of Peter the Great, he said that when Peter conquered Sweden “he was merely returning what is ours, and strengthening it.” Read more →

#2 What If Russia Uses Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine?
Eric Schlosser | THE ATLANTIC

As Putin’s war in Ukraine bogs down into a battle of attrition, the danger that Vladimir Putin will deploy battlefield nuclear weapons persists. In this richly reported piece, Eric Schlosser interviews nuclear weapons exports to explore what could happen—and how the United States could respond.

“The risk of nuclear war,” Schlosser warns, “is greater today than at any other time since the Cuban missile crisis. And the decisions that would have to be made after a Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine are unprecedented. In 1945, when the United States destroyed two Japanese cities with atomic bombs, it was the world’s sole nuclear power. Nine countries now possess nuclear weapons, others may soon obtain them, and the potential for things going terribly wrong has vastly increased.” Read more →

#3 What Makes a Power Great
Michael J. Mazarr | FOREIGN AFFAIRS

In this smart, in-depth analysis, Michael Mazarr draws from a RAND corporation study on what makes great powers—and how they can fall.

Over the course of fifteen months, Mazarr led a RAND Corporation study for the US Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment, supported by analysis from outside historians. The study isolated a number of national characteristics that throughout history have underpinned national competitive success—”including a strong national ambition, a culture of learning and adaptation, and significant diversity and pluralism.”

“These domestic strengths are the building blocks of international power. But,” Mazarr warns, “to enable a country to succeed, they must reinforce and support one another. And they must not fall out of balance. Too much national ambition, for instance, can lead to overreach, imperiling the country that overcommits itself. But countries with too little ambition, diversity, or willingness to learn and adapt risk starting a negative cycle that can spiral into national decline.”

Read this study to learn why it is that the United States, if it is to prevail in the years ahead in contests with China and Russia, “will have to do more than just outspend its rivals on defense or advanced military technologies. It will have to nurture the qualities that make great powers dynamic, innovative, and adaptive. Read more →

#4 After a Pivotal Period in Ukraine, US Officials Predict the War’s Path
Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, Julian E. Barnes| NEW YORK TIMES

Based on analyses by a number of US defense officials, including Atlantic Council military fellows, this New York Times article provides a useful examination of how the US defense establishment expects the war in Ukraine to unfold.

Now that four to six weeks have passed since Russia shifted its main focus to eastern Ukraine, Cooper, Schmitt, and Barnes write, “officials say the picture is increasingly clear: Russia is likely to end up with more territory, they said, but neither side will gain full control of the region as a depleted Russian military faces an opponent armed with increasingly sophisticated weapons.”

In this situation, they add, “other analysts predict a back and forth that could stretch for months or even years. ‘This is likely to keep going, with each side trading territory on the margins,’ [director of Russian studies at CNA Michael] Kofman said. ‘It’s going to be a dynamic situation. There are unlikely to be significant collapses or major surrenders.’”Read more →

#5 A Ukrainian Refugee’s Fight To Save The Family She Left Behind
Ed Caesar | NEW YORKER

This week’s must-read is Ed Caesar’s riveting, heartbreaking New Yorker piece about a Ukrainian family separated by the war and navigating life as refugees from Putin’s war.

Follow Inna Blahonravina and her daughters Sasha and Oliviia as they depart Ukraine in midst of Russian air-raids on Kiev, leaving Inna’s husband Maksym behind. It is a chronicle of resilience and separation, fear, and hope, and it shows a portion of the vast human cost of Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

“Once,” Caesar writes, “Oliviia looked over Inna’s shoulder as she read on her phone about an attack on Kyiv. The report was accompanied by an image of a building on fire, with rescuers at the scene. Oliviia asked who the people in the photograph were—whether they were Russian or Ukrainian, and if one of them was Vladimir Putin. Then she said, ‘Mommy, I’m so glad we’re not killed.’ Every day, the kids had video calls with their father. Maksym tried to keep the conversations lighthearted, but even banal topics could be laced with sadness.

“‘Do you miss the cats?’” he’d ask.” Read more →

Atlantic Council top reads

Image: Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz, President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic Mario Draghi and President of Romania Klaus Iohannis (L to R) are pictured during the official welcome ceremony outside the Mariinskyi Palace, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine.

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Content: Hill Original
Hill: because of the “green ” recklessness, Europeans are at risk of dying from the cold, and the United States may be next
Europe ’ s commitment to a green energy policy combined with reckless idealism this winter could lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
According to the author of The Hill, this situation should serve as a wake-up call for America if the “new green course ” prevails in it.
The deadly winter is the result of Europe ’ s own energy experiment.
Utopian climate initiatives combined with inflation, declining fossil fuel production in America and reluctance to buy Russian oil or natural gas could kill hundreds of thousands of people on the continent this winter.
Although the continent ’ s purchases of Russian fuel stopped mostly this year, the seeds of the current EU energy crisis were sown many years ago.
Attempts to replace traditional energy sources with environmentally friendly sources have led to disastrous consequences.
For example, Germany spent $150 billion on renewables as part of its own version of the Green New Deal, but as a result, the country ’ s energy prices were among the highest in the world, and wind power production fell by a quarter in early 2021.
By rushing away from nuclear power and fossil fuels, former Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor, Olaf Scholz, have made the country virtually dependent on “hostile Russia ” for years to come.
At the same time, Berlin ’ s decision to dismantle its nuclear power plants after the disaster at Japan ’ s Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 led not only to dependence on Russian fossil fuels, but also to large-scale coal burning and increased CO2 emissions.
Now the country is trying to abandon its previous decision and extend the work of its nuclear power plants, while resuming the work of coal power plants.
France and Britain have banned fracking and fracking over the past five years.
The United States has been filling Europe ’ s critical natural gas shortage for nearly a decade, but America ’ s declining production means that there is more than limited scope to salvage the situation.
The head of the International Energy Agency predicts a shortage of energy in Europe this winter.
Such a commitment to green politics, combined with reckless idealism, will cost many lives.
In the UK alone, the annual excess mortality rate in winter is more than 28,000.
Every year in all of Europe, about 200 thousand such deaths are recorded, and with each decrease in temperature by 1 ° C, their number increases by 1.5%.
A very cold winter and a sharp decline in the possibility of using constant heating could potentially trigger a six-figure increase in excess mortality across the continent.
In particular, regions with large urban populations, less able to provide themselves with firewood as a backup source or particularly heavy reliance on Russian fuel oil, such as France, the UK or Germany, will be at much greater risk.
The author of the article notes that if in the United States the struggle for an accelerated transition to unreliable and costly clean energy sources or a ban on fracking is successful, the country may face consequences comparable to what the Europeans received as a result.
Had it not been for fracking, the United States would have faced a similar deficit after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, and the price of gasoline would probably have more than doubled compared to today.
“The coming winter, which could lead to deaths in Europe, should serve as a wake-up call for the United States.
Europe ’ s optimistic but ultimately ineffectual energy policy is brewing what could become the biggest energy crisis of our time.
For the sake of demonstrating “virtue ”, a threat is created for people throughout the continent: in conditions of low temperatures, they face food shortages and, possibly, high mortality, ” concludes the author of the material.
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Content: Can Africa replace Russian gas and fill Europe ’ s needs? | Politics and economics | In-depth analysis with a broader perspective than DW | DW | 26.03.2022
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Can Africa replace Russian gas and meet Europe ’ s needs?
As the fighting in Ukraine intensifies, the European Union intends to dispense with Russian gas.
In his search for alternative sources, Africa is being talked about.
But experts say it is not easy despite the continent ’ s vast oil and gas reserves.
Despite Africa ’ s vast oil and gas reserves, it is not easy for it to increase its production and meet Europe ’ s needs.
EU countries are to stop importing oil and gas from Russia in response to its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
In order to avoid harming EU economies, the bloc is considering moving forward with medium- and long-term solutions to replace 380 million cubic meters per day of Russian gas, which amounts to 140 billion cubic meters, or 45 percent of the EU ’ s total annual gas consumption.
In an effort to meet short-term energy needs, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck took a different path, leading leading German energy companies to conclude agreements with the UAE during his visit there, while the price of Brent crude, used as a key benchmark for oil prices around the world, continued to rise.
watch the video 00: 59
Germany reaches deal with Qatar to reduce dependence on Russian gas
Are you helping Africa?
With its abundant oil and gas reserves, the African continent may be an alternative to replacing Russian gas, as in 2017 Africa was reported to have proven gas reserves of 148.6 trillion cubic meters, representing more than 7 percent of the world ’ s gas reserves.
In 2019, the EU imported about 108 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Africa, mainly from Nigeria, which supplied the bloc with more than 12 billion cubic meters.
Khadi Kamara, an official with the German-African Business Federation, said: “African producers have more reserves than they need in domestic markets, so they want to increase exports. ”
Nigeria ranked first in Africa in 2019 in the volume of crude oil exports from the continent at a rate of more than 2 million barrels per day of oil on the global market.
The same year, Africa ’ s total oil and gas production exceeded more than 327.3 million metric tons of oil and the continent ’ s share of global oil exports was nearly 9 percent as of 2020.
An energy broker in Nigeria, who asked not to be identified and called himself Shinido Olayinka, said that in order for African countries to fill the gap, “they have to provide a surplus of at least 7.4 million barrels per day. ”
“These countries don ’ t have the capacity to do it, they ’ re not even close to achieving it! ”
Limited production capacity
“Angola and Nigeria, the two largest oil producers in Africa, have not been able to meet their commitments under OPEC.
How can we save a lot of oil? ”
Nigeria only managed to pump 94 percent of its 1.7 million bpd quota, while Angola pumped only 78 percent of its 1.4 million bpd quota, he said.
"If major African producers cannot meet their quotas, there will be no way they can fill the gap that Russia may cause in the short term," he said.
But it is not just the inability of African oil producers to meet their commitments, it goes beyond that: “These countries are finding it difficult to attract new investments in the oil production sector.
So it may not be able to contribute to filling the (gas and oil) gap in the medium term, ” Olanka noted.
conflict in Ukraine.
Where does Africa stand?
With regard to the war in Ukraine, African countries have diverged on the Russian invasion, which has sent gas and oil prices soaring to record highs.
This was demonstrated during the March 2 vote of the UN General Assembly on a resolution condemning Russian military operations and demanding the immediate, unconditional and comprehensive withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Although 28 of the 54 African countries voted in favor of the resolution, other African countries abstained or did not participate in the session except Eritrea, which sided with Russia and voted against the resolution along with Syria and North Korea.
This has revealed the emergence of political differences among the African Union countries that prevent the continent from speaking with one voice at the United Nations.
A German-African business group asked Germany ’ s economy minister last week to reach out to his African counterparts to discuss the possibility of increasing oil and gas supplies from the continent.
Weak infrastructure
Experts believe that the reluctance of African countries to commit to pumping more oil and gas may be due to weak oil and energy infrastructure, especially gas and oil pipelines to Europe.
According to statistics from the South African branch of auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, the weak infrastructure crisis in the oil sector led to a decline in oil production on the continent by 19 percent in 2019 from the previous year, representing 7.8 percent of global output.
Gas production in Africa also saw a slight decline of 5 percent over the same period.
Weak energy infrastructure makes increasing Africa ’ s oil production difficult
“Oil companies can have much better financial terms and an easier operating environment if they invest in new oil production lines from outside Africa, ” Olayenka said.
He stressed that African oil-producing countries must take measures to attract foreign investment in this vital sector.
“In order for Nigeria, Angola and other African oil-producing countries to attract investment, they must lure oil companies with financial incentives to inject investment while facilitating business processes, ” he said.
Attracting Investments
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Algeria, Africa ’ s largest gas exporter to the European Union, has shown a willingness to increase exports of natural gas and liquefied gas.
Currently, there are four direct pipelines to transport gas from Africa to Europe, but all are in North African countries.
The challenge is to build new infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa to connect it to the North African pipeline.
Oil and energy expert Olyanka says that in order to find short-term solutions, African countries need to adjust their financial systems to allow oil companies to make financial gains from their investments in the continent.
Not only that, Olayenka points out, but African countries must eradicate corruption, crude oil theft and bureaucracy.
Abu Bakr Ghalwa / UNV

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Content: Germany To Postpone Closure Of Last Three Nuclear Power Plants - WSJ

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2022) Germany, faced with possible energy shortages in the winter as gas supplies from Russia have dropped, intends to postpone the closure of its last three nuclear power plants (NPPs) in a move marking a departure from a two-decade policy to abandon nuclear energy, The Wall Street Journal reported citing German government officials.

The decision, which has to be formally adopted by the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and would possibly require a vote in Parliament, could be weeks off, but already now the German government says two key conditions have been met that allow a temporary extension of the life of the three remaining NPPs, currently expected to close December 31: the possibility of a gas shortage and the confidence that a longer operation of reactors would pose no safety concern, according to the officials.

"The reactors are safe until Dec. 31, and obviously they will remain safe also after Dec. 31," the WSJ quoted a senior official as saying.

Scholz last week said for the first time that it could make sense to keep Germany's last three nuclear reactors online.

However, even if the life of the three German NPPs is extended, this will not be a panacea for Germany's looming energy crisis this winter as the country is mainly missing natural gas, primarily used for heating and manufacturing.

The European Union has been seeking to diversify energy imports and reduce dependence on Russia after Moscow started its special military operation in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has repeatedly said that Russia has never used gas supplies to punish anyone, but sells energy solely in its own interests, to increase the welfare of Russians and on a commercial basis.

The German government has also outlined measures to reduce gas and power consumption in the country over the next two years. The measures in particular include lowering the temperature in public buildings. According to Germany's energy regulator, gas consumption will have to be cut by 20 percent if Germany wants to avoid a gas shortfall during this coming winter and next winter.

The three officials who spoke to the WSJ said the extension of the NPPs' life would only be made for several months.

The power plants in question are Isar 2 in the southern state of Bavaria, Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Wurttemberg and Emsland in Lower Saxony. They are operated, respectively, by E.On SE, EnBW AG, and RWE AG.

After the start of Russia's special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine, the West has stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia, which has led to an increase in prices for energy and food in Europe and the United States.

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Content: Read the history of the moment: why is Germany so entangled in nuclear power? | German News | DW | 14.04.2023
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Read the history of the present: why is Germany so entangled in nuclear power?
Germany was proud of its nuclear power generation technology, but at the same time the technology has been so controversial that it has finally decided that April 15, 2023 is the date of withdrawal from nuclear power.
However, as the energy crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war continues to intensify, the wisdom of the decision to say goodbye to nuclear energy has been widely discussed.
Germany ’ s nuclear policy is in dispute again
It all started with an "egg" - Germany's first nuclear reactor in Garching, near Munich, went into operation in October 1957.
Because the nuclear reactor, which belongs to the University of Munich, resembles an egg, it is nicknamed the "atomic egg".
It was a milestone in Germany's nuclear energy research and a symbol of Germany's resurgence after World War II.
The nuclear reactor, which was used for scientific purposes, remained in operation until 2000.
In 1957, Germany built its first nuclear reactor.
Three years later, in 1960, the first nuclear power plant for civilian use was built in the city of Kahl, on the banks of the Main River in Bavaria.
At that time, atomic energy was widely regarded as both safe and reliable. The 1973 oil crisis gave further impetus to the rapid development of nuclear energy in Germany.
The start of the anti-nuclear movement
Since it has been impossible to find a foolproof way to store nuclear waste, opponents have begun to question whether nuclear energy is really a clean energy source.
Thousands of protesters clashed with police during the construction of the Brockdorf nuclear power plant in the state of Shihe.
Since the 1970s, plans for the construction of the Brockdorf nuclear power plant have triggered numerous police and civil conflicts.
"Nuclear energy? No, thank you!" has become a rallying cry for environmentalists.
In the 1980s, a new political party, the Green Party, emerged in West Germany. Its members are mainly leftists, pacifists, environmentalists and anti-nuclear forces. In 1983, the Green Party entered the Bundestag.
In 1983, Green Party politicians Gert Bastian and Petra Kelly were elected to the Bundestag.
On March 28, 1979, a serious accident occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, United States. On April 26, 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union, exploded, causing the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Radiation clouds spread throughout Europe.
The accident also marked a turning point in discussions about nuclear technology in Germany.
At the time, Germany was still divided.
In East Germany under the Communist Party, the public received almost no information about the nuclear accident and its effects.
West Germany, on the other hand, was in a state of confusion and politicians were helpless.
People were unprepared for a nuclear leak, and the government was unable to provide guidelines and response strategies for the time being.
A hastily formed crisis management team was also disbanded shortly afterwards.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident has caused widespread concern in Germany.
People are buying iodine.
A large quantity of fruit, vegetables and milk in the supermarket was ordered to be removed from the shelves because of concerns about nuclear radiation.
Children were banned from playing in the sand pools and citizens were warned not to go out in the rain.
Although the health effects of radiation were not detected in Germany, the accident led to the introduction of nationwide radiation monitoring in Germany, which eventually led to the establishment of the Federal Ministry of the Environment.
Plans to build a nuclear waste treatment plant in the Bavarian town of Wackersdorf have sparked serious riots.
The clashes left several protesters and civil servants dead and hundreds injured.
The project was finally halted in 1989, the first major victory of the German environmental movement.
And...
In 2011, protesters handcuffed themselves to the tracks in an attempt to block trains carrying nuclear waste.
Meanwhile, in northern Germany, Gorleben in Lower Saxony became a symbol of the struggle against nuclear waste, and the town was designated to temporarily store nuclear waste until a permanent storage site was identified.
The first shipment of nuclear waste arrived in the town on 24 April 1995.
A long farewell to nuclear power - Germany's nuclear withdrawal process after many setbacks
In 2001, Schroeder's center-left coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party reached an agreement with major energy companies to phase out nuclear power.
All 19 nuclear power plants in Germany have been given operating timelines and the last one is required to be shut down by 2021.
In 2001, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced that Germany would phase out nuclear power generation.
In 2010, the center-right government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel withdrew the nuclear withdrawal agreement.
It also decided to extend the operating time of nuclear power plants.
However, the third major nuclear accident in the world has caused a change in Germany's nuclear energy policy. On March 11, 2011, the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami.
The impact of the accident on Germany is even greater than that of Japan.
As a veteran physicist, German Chancellor Angela Merkel unexpectedly changed her usual stance on nuclear energy policy.
Merkel suddenly announced that the era of nuclear power in Germany will end by the end of 2022. On July 30, 2011, the German Bundestag voted to approve the resolution.
After years of fierce fighting, the Brockdorf nuclear power plant in the state of Ishih will finally become history in 2021 after 35 years of operation.
In 2017, Germany decided to start a nationwide search for a safe place to store highly radioactive nuclear waste, with the mission to be completed by 2031.
At the end of 2021, anti-nuclear activists celebrated the closure of a nuclear power plant in North Germany.
Rethinking the nuclear policy.
The war in Ukraine has made Germany anxious to get rid of its energy dependence on Russia, which has also reignited the already ironclad policy of denuclearization.
The coalition leader has spearheaded a proposal to extend the operating time of nuclear power plants to replace natural gas from Russia with nuclear power.
In August 2022, CDU Chairman Meltz and CSU Chairman Soder both put forward the idea of extending the time limit for nuclear power operations.
Christian Lindner, finance minister of the business-oriented Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), immediately backed a return to nuclear power.
His party is junior partner in a centre-left coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens.
The latter will find it difficult to agree to an extension because opposition to nuclear power is one of their core issues.
But in the summer of 2022, no one in Germany completely ruled out that possibility.
LDP finance minister Lindner, who is focused on business interests, was also quick to join the pro-nuclear camp.
But for the Green Party, which is also part of the ruling coalition, the possibility of agreeing to extend the operating time of nuclear power plants is slim, because opposition to nuclear power is their basic principle.
Anything is possible in Germany in 2022.
Can nuclear power be a climate savior?
Editor: This article was originally published in August 2022
© 2022 Deutsche Welle Copyright Notice: All content in this article is protected by copyright law and may not be used without special permission from Deutsche Welle.
Any misconduct will lead to recovery and criminal prosecution.
DW.COM

The country's Energiewende (energy transition) has created both opportunities and challenges as it moves toward carbon neutrality while managing energy security concerns, particularly in light of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

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Is the “climate crisis ” turning into an“ environmental crisis ”?
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At the recent climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, European countries claimed the need to adopt the term "phase out" of coal, while other countries, including India, insisted on the term "phase down", and finally adopted the direction of "cut" in the hope that the next climate summit hosted by the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh next month will push towards "phase out". Perhaps they will be more committed to it during the next summit.
The lack of Russian gas supplies to Europe on the back of a political stance against Russia ’ s intervention in Ukraine has forced some of the continent ’ s countries that had ditched coal to reuse it for power generation, a trend that observers described as a “climate setback ” ahead of the COP27 summit.
In recent months, Europe has seen coal-fired power plants restart at a time when there has been a significant trend in Europe towards the final phase-out of coal, which will undoubtedly have repercussions at the upcoming climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Hassan Abulnaga, executive director of the Arab Network for Sustainable Development, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I expect that the countries of Europe will be keen not to commit to anything towards getting rid of coal, as they sought at the previous summit, because no one knows when the Russian-Ukrainian war will end, and therefore its repercussions on the European energy crisis will end. ”
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global natural gas markets to remain tight until 2023, with Russian supplies to Europe cut, according to its latest gas market report issued on October 3, and therefore “European countries will be keen not to commit to anything during the upcoming climate summit, ” says Aboulnaga.
“We hope that this is not an ongoing approach, because of the temptations of coal as cheap energy, but in turn it is destructive to the environment and exacerbates the climate change that this summer has clearly been fueled by an unprecedented rise in temperatures and a drought not seen in Europe for a long time. ”
Germany, one of the countries most affected by the shortage of Russian gas supplies, said that in order to reduce gas consumption, "coal-fired power plants will have to be used more."
But the German government also said in a June 20 statement that it “remains committed to phasing out coal by 2030. ”
What the German government has pointed out is what makes some experts optimistic, despite the bleak picture, that the return of coal may be a temporary measure until the crisis is overcome, and the solution that Europe plans to secure the energy of the future by investing in renewable energy.
Khaled Khalaf, a professor of environmental sciences at Assiut University in southern Egypt, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I do not imagine that Europe will abandon its success in the field of renewable energy, but the current crisis is an existential crisis, and it must look for temporary solutions. ”
International reports indicate that Europe has succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 22 per cent compared to 1990 levels, due to investment in solar and wind energy, but the current energy crisis may push European countries towards more investment in this area, but after the current crisis is overcome, as Khalaf expects.
For his part, Majdi Allam, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Environmental Experts, explains that Europe is not expanding in the field of renewable energy, because their weather conditions do not allow it, as renewable energy needs permanent solar brightness and wind blowing.
Allam told Asharq Al-Awsat that the alternative solution in his opinion to ensure energy security is to go to the production of electricity using nuclear energy, pointing out that he sees no justification for the panic of this important source of energy, claiming fear of the accidents of the collapse of nuclear power plants.
“These incidents have only happened twice, in the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters, and this is no reason to shy away from this important source of energy, which is more practical than renewable energy. ”
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Content: Oil and Gas
Russian oil exports drop will change global energy landscape for decades: IEA
The crisis caused by the Ukraine war is expected to accelerate the transition to green energy.
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday that a drop in Russian fossil fuel exports after this year ’ s Ukraine war would change the global energy landscape for decades and could help accelerate the transition to green energy.
The IEA ’ s annual global energy outlook acknowledges the economic damage caused by Russia ’ s reduced supply of oil, natural gas and coal, but maintains a best-case environmental scenario that does not require investment in new fossil fuel projects.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global energy crisis is causing severe and long-lasting changes that could accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and secure energy system.
IEA executive director Fatih Birol said: “Energy markets and policies have changed as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not only for now, but for decades.
"The world of energy is changing dramatically before our eyes.
“The responses of governments around the world promise to make this a historic and final turning point for a cleaner, safer and more affordable energy system. ”
Short-term gaps resulting from reduced fossil fuel supplies from Russia will need to be filled from other sources.
Global investment in clean energy is set to rise to more than $2 trillion a year by 2030, half above current levels, while “international energy markets are undergoing a profound reorientation in the 1920s as countries adjust to the disruption of flows between Russia and Europe, ” the IEA said.
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Content: European Commission proposes plan to tackle potential disruptions to Russian gas supplies over winter
EU countries are dependent on Russia for natural gas supplies at around 40% of their needs.
Samar Al-Sayed
8: 45 AM, Wednesday, 31 Aug 22
The European Commission has proposed a plan to address potential disruptions to Russian gas supplies over the coming winter, with EU member states taking various measures to encourage a 15% reduction in gas demand and consumption by the public sector and companies, as well as households, from August 1 to March 31.
The plan comes in light of the ongoing conflict and war between Russia and Ukraine, which began in late February, and analysts and experts predict that the global economy will face several disruptions in the investment and trade sectors as a result, resulting in higher inflation rates and increased stagnation of economic sectors globally.
According to press reports, the dependence of EU countries on Russia for natural gas supplies amounts to about 40% of their needs, but the proportion rises to 55% for Germany.
The plan, released by the Commission in late July and titled “Save Gas for a Safe Winter, ” states that by the end of September, member states will have to update their existing national contingency plans with those planned measures to achieve the aforementioned goal.
The plan includes policies to incentivize fuel substitution, reduce gas consumption, and set standards for member states to identify important categories of fuel use.
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union, and its President is appointed by the European Council, who in turn appoints the other commissioners for a term of five years, proposes and implements legislation, sets goals and priorities for the work of the Union and manages and implements its policies and budget.
The Commission represents the EU at the external level in certain policy areas, notably trade and migration.
According to the Commission, the plan is backed by a legislative proposal that provides a new emergency tool for the EU to address the potential gap between supply and demand in the continent ’ s gas market.
If the voluntary demand reduction targets are insufficient to prevent this gap, it is authorized to activate a binding target to reduce gas demand, expecting gas prices to remain high, due to the geopolitical situation and the market situation, but believes that the decrease in consumption may have a positive impact due to the decline in demand.
We continue to encourage Member States to continue to use the EU Energy Price Toolkit, which outlines measures to mitigate the impact of sustainable prices on businesses and households.
According to the plan, the European Council has tasked the Commission to study a maximum price for imported gas, noting that this work is still ongoing, and is looking at different models and ways in which a price cap can work in case of gas supply disruptions or emergencies.
The Commission has not yet proposed a price cap, and the plan does not contain proposals in this regard, but it said that the EU is doing everything possible to avoid a decline in industrial activity, adding that the decline in industrial activity in the countries of the continent in the face of threats to the security of the supply of gas, which is also why priority should be given to the existence of preventive savings.
The Gas Demand Reduction Plan provides a set of common principles and standards for member states to minimize the impact of major gas disruptions on industries, especially those with little scope to shift away from gas or to reduce production without causing significant damage, according to the commission ’ s data.
The Plan also aims to ensure coordination and solidarity among Member States in order to reduce the potential negative effects of the disruptions on the economy, industrial competitiveness and employment.
According to the plan, member states should prioritize measures that encourage the substitution of natural gas for other fuels, preferably towards cleaner alternatives and renewable energy sources.
It is essential that Member States consult with stakeholders to ensure that priority is given to all substitution possibilities and all existing alternative energy sources.
The Commission ’ s Gas Demand Reduction Plan encourages member states to target a specific number of sectors first with better energy substitution potential, share the burden across different sectors of the economy and build on existing national contingency plans and best practices.
It stresses the importance of potential savings resulting from lower demand for heating and cooling – for example through media campaigns or by reducing them, especially in large buildings, and avoiding heating of outdoor balconies.
Given the large amount of gas used to generate electricity, the plan points to the possibility of switching to other fuels, she said, adding that market-based tools such as auctions or tendering systems and the use of “breakable contracts ” are other measures that member states can put in place to reduce demand.
The plan also refers to the concept of contract swaps between large customers, where a large energy-intensive company in an EU region facing supply shortages would temporarily exchange production with a less affected region.
Member states should take into account a range of criteria such as the importance of community services and cross-border value chains, the potential to reduce consumption of this type of fuel, and the potential damage to facilities due to the cessation or postponement of activity.
The plan says that when designing reduction measures for gas use, broader economic considerations such as the importance of a particular sector in the value chain should also be taken into account, and EU member states should build on these guidelines when updating their national gas security emergency supply plans.
Some of the most vulnerable countries in Central and Eastern Europe – Hungary, the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic – face the risk of supply shortages of up to 40% of gas consumption and a GDP contraction of up to 6%, but argue that these effects can be mitigated by securing alternative energy supplies and sources, easing infrastructure bottlenecks, encouraging energy savings, while protecting vulnerable households and expanding solidarity agreements to fight back. Toxic gas between countries.
Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine has darkened prospects for global growth as Europe ’ s economy faces a serious setback due to its trade, investment and financial ties with the two warring countries.
Governments should step up efforts to secure supplies from global markets for LNG and alternative sources, continue to ease bottlenecks in gas import and distribution infrastructure, plan to share supplies across the EU in case of an emergency, take decisive action to encourage energy savings while protecting vulnerable households, and prepare for smart programs that set gas quotas.

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Content: video duration 05 minutes 02 seconds
Russia ’ s war on Ukraine and its impact on rising energy prices
The Russian war on Ukraine has contributed to the rise in energy prices, and Arab countries have been directly affected by the crisis, Al-Jazeera reporters monitor the repercussions of the rise in energy prices and its effects on the transport and electricity sectors.

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Content: “Energy security ” is being strengthened in the face of geopolitical risks.
International Center Tsai Sha-ling / Feature
The Russian-Ukrainian war is a point in time where we see a bilateral relationship between energy and geopolitical risks, and any increase in energy prices could spur geopolitical tensions, adversely affect the economy, and even lead to further international conflict.
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The energy crisis is global, and although it seems that Europe has suffered the most in the past year or so, the fact is that many emerging and developing economies are also affected by the crisis, countries are seeking to strengthen energy security, investment in energy efficiency has increased significantly, and policy is crucial in the process.
Now, more than a year after the war, we can draw some preliminary conclusions that with the Western camp as united as possible, Russia ’ s energy card is not winning, at least not with the expected effect, and it has not forced the West to give up aid, and Russia in turn has been subjected to a series of sanctions, and it needs to find alternative buyers for the lost European market.
In times of crisis, although not perfect, and indeed facing a series of adverse effects of energy shortages, the EU has achieved some results in accelerating the deployment of clean energy, ensuring that emergency energy supplies are not cut off; although it was forced to resume the use of nuclear and coal, it was only temporary.
The Russian-Ukrainian war fundamentally changed the EU ’ s attitude towards the use of fossil fuels as a threat to national security, energy affordability and climate goals.
Analysis by the energy think tank “Ember ” shows that the growth of wind and solar energy since the Russian invasion of Ukraine has saved the EU 12 billion euros in natural gas costs, reflecting the new energy landscape and increasing the ambition for renewable energy, such as the“ REPowerEU ” proposal, which aims to double solar capacity by 2025 on the basis of 45% renewable energy by 2030.
However, it is important to note that the world is not yet truly out of the energy crisis, because the energy transition will not be fully in place in a short period of time, and the demand for natural gas in Europe decreased last year, mostly due to unusually warm weather and industrial production stagnation, so after fighting for time and through the winter, it is time to consider implementing structural changes and take more forceful policy action to make the energy system truly safe from future price fluctuations. The effect is to make life more difficult for the people.
With the continuation of the war, now is far from a time of complacency, in an era of energy turmoil, in an increasingly multipolar and fragmented international system, under the shadow of great power competition, multinational efforts to achieve supply chain diversification, hoping to achieve true energy independence, after all, the production of energy equipment, parts from where will also have an impact, it is difficult to be affected by geopolitics.
In fact, it is not only Europe, energy security is also a global common serious issue, outside the framework of the Russian-Ukrainian war, supply and demand imbalance, in the face of climate change and greenhouse effect, this impact on all mankind is not selective, it takes time to build civic awareness, build a vision, education people need to pay the short-term cost of sustainable development, but in the long term is a choice.
However, with the transition and diversification of consumption, new vulnerabilities and threats to energy security may emerge, as global production will be further concentrated in countries with low cost, low emissions production, sources of clean energy diversification of necessary technologies and parts, even more concentrated than oil, and a secure energy system must be flexible, resilient, able to withstand unexpected shocks and disruptions, and able to recover quickly.
In short, under globalization, if each country only produces and consumes within its own territory, it is difficult to expand the scale of clean energy, and even promote fragmentation and protectionism.
Read more about "One Year of the Russo-Ukrainian War".
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Content: Magazine

Washington and the world

Opinion | To Truly Take on Russia, America Must Become the Arsenal of Clean Energy

The war in Ukraine underscores the need for Europe to wean itself off Russian gas.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, democracies of the world got another reminder — as if we needed one — of how dangerous it is to rely on energy imported from aggressive, authoritarian states.

The European Union is dependent on Russia for almost half of its natural gas and a quarter of its oil. Germany alone imports 55 percent of the gas it consumes from Putin’s petro-state. As part of its invasion strategy, Russia thought it could use its natural gas and oil to blackmail Europe into passivity. Europe is belatedly beginning to shut off the Russian spigot, but it will pay a heavy economic price for the delay.

And for Europe’s energy switch to succeed, the United States must step up.

Just as we were the Arsenal of Democracy when fascism threatened Europe 80 years ago, today we must become the Arsenal of Clean Energy. That means we should finance and export clean energy to Europe in large quantities as quickly as possible. This approach would help protect our own security and economic interests, as well as the sovereignty, democracies, and economies of Europe, all while working to combat climate change.

Our goals should be: 1) make European energy secure; 2) help shift European countries to cleaner energy; and 3) create a massive clean energy market that strengthens supply chains and job creation in the U.S.

To make this work, we must avoid both conventional and magical thinking. This is not about sending cheap Chinese equipment to Europe, and it’s not about somehow shifting to solar power in the cloudy regions of Central and Eastern Europe. In the European Union, it’s still natural gas that drives the economy. Gas heats buildings, generates electricity, and provides industrial power and heat in about equal measure. Oil powers transportation and is used for petrochemicals. Whatever replaces Russian natural gas and oil must meet all these needs. The refrain from some quarters that we just need to go “all renewables” and make everything more efficient ignores all of Europe’s other energy needs. That is why, as one example, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, and (before it was invaded) Ukraine all want to build American nuclear power plants, and France and the Netherlands have plans to build non-Russian, non-Chinese plants.

Of course, it’s not at all clear whether America can become the Arsenal of Clean Energy, given today’s bitterly divided politics. Yet clean, firm energy — energy that is always on — remains one of the few areas where there is deep, bipartisan support in Congress. Democrats have long championed the need for a clean energy transition. And now that Republicans have embraced defending the sovereignty of Europe against the immediate threat from authoritarian Russia, the moment should be met with urgency.

That starts with an energy version of the “Candy Bombers” who supplied Berlin during the Soviet Union’s blockade in 1948. In this case, we could provide a temporary natural gas lifeline to Europe as they wean themselves off Russian energy. America has some additional capacity, and more coming online very soon, to send liquefied natural gas to Europe. We should combine a near-term increase in U.S. gas production and exports to Europe with assistance for European countries to, over the medium-term, reduce their reliance on natural gas by switching to other, lower-carbon fuels and increased energy efficiency.

Second, to ensure this lifeline leads Europe to a safe and sustainable future, the United States needs to create an American clean energy sovereignty fund. We should commit to $10 billion per year for the next decade to finance the export of U.S. hydrogen, nuclear, and carbon capture technology that can be deployed across Europe. The new technologies should be supported by both U.S. and European supply chains and workers to ensure economic growth across both continents. This government-backed entity would provide a significant cost-share for countries importing U.S. clean energy, particularly technologies that will be primarily made in and exported from the U.S.

As we are seeing now with Germany’s reconsideration of its decision to close its nuclear plants, even renewable-heavy countries need firm clean energy provided by technologies like nuclear power. This is even more important in industrial areas of Eastern Europe that need both the steady electricity and high heat that nuclear, or hydrogen, can provide.

Finally, as all of Washington knows by now, personnel is policy. To underscore the urgency of this mission, the Biden administration should create a new, senior position at the National Security Council to manage clean, firm energy and coordinate the alphabet soup of agencies involved. This position would oversee a new “Team Energy” of public and private sector experts who can cut through the bureaucracy.

The administration should also prioritize nominations to fill the two long vacant posts on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. These nominees must support the president’s view that exporting nuclear energy is vital to addressing both climate change and energy sovereignty. At a time of crisis like the one in which we now find ourselves, speed matters. Companies and countries shouldn’t have to wait for American technologies because of opaque and arcane contracting or licensing processes.

The invasion of Ukraine is not an aberration. It is the start of a frightening new era that requires bold American and global democratic leadership and a long-overdue recognition that energy and security are inextricably linked. Russia and China have acted on this reality to push their authoritarian, expansionist agenda for more than a decade.

It is time we build on the legacy of U.S. leadership in World War II and the Cold War and meet this moment. If we become the Arsenal of Clean Energy, we can support democracy, address the climate crisis, and create new economic opportunities across America.

Title:

Content: General Supervision
Elham Aboul Fath
Editor-in-Chief
Thank you for your patience.
General Supervision
Elham Aboul Fath
Editor-in-Chief
Thank you for your patience.
Europe is losing the gas battle.
Three countries succumb to Moscow and the euro are the biggest victims of the war
In a new escalation from Russia, Gazprom announced on Wednesday the cessation of gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria, or through their territories to European countries, which means depriving these countries of an important energy source, and hits the prices of gas and the euro in Europe severely.
In this report we review the full story of the "energy file", which confuses the calculations of European leaders, on the one hand they see the stop against Russia in its war with Ukraine, and on the other hand they always leave a back door for Russia to get out of the sanctions imposed on it and its currencies, because they are in urgent need of its energy, which they have not found a substitute until now.
Europe's dependence on Russian gas
Europe depends on Russia to provide 40% of the needs of the old continent of gas, and Gazprom monopolizes the supply through pipelines from Russia, which passes through Bulgaria and Poland to the rest of the continent, and Bulgaria depends on 90% of its gas needs on the Russian product, while Poland depends on 45%, which means a severe blow to the two countries, and a warning to the rest of Europe, to prevent energy from them.
As soon as the decision was taken against Bulgaria and Poland, European gas jumped by 24%, and at the beginning of trading on Wednesday, the prices of gas contracts on European exchanges jumped and exceeded the level of $1350 per thousand cubic meters, in light of the fears of global markets significantly, announced by Russia, which is based on the decree of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, last March, to prevent the sale of gas through Gazprom, to what they described as non-countries. According to Moscow ’ s plan, the ruble will be used to treat what happened to the ruble and its banks following the sanctions imposed on them as a result of the war with Ukraine.
The success of the Russian trick and the confusion of Europe
With the start of the implementation of the Russian decision, many European countries refused to pay in rubles, because it contradicted the terms of the signed contracts, and this is a Russian ploy to evade the sanctions imposed on the central bank, which did not shy Moscow from confirming, as it explained in full transparency that the decision to switch to payments ruble for its gas instead of euros or dollars came in response to Western sanctions against its central bank, which froze about half of foreign currency reserves.
The Russian plan succeeded, and has already paid off, it achieved large foreign reserves of currencies, and the ruble returned to better levels than before the invasion, to avoid the Russian economy worst scenarios, and the new decision, which shocked the people of the old continent, to stop the supply of gas to Bulgaria and Poland, came to fruition quickly, Hungary, Germany and Austria, announced approval of the Russian mechanism to buy gas.
The euro is the victim of Moscow sanctions
The package of Russian decisions, also led to a decline in the exchange rate of the euro, which is the first victim in Europe, against the ruble, and recorded its lowest levels, earlier, since June 2020, at about 77 rubles, while the dollar and its exchange rate at 73 rubles, and in recent weeks, the ruble rose steadily to levels above what it was on the eve of the Russian operation in Ukraine.
The countries of Europe acquiesce to Russia
Hungary and Austria also announced, through foreign ministers, their country's commitment to the Russian decision, which provides for the payment of gas dues in rubles, and Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Foreign Minister, said that his country will pay for Russian gas supplied to it based on the mechanism put forward by Moscow, stressing that the supply of Russian gas to Hungary through Bulgaria is normal.
For his part, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nihmer announced that Austria and the Austrian energy company OMV have accepted the terms of payment for gas in the Russian currency ruble, noting that the Russian terms were approved by opening a suitable account with a Russian bank.
Germany abides by Russia ’ s decisions
On Thursday morning, German media, citing a spokesman for the energy company Uniper, the largest importer of Russian gas to Germany, said it would continue to buy Russian gas according to the mechanism proposed by Moscow, confirming Berlin's acquiescence to Russian conditions.
The newspaper "Rheinische Post", quoting a spokesman for the company "Uniper", said that the price of Russian gas will be transferred to a Russian bank and not a European bank, and earlier, the company suggested the possibility of paying for gas in rubles, noting that it is continuing discussions on this with the Russian energy company "Gazprom".
Responses of Bulgaria and Poland to Russia
Gazprom notified Poland and Bulgaria to suspend gas supplies from Wednesday until payments are made in accordance with planned procedures, warning that unauthorized withdrawals of gas passing through their territories to other European countries such as Germany would reduce transit supplies.
Poland and Bulgaria have said they are working with state gas companies to find alternative sources to replace supplies from Russia, and that there will be no restrictions on domestic gas consumption for now even though the Balkan country of 6.5 million meets more than 90 percent of its gas needs with Russian imports.
For its part, Poland refused to pay for natural gas in rubles, and announced its firm stance on supporting Ukraine, stressing that it will send tanks to the Ukrainian army this week, in addition to the announcement earlier on Tuesday, a list of sanctions targeting 50 oligarchs and Russian companies, including Gazprom.
Polish gas company PGNiG said Russia ’ s demand to pay it in rubles was a violation of Yamal ’ s contract.

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Content: Energy security now controls politics.
Energy security now controls politics.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was not the main reason for this trend, but it strengthened strongly: the energy crisis in Europe, India and China began several months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and raised the prices of energy sources to historic levels at the time, and drought on the one hand and the processes of replacing other energy sources, made matters worse.
The most important of which is the visit of the leaders of the United States and European countries to the oil and gas countries in an attempt to win their favor, and the signing of contracts for immediate or future supplies, and this includes the expected visit of the Chinese President to Saudi Arabia. The US made an exception for six months to develop its joint projects with the Venezuelan oil company in order to increase production, and required that oil from these projects be exported to the United States only, and before that the Biden administration withdrew 180 million barrels from the strategic inventory in an attempt to provide supplies to refineries on the one hand and reduce oil prices on the other, and succeeded in doing so.
Large countries such as China and Germany have signed huge contracts with Qatar to secure future LNG shipments, while U.S. companies are expanding LNG terminals to boost exports to Europe due to growing demand there.
Some countries provided direct subsidies to their people to compensate for higher energy prices, while others tried to introduce a price cap to prevent energy prices from rising.
Japan has been granted an exemption from the G7 from the price cap agreement on Russian oil exports because of its investments in Russia's Sakhalin field.
Hungary has also been exempted from the European embargo on Russian oil and the price cap, all to boost energy security in these two countries, and China has signed huge contracts with Russia to build more gas pipelines to transport Russian gas to Chinese markets.
There is no evidence of interest in the issue of energy security more than sacrificing all the policies of climate change and ignoring the environment with the return of several European countries to coal, oil and firewood, all this so that the lights do not go out or die from the cold, and also India and China ignore the price ceiling imposed by the G7 countries and the European Union.
Experts agree that government policies and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are the main reasons for raising energy prices with different sources, but popular anger and demonstrations in some countries made governments look for scapegoats, so they blamed energy companies, especially oil companies, and some countries, led by Britain, decided to impose exceptional taxes on the profits of these companies.
This policy action may work in elections, but it harms energy security in this country in the medium and long term because it reduces investment, and makes companies tend to invest elsewhere, and as mentioned in a previous article, it is interesting that part of the profits of oil companies goes to invest in renewable energy, especially wind, and losing these things to the government means not to do these projects.
Energy Security and Electric Vehicles
Electric cars were adopted to eliminate carbon dioxide, which results from burning gasoline and diesel in car engines, because they see carbon dioxide as one of the causes of climate change, and some considered that the adoption of electric cars enhances energy security because of the use of local energy sources such as solar and wind to generate electricity in place of gasoline and diesel, which are imported either in the form of crude oil or petroleum products resources.
In some countries nuclear power is used, which is also a domestic source, in others coal is used to generate electricity and some of it may be imported, in which case emissions fall in places where electric vehicles are used, but they increase in areas where power plants are used.
The problem is that electric cars began to threaten energy security in many places around the world, and some governments began to demand owners of electric cars after charging them at certain times, and this is repeated in the US state of California specifically, and with the expansion of the purchase of electric cars, this is expected to happen in more countries, and more times.
The specialized energy platform published news two days ago that the Swiss Federal Council is ready to pass legislation “Restrictions and Prohibition of Electric Power Consumption Law ” to address the expected electricity shortage, which may lead to a partial ban on the use of electric vehicles, and is expected to include four stages of escalation in restrictions on the consumption of electricity, depending on the conditions of supply.
The mention of electric vehicles came in the third phase of escalation, as the article provides for several cases only, in which it is allowed to drive, and the article states that “it is allowed to use the electric car on the necessary trips and go to work, or to visit the doctor and attend religious events, in addition to access to the court in case of need. ”
On the other hand, the exaggeration of the effects of electric vehicles in the demand for oil has led to a decline in investment in it, which means lower production and higher prices and this threatens the energy security of all countries of the world.
In short, electric vehicles have become a threat to energy security in many countries, and the solution lies in striking a balance between energy security and environmental security.
arabic indipendt

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Content: City News
17 / 10 / 2022 09: 56
"Haina Wisdom - Xun Yugen" Green Energy Revolution
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine triggered the European energy crisis, and the global energy revolution accelerated. February 24, 2012
The conflict escalated further, with an underwater explosion in the Nord Stream pipeline leak area on September 26, triggering and exacerbating a series of events in Europe.
Energy crisis, traditional energy prices rose sharply in the short term, Brent crude oil futures prices quickly broke the $100 / barrel mark
At one point, the price of TTF natural gas futures was close to 340 euros / MWh.
The energy crisis has made Europe aware of the need to secure energy.
The importance and urgency of safety, countries have accelerated the introduction of energy transformation plans, focusing on clean energy such as photovoltaic, wind power and hydrogen energy.
Not only Europe, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is also a warning to the rest of the world, so they have increased the development and application of green energy.
This article will analyze the global green energy revolution and future development space.
The development of photovoltaic, wind power and new energy vehicles is more mature, and there is still room for iteration in the future.
Global and Chinese PV installations continue to grow rapidly in recent years
Rapid growth.
Under the background of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the scale of the European PV market has further expanded, and Chinese PV companies have seized the opportunity with product competitiveness.
Encounter.
Photovoltaic technology is also constantly iterating, bringing new growth points to the industry.
Wind power is another major source of clean energy in recent years.
Global and Chinese wind power installers continue to grow.
The cost of onshore wind power has been declining, and now it has entered a price parity, installation regulations
The model also tends to be full.
Offshore wind power will become an important driving force for the future development of the industry.
The trend of consumer automotive automation is accelerating.
Global new energy vehicle sales are growing rapidly, but the penetration rate is not high.
China's new energy vehicle industry develops faster, new energy from January to August this year
The penetration rate of the source car has reached 22.9%.
Under the guidance of the New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)
In the future, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China will continue to increase.
The gradual improvement of the future digital R & D system will also accelerate battery innovation.
It is expected to achieve technological breakthroughs and significantly promote the industry's cost reduction and efficiency increase.
Energy storage, green power operation and battery recycling supporting development.
In recent years, the rapid release of global electrochemical energy storage machines.
Nor is China ’ s new energy reserve.
The development of electrochemical energy storage is the most rapid. With the rise of photovoltaic and wind power installed, the importance of electrochemical energy storage in the future will be
Further highlights.
The ongoing reform of the electricity market will also significantly improve the new energy storage economy.
New energy based on clean energy
The rapid development of power systems has also brought large incremental markets to green electricity operators.
In the past few years, photovoltaic and wind technology innovation has made green
The cost of electric operators has dropped significantly.
In the future, electricity is expected to achieve market pricing and further enhance the profitability of green electricity operators. Green
Electricity companies can also cash in on the green premium by selling green power certificates, carbon emission rights and conducting green electricity market-based transactions.
The green premium is expected to be more obvious.
Hot sales of new energy vehicles drive the rapid growth of China's power battery installed capacity, and in the future, with new energy vehicles
Penetration rate rises, power battery installation scale will continue to grow.
The sharp price increase of raw materials for power batteries in the past year has also led to the manufacture of batteries.
Companies began to pay attention to the application of battery recycling technology.
Although the prospects for the power battery recycling market are clear, the recycling system and business model are not yet available.
Mature.
In the future, with the guidance policy becoming more precise and implemented, the power battery recycling system is expected to be improved.
Risk Tip: The global energy transition process has slowed down, and the domestic dual carbon policy has not advanced as expected.
Xun Yugen, Chief Strategic Analyst of Haitong International A-shares
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Content: Business FM
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Infrastructure attacks have become a feature of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Comment by Georgy Bovt
Only in recent days, the Kakhovskaya HPP and the Togliatti – Odessa ammonia pipeline have been damaged.
The consequences of the incidents lie in the economic, environmental and humanitarian planes, emphasizes political scientist, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held telephone talks with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, suggesting that they create a joint commission to investigate the circumstances of the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
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Content: How is China responding to the global energy crisis?
Font Size:
Source: China Newsweek
Author: He Qing
The outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war on February 24, 2022 has triggered a global energy crisis, and the sanctions imposed by Western countries led by the United States on Russia in the energy field have tightened global energy supply and rapidly increased fossil fuel prices.
This has had a threefold negative impact on the functioning of the world economy: First, the rise in fossil energy prices has exacerbated the worldwide inflation that began last year.
In addition, the rising inflation caused by energy prices caused the rise of risk-free interest rates, according to the capital asset pricing model, increasing the necessary rate of return of stock markets and causing turbulence in capital markets.
The global energy crisis has also had a major impact on China.
For a long time, complex international relations, turbulent geopolitics, unequal regional premiums, unstable transport routes and other factors have caused no small impact on the cost and import channels of China's imported crude oil, and the supply of imported oil sources is often faced with uncertainty.
Although the economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia are not as close as those between Europe and Russia, China's energy dependence is relatively high, especially crude oil and natural gas, which are more than 70% and 40% respectively, so the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on crude oil prices and natural gas prices will profoundly affect China's energy costs.
During the year, the energy crisis will continue, and fossil energy prices will continue to operate at high levels.
From the supply side, at present, Russia, Ukraine and Western countries for their own interests still lack the sincerity to return to negotiations and negotiations to solve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, if the conflict escalates or the Ukrainian authorities continue to withdraw, the EU may continue to increase sanctions on Russian energy exports, which will further reduce global energy supply and promote the upward movement of world energy prices.
Moreover, at present, OPEC members and Iran have limited capacity to increase production in the short term, and major OPEC members lack the determination to increase production significantly in order to make profits and maintain relations with Russia, while being constrained by refining equipment and lacking the ability to increase production rapidly.
Iran's nuclear talks are unlikely to produce results in the short term, and Iran lacks the motivation and ability to increase production.
In addition, the United States has limited production capacity, the Biden administration's environmental policy does not support the continued development of shale gas, and it is difficult to restore oil refining equipment that has been discontinued in the short term.
From the demand side, although the current international oil price is high, it is still far from the historical high, and consumers will not change their consumption habits in the short term.
In response to the impact of this round of global energy crisis, China should start from six aspects: promoting energy trade, strengthening energy reserves, accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of energy, supporting its own fossil energy supply, strengthening international policy cooperation, and supporting RMB energy pricing.
One is to further promote energy trade.
Through the establishment of international consensus (such as G20, OPEC +, etc.), make international commitments to avoid the implementation of export restrictions that cause global energy prices to rise and import restrictions that hinder the production of developing countries; to diversify import sources and continue to reduce the proportion of individual countries in China's energy imports.
The second is to strengthen energy reserves.
Strengthen strategic oil reserves, keep the scale of national oil reserves in line with the total amount of oil consumption, and encourage social capital to participate in the construction and operation of oil reserve facilities; improve natural gas reserves and regulation capabilities, and promote the construction of underground gas storage depots and liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving stations.
The third is to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of energy.
On the one hand, we must promote new energy generation such as photovoltaic and wind power, and on the other hand, we must improve the status
Of course, it is necessary to continue to vigorously develop the new energy automobile industry and strengthen the energy interaction between new energy vehicles and the power grid.
The fourth is to support the national fossil energy supply.
Promote safe and intelligent green development and utilization of coal, improve natural gas production capacity, focus on breakthrough shale gas, coal-bed methane and other unconventional natural gas exploration and development, promote large-scale development of shale gas, and increase domestic natural gas supply.
The fifth is to strengthen international policy cooperation.
Promote energy reform and low-carbon cooperation, and promote the improvement of the global energy governance system.
Strengthen cooperation with international organizations and mechanisms such as the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the International Energy Forum, and the Clean Energy Ministers' Meeting.
Promote Sino-US clean energy cooperation and deepen China-EU cooperation in energy technology innovation.
Sixth, it is necessary to promote the RMB denomination in the energy sector and help enterprises avoid the risk of exchange rate fluctuations.
On the one hand, when promoting the landing of oil and gas related projects in China and other countries, the goal of RMB signing and RMB denomination settlement will be achieved to the maximum extent; on the other hand, it will attract more large oil enterprises and international investors to participate in RMB denominated and settled crude oil futures transactions, reduce cooperative trade costs and the risk of exchange rate fluctuations, and expand the scope of RMB use.
In addition, China should actively improve the infrastructure construction of the RMB cross-border payment system, continuously expand the RMB cross-border payment and settlement channels, and improve the efficiency of the RMB in cross-border clearing.
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Content: Speed up EU climate policies to wrest free from Russia, 11 countries say

·2 min read

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union nations should speed up negotiations on new climate change policies and also increase the ambition of those proposals to quit Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible, 11 countries said on Thursday.

EU countries and European Parliament are negotiating a raft of green measures this year, including a revamp of the EU's carbon market, a 2035 ban on new combustion engine cars, and higher targets to expand renewable energy.

The proposals are designed to cut net EU greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels. But their links to energy security have come into the spotlight as the bloc seeks to end its reliance on Russian fuels by 2027 - partly through renewable energy and energy savings - in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Now is the time to be bold and to move ahead with determination with the green transition. Any delay or hesitation will only prolong our energy dependence," 11 EU countries said in a joint statement, seen by Reuters and due to be published on Thursday.

"Negotiations on the package should therefore be accelerated and ambitions ramped up," they said, urging countries to get behind the proposals.

The statement was led by Denmark and signed by Austria, Germany, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Slovenia.

Danish climate minister Dan Jorgensen said the countries were calling for a "green road to EU energy independence of Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible."

Not all countries agree. Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, said on Wednesday the EU should suspend its carbon market, the bloc's main emissions-cutting tool, in response to high energy prices. Poland has said the climate negotiations should be halted to assess the impact of the war.

Russia supplies 40% of Europe's gas. The 11 countries said the dash to replace that with non-Russian gas must avoid locking in emissions, and ensure the EU stays on track to eliminate its net emissions by 2050.

Brussels expects the climate proposals, if approved, to cut EU gas use 30% by 2030. A faster expansion of renewable energy and energy savings could also help rein in energy bills, which have soared amid high gas prices in recent months.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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Content: ContributorsPublishersAdvertisers

‘I know how much it hurts’: Biden to release US oil in bid to lower gas prices – as it happened

The Guardian
 2 days ago

9.21pm BST

Closing summary

Thanks for joining us today. The White House press briefing just finished and we’re closing down the US politics blog now - back on Friday morning, Washington time – but you can follow developments in the Russia-Ukraine war on the Guardian’s 24-hour live news blog here .

Here’s what we followed today:

  • The White House announced of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine that: “We have seen incontrovertible evidence that this has been a strategic disaster for Russia.”
  • Joe Biden announced he was releasing 1m barrels daily from US oil reserves to lower gas prices, and announced new initiatives for energy independence and clean energy.
  • The US president suggested that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was in some form of “self-isolation” and might have fired or arrested advisers who misled him over the Ukraine war.
  • A $10bn bipartisan Covid-19 relief deal was struck in Congress, according to Republican senator Mitt Romney , but still faces hurdles.
  • The House speaker Nancy Pelosi called for an human rights inquiry into Russia’s treatment of children in Ukraine, suggesting they were forcibly taken out of the country.

Related: Russia-Ukraine war latest: Russian forces leave Chernobyl; Germany rejects Putin’s gas supply ‘blackmail’ – live

Updated at 9.23pm BST

9.17pm BST

'Incontrovertible evidence that this [war] has been a strategic disaster for Russia' - White House

White House director of communications Kate Bedingfield is briefing the media now and said that there will be further sanctions on Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine just over a month ago - and also that the US has evidence the war is not going well from Moscow’s perspective.

“We have seen incontrovertible evidence that this has been a strategic disaster for Russia,” Bedingfield said a little earlier, as reported by journalists in the White House briefing room, including the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith.

Bedingfield also reiterated that the US needs to see tangible de-escalation of the war by Russia before it will consider any direct talks between Joe Biden and his counterpart, Russian president Vladimir Putin , and there are no plans for them to speak at this point.

Meanwhile, the US commerce department will impose further sanctions on Moscow in the coming days, targeting Russia’s defense, aerospace and maritime sectors, adding 120 entities from Russia and Belarus to its entity list, Bedingfield said.

That will bring the number of Russian and Belarusian parties added to the list to more than 200 since the invasion of Ukraine began, Reuters reports.

The White House believes sanctions are biting.

Updated at 9.30pm BST

8.15pm BST

Biden: Putin may be in 'self-isolation'

Joe Biden has suggested that the Russian president Vladimir Putin may be in some kind of “self-isolation” as the war in Ukraine continues, and that some senior advisers believed to have misled him have been fired.

“It’s an open question. There’s a lot of speculation,” Biden said when asked about Putin’s whereabouts during the earlier White House briefing on energy.

“But he seems to be, I’m not saying this with certainty, he seems to be self isolated. And there’s some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers.

“But I don’t want to put too much stock in that at this time because we don’t have that much hard evidence.”

Both British and US intelligence have concluded that some of Putin’s military advisers were too frightened to tell him the truth over how badly the Russian offensive in Ukraine was going.

Updated at 8.21pm BST

7.48pm BST

Romney: $10bn 'agreement in principle' over Covid relief

A bipartisan “agreement in principle” has been struck to authorize a $10bn Covid-19 relief package from Congress, the Republican Utah senator Mitt Romney has said.

The money is less than half the $22.5bn the White House was seeking , which it said was necessary to fund the provision of coronavirus testing, vaccines, therapeutics and masks into the fall.

The deal reportedly struck on Thursday, following lengthy negotiations between senior Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate, also does not include $5bn wanted by the Biden administration for vaccine measures abroad, according to Politico.

“That was a real missed opportunity,” the Virginia Democratic senator Tim Kaine told Politico, adding that he was “very upset.”

The compromise package could face a Senate vote next week, although time is tight with the confirmation of Joe Biden’s supreme court pick Ketanji Brown Jackson already on the schedule.

Romney told reporters the package must also receive an estimate from the congressional budget office.

7.24pm BST

Achieving energy independence, and advancing clean energy have long been goals of the Biden administration , which set out its vision in a January statement. Today, the president expanded on what he sees as possible.

With congressional approval for his plans, Biden said, “We can take advantage of the next generation of electric vehicles. The typical driver will save about $80 a month from not having to pay gas at the pump. If your home is powered by safer, cheaper, cleaner electricity like solar, or heat pumps, you can save about $500 a month on average.

“Don’t take my word for it. The CEOs and 11 of America’s largest utility companies came to see me at the White House. They told me if we pass my plans before the Congress now typical families will see savings in utility bills immediately.

“Costs will come down even more as we innovate and develop cutting edge energy storage technologies, clean hydrogen technology, advanced nuclear technology, carbon capture and sequestration technologies.”

In closing, Biden returned to the economic impact of the Ukraine war.

“Look, I know gas prices are painful. I get it. My plan is going to help ease that pain today and safeguard against tomorrow,” he said.

“I’m open to ideas and to strengthen the plan, but I will not be put off and put it on hold. I will do everything at my disposal to protect you from Putin’s price hike. It’s not time for politics. Americans can’t afford that right now.”

7.06pm BST

Biden says his energy plan is twofold, and as well as lowering oil costs and saving American families money by tapping the reserves, he was including a directive “to strengthen our clean energy economy.”

“We need to embrace all the tools and technologies that can help us free us from our dependence on fossil fuels [and] move toward more homegrown clean energy technologies made by American companies and American workers,” he said.

“I’m going to use the defense production act to secure America’s supply chains for the critical materials that go into batteries for electric vehicles and the storage of renewable energy, lithium, graphite, nickel, and so much more. We need to end our long term reliance on China and other countries for inputs that will power the future.”

He went on to list the benefits he sees from his action.

“Yes, building a base in America clean energy future will help safeguard our national security. Yes, it will help us tackle climate change. Yes, it’s going to help us ensure that Americans create millions of good paying jobs for generations to come. But the most important thing my plan will do right away is save your family money.”

6.56pm BST

Biden confirms draw on oil reserves to lower gas prices

Joe Biden says his plan to release 1m barrels daily from the US strategic oil reserves will: “Ease the pain families are feeling right now, end this era of dependence and uncertainty and lay a new and new foundation for true and lasting American energy independence.”

The president is speaking live at the White House to announce the move, which he said would last up to six months and which will represent the largest ever draw ever on the country’s emergency supplies.

“I know how much it hurts,” he said of rising gas prices that have followed the decision by the Russian president Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

“Putin’s price hike is hitting Americans at the pump.”

Biden said he decided on the measure in consultation with western partners, who have joined the US in imposing economic sanctions on Russia.

“Working with our Nato allies, European partners and beyond that, we are responding,” he said.

“Thus far these actions are crippling Russia’s economy, isolating Putin from the world and helping Ukrainians fight for their country.”

Updated at 7.05pm BST

5.20pm BST

It also emerged during the Nancy Pelosi press conference that she is planning a House hearing on the ethics of the US supreme court, in the wake of the insurrection scandal involving Justice Clarence Thomas ’s wife Ginni.

Thomas has been silent amid calls for his resignation over his wife’s supportive texts to Donald Trump ’s chief of staff Mark Meadows on the day of the 6 January Capitol riot , and Pelosi pointed to a lack of standards governing supreme court justices’ behavior.

“They have no code of ethics,” she said, noting that the House had already passed the For the People act seeking to introduce one, but it was blocked in the US Senate .

“Really, it’s the supreme court of the United States. They’re making judgments about the air we breathe and everything else and we don’t even know what their ethical standard is.

“Why should they have lower standards and members of Congress in terms of reporting and the rest?”

Pelosi added: “I would like to have a hearing, not the whole bill, but taking out that piece, to focus on the supreme court ethics standard legislation.

“People say it’s a personal decision of a judge as to whether he should recuse himself. Well, if your wife is an admitted and proud contributor to a coup of our country, maybe you should weigh that in your ethical standards.”

4.44pm BST

Pelosi wants inquiry on Russia's 'crimes against children'

The House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for an investigation into Russia’s “crimes against humanity” over its treatment of children in the Ukraine conflict.

At her weekly press conference on Thursday morning, Pelosi said she was horrified at what she learned from five female members of Ukraine’s parliament who visited with House members on Wednesday.

“To hear the stories of the children, you know, children are my reason to be here,” Pelosi said. “When some of these parents are killed by the Russians, the children have been sent to Russia. I think we should get more evidence and documentation about the crimes against humanity that the Russians are committing to the children, in some cases with a parent, in some cases not.”

Ukraine has already accused Russia of forcibly moving hundreds of thousands of its citizens into its territory as “hostages” to force a surrender.

Pelosi said she was deeply moved by meeting the women from Ukraine, who were introduced to her by Oksana Markarova , the country’s ambassador to the US.

“These women were young, they had children, one child was two, another eight years old, small children,” she said.

“Their husbands in large measure [are] on the battlefield. They thought it was important to come to the United States to tell the American people how they see it. It was factual, inspiring, emotional.”

Updated at 5.08pm BST

4.23pm BST

As social media companies promise to crack down on Russian disinformation about the war in Ukraine , studies show they continue to fall short, allowing disproven narratives to reach millions.

Facebook failed to label 80% of articles on its platform promoting a fast-spreading conspiracy theory that the US is funding the use of bioweapons in Ukraine, according to a study released Friday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) .

The nonprofit disinformation research group studied a sample of posts from between 24 February and 14 March sharing external articles containing baseless claims about bioweapons. It found Facebook in 80% of cases failed to label posts as either “missing context”, containing “partly false information” or “false information” outright.

“If our researchers can identify false information about Ukraine openly circulating on its platform, it is within Meta’s capability to do the same,” said the CCDH chief executive, Imran Ahmed. “But we found that in the vast majority of cases, conspiracy theories are given a free pass.”

Read the story here:

Related: Facebook fails to label 80% of posts promoting bioweapons conspiracy theory

Updated at 4.31pm BST

4.00pm BST

The North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn will not face immediate disciplinary action over his claim to have been invited to orgies and to have seen Washington figures using cocaine.

After meeting Cawthorn on Wednesday, the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy , told reporters the comments were “unacceptable”.

“There’s a lot of different things that can happen,” McCarthy added, regarding possible consequences.

“I just told him he’s lost my trust, he’s gonna have to earn it back, and I laid out everything I find is unbecoming. And you can’t just say, ‘You can’t do this again.’ I mean, he’s got a lot of members very upset.”

Full story:

Related: Congressman Madison Cawthorn under fire over claims of DC drugs and orgies

3.40pm BST

The Guardian’s voting rights expert Sam Levine has taken a look at the US supreme court’s interest in Wisconsin’s electoral maps, and how its intervention reflects the panel’s hostility to equal voting rights nationally:

Even for experts who closely follow the US supreme court , there was something stunning about an emergency decision from the justices on Wednesday.

In an unexpected move, the court decided to throw out new districts for the state legislature in Wisconsin that had been picked by the state supreme court. But what was even more surprising was that the court’s conservative majority seemed to go out of its way to attack the Voting Rights Act, one of the most important civil rights laws designed to prevent discrimination in US elections. “Extra headspinning,” was how Michael Li, a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, described it. “Bizarre,” observed Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine. David Wasserman, a redistricting expert at the non-partisan Cook Political Report, tweeted that the supreme court had entered “uncharted territory” .

The court’s decision in the Wisconsin case was the latest in a series of rulings that have left little pretense of how aggressively it is trying to weaken section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), the most powerful provision of the law, which outlaws racially discriminatory voting practices. The court is not hiding its skepticism of the use of race in redistricting, even when it’s used to protect minority voters, and is making it harder for litigants to justify considering race when district lines are redrawn.

Read more here:

Related: The US supreme court’s assault on voting rights hits a new low

Updated at 3.59pm BST

3.13pm BST

Mike Pence, the former vice-president who fell out with Donald Trump over his old boss’s obsessive attempts to steal back the 2020 election, has launched a policy agenda urging Republicans to look ahead instead of backwards.

“Elections are about the future,” Pence told reporters as he released a 19-page “freedom agenda” designed to guide his party’s policy positions for this year’s midterms and the 2024 presidential election, according to Politico .

Although the document promotes conservative policies designed to repair the “damage” he believes “the radical left” has inflicted on the US since Joe Biden took over the White House last year, Pence’s underlying message is unmistakable: Republicans have no business supporting Trump’s ongoing efforts to relitigate the 2020 election he lost by more than 7m votes.

“He strongly believes it’s important to have a forward-looking agenda for the American people and not look backward,” Marc Short , Pence’s former chief of staff, told reporters on the Wednesday call, Politico reported.

The agenda’s launch is seen by analysts as an attempt by Pence to position himself in the race to seek the Republican nomination for the 2024 election.

It isn’t the first time that he has taken such a swipe at Trump, whose supporters wanted to hang the then-vice-president on the day of the 6 January insurrection after he refused to cede to the one-term president’s demand to not certify Biden’s win.

He bluntly told Trump at a conservative conference in Florida in February that he was “wrong” to believe the election could be overturned .

Updated at 3.28pm BST

2.33pm BST

Oil prices plunge as Biden mulls 180m barrel release

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday morning amid speculation that Joe Biden will order a record release from US emergency reserves later today, intending to ease Americans’ pain at the gas pump.

The plan to release up to a million barrels daily, first reported by Bloomberg , is set to be announced at the president’s scheduled lunchtime briefing on energy. CNBC reported an initial drop of almost 6% in crude oil futures on Thursday at the news, leaving the cost of a barrel hovering around the $100 mark.

At the peak earlier this month, a barrel of Brent crude was about $139. The national average price for a gallon of gas, meanwhile, was $4.22 on Thursday, according to the AAA .

Analysts have tied high gasoline prices, caused largely by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the inflation crisis, to Biden’s slumping popularity and the Democratic party’s prospects in the upcoming midterm elections.

It’s clear Biden wanted to act sooner than later, with an NBC poll this week reflecting an approval rating of only 40%, the lowest of his presidency to date.

The White House notification of Biden’s briefing today referred to “his administration’s actions to reduce the impact of Putin’s price hike on energy prices and lower gas prices at the pump for American families.”

The US currently has about 568m barrels in its strategic petroleum reserve stored in salt domes in Texas and Louisiana, and according to Bloomberg the draw would last for up to six months and see about 180m barrels released into the US market.

Biden has tapped the reserve before, 50m barrels last November to address supply issues, but the new plan would be a record.

Updated at 2.44pm BST

2.17pm BST

Good morning, and welcome to Thursday’s US political blog.

Joe Biden will address high gas prices in a lunchtime briefing on energy from the White House, at which he is expected to announce a record release of up to a million barrels of oil daily from US strategic reserves. Oil prices have already fallen sharply today at the news.

The Ukraine conflict continues to dominate the headlines globally, and you can follow all the developments in the Guardian’s main live news blog here .

Here’s what else we’re watching in the US today:

  • The Trump-era immigration policy that blocked asylum seekers at the border because of the pandemic is likely to end on 23 May, with an announcement expected as early as this afternoon. We wrote about it yesterday here .
  • The former vice-president Mike Pence has taken another dig at his old boss Donald Trump by releasing a conservative policy agenda urging Republicans to look forward, and not to focus on past grievances.
  • There’s growing agitation among congressional Democrats over lack of legislative action from the Biden administration. The president met with progressive and moderate caucuses separately last night, and House speaker Nancy Pelosi is likely to be asked about it at her weekly press conference this morning.
  • White House communications director Kate Bedingfield will hold her daily press briefing at 3pm.

Title:

Content: World

Berlin against, Rome is silent, Paris in favor. Nuclear power explodes in the EU

Germany closed three reactors in 2021 and plans to do the same with the other three in 2022. Belgium shares the same idea, “shut down” its seven plants by 2025. Spain, which has some reactors in operation as well, does not consider them “green” at all. Luxembourg dismisses the proposal to include the atom in the green taxonomy as a “provocation”. Austria of the atom does not want to know, with 82% of its primary energy production made from renewables (data 2019), and is studying a legal action against the Commission. France is delighted to see nuclear power (77% of its domestic production) taken into account by Brussels. Italy, which is fond of Minister Cingolani’s idea of increasing its gas extractions, is currently silent and at least hopes for a golden rule to exclude “green” investments from the calculation of the deficit. A few days after the publication of the draft of the European Commission on the green taxonomy, the distances between the 27 instead of narrowing, are widening and if yesterday they seemed divided, today they show themselves to be shattered.

The definition of the green taxonomy is fundamental in orienting investments: with the “green” stamp, industrial and infrastructure projects can be much more attractive for private capital. However, the decision to include nuclear and gas in the EU’s green taxonomy has met with harsh criticism already in recent weeks, when rumors had not yet taken the form of a draft Commission. The technicians from Brussels and the team of experts who collaborated in the drafting of the central document for the definition of the EU energy planning in the context of the Green New Deal tried to circumvent the foreseeable resistance by introducing some conditions for the two sources that are not neutral with respect to the climate and the environment. Nuclear and gas, first of all, will be considered compatible with the green taxonomy only for a defined period of time and “to the extent that they contribute to the transition towards climate neutrality and do not significantly damage the environment”, according to an official of Brussels. “The Commission sees the future energy mix as a predominantly renewable or low-carbon energy system. We really hope that this proposal will help bring about the change we need and channel private funding towards low-emission energy sources ”.

In fact, it means that investments in nuclear power will be “green” only if the projects presented have a well defined plan, funds and site for the disposal of radioactive waste in total safety. Building permits will only be allowed until 2045. It is worth remembering that at the moment there is still talk of third generation or third plus nuclear power. Not the fourth, the (slag-free) fusion that experts believe may have a role on an industrial scale no earlier than the middle of the century. As for gas, investments in power plants will be green only if they contribute to emissions of less than 270 grams of CO2 equivalent per kWh and replace more polluting fossil fuel plants. They will need to obtain a building permit before 2030.

On gas, the Commission’s conditions appear much more stringent. It is a non-solid fossil source, certainly less polluting than coal and to which Italy looks with interest, having unused methane deposits. Moreover, in a European context of high prices and constant reduction of supplies from the main supplier, Russia, for reasons of a geopolitical nature. But it is on nuclear power that the clash risks worsening at the community level.

“We believe nuclear technology is dangerous,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin, noting that the question of what to do with the radioactive waste remains unresolved. Hebestreit added that Germany “expressly rejects” the EU assessment on atomic energy and has repeatedly affirmed this position towards the Commission. Germany is now considering the next steps to take. Germany is set to shut down the remaining three nuclear power plants later this year and phase out coal by 2030, while its neighbor France aims to modernize existing reactors and build new ones to meet energy needs. Berlin plans to rely on natural gas until it can be replaced by non-polluting energy sources. The opposite paths taken by two of the EU’s largest economies have led to an embarrassing situation for the Commission. The draft EU executive branch concludes that both nuclear power and natural gas can be considered sustainable under certain conditions for investment purposes.

Hebestreit said the German government’s goal is to use natural gas only as a “bridge technology” and replace it with non-polluting alternatives such as hydrogen produced from renewable energy by 2045, the deadline the country has set for becoming climate neutral. . The spokesman did not say whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz supports the opinion of the Minister of Economy and Climate Robert Habeck that the European Commission’s proposals are a form of “greenwashing”.

Germany has pulled the plug on three of its last six nuclear power plants. The Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C reactors, operated by the E.On and Rwe utilities, were closed on December 31st after 35 years of operation. The last three nuclear power plants – Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim II – will be shut down by the end of 2022. However, closure does not mean decommissioning, which will take much longer and is expected to take place by 2040 in the case of Brokdorf, for example. .

In 2021, the six nuclear power plants contributed about 12% of electricity generation in Germany. The German energy mix consists of 41% renewables, 28% coal and 15% gas. By 2030, Germany aims to meet 80% of energy demand with renewables. This is not the case in France where – given Eurostat 2019 – 77.6% of its energy produced comes from the atom and only 20% from renewable.

Germany is not alone in the firm opposition to the proposal put forward by Brussels: the draft “is a provocation from a procedural point of view” and “in terms of content it hides the risk of greenwashing”, wrote on Twitter the Minister of Energy of the Luxembourg, Claude Turmes, saying he is ready to “examine the proposal in detail and discuss further steps” together with Germany and Austria, equally opposed to including nuclear power among sustainable investments. The proposal was sent to governments on Friday, “in a nocturnal and nebulous action. This says a lot about transparency ”, attacked Turmes.

The same tones used by Vienna: if these are the plans “we will sue”, wrote on Twitter the Austrian Federal Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Leonore Gewessler, highlighting that nuclear energy is “dangerous and not it represents a solution in the fight against the climate crisis ”. Austria has no reactors and produces almost all of its energy from renewable sources.

The Spanish government also rejected the European Commission’s proposal to include nuclear and natural gas energy in the EU’s “green” taxonomy. According to Madrid, this is “a step backwards” and “a wrong signal” for the financial markets. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, stressed that “regardless of whether we can continue to invest in one or the other, we believe they are not green or sustainable energies”. Spain – he added – “is a firm supporter of green taxonomy as a key tool to have common references that can be used by investors to achieve the decarbonisation of the economy and climate neutrality by 2050”, but include nuclear and gas “It would be a step backwards,” according to the government official Sanchez. “It makes no sense and sends the wrong signals for the European energy transition as a whole,” he stressed. While admitting that both nuclear power and natural gas have a role to play in the transition, this is “limited in time”. Member States have until 12 January to provide their response to the Commission. Then, once published, it will have to pass the scrutiny of the EU Council and Parliament, where the environmentalist parties are also announcing a battle.

In 2019, France was the country that produced the largest share of energy in the EU (20% of the total), followed by Germany (17%), Poland (9.6%), Italy and Sweden (6%). ). However, the debate on green taxonomy is intertwined with energy security (or sovereignty) in a particular historical phase, marked by risks to the security of supply due to geopolitical and military reasons, as shown by the tensions on the Ukrainian border. Primary energy production in the EU in 2019 was distributed among various energy sources, the most important of which in terms of the size of its contribution were renewables, with over a third (36.5%) of the total. Second place for nuclear power, with 32.0% of total primary energy production, with France in the lead, followed by Belgium (77% of domestic production in 2019) which, however, is about to abound in nuclear power like Germany. However, all European energy production is not enough to meet its needs: more than half of Europe’s energy is imported. The EU energy dependency rate exceeds 50%.

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James Reno

Editor-in-Chief, James loves playing games and loves to write about them more. He knows a lot about entertainment because he has done a drama course. James loves writing, so he is our writer. email: james@d1softballnews.com

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Content: Han Yonghong: The gap between Europe and the United States
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After Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine, the rare coordinated pace between Europe and the United States did not last long, and the issue of the Russian energy embargo caused the first crack in the picture of European and American cooperation.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced a total ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports on Tuesday, and Britain followed suit, but this time the continental powers refused to cooperate.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schorz said in a public statement that Germany and European partners deliberately excluded energy from the sanctions against Russia, because there is no other way for Europe to guarantee heating, transportation and industrial production of energy, other than to import from Russia.
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Content: Renewable energy infrastructure will take decades to develop, experts say

Oil and gas companies should be part of the discussion on climate change, according to panellists at the World Government Summit

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The world needs “short-term” solutions as the infrastructure for renewable energy will take decades to develop, industry experts have said.

“We don’t have the infrastructure that really makes it possible for renewables to grow at the speed and scale that is needed,” Francesco La Camera, director general of the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), said during a panel discussion at the World Government Summit.

“We are talking about physical infrastructure, the legal and policy infrastructure [as well as] the professional skills.”

The war in Ukraine has triggered a global energy crisis, marked by a shortage of fuel supplies and volatile prices.

Countries in Europe and elsewhere are now racing to develop renewable and natural gas projects as they seek to reduce their reliance on Russian fossil fuel exports.

“We're talking about the biggest investment programme ever in the energy industry, which is used to developing projects over decades,” Siemens Energy chief executive Christian Bruch told the panel.

Investment in low-carbon projects is expected to increase by $60 billion this year, 10 per cent higher than 2022, led by developments in the wind sector, as well as a “significant” rise in funding for hydrogen and carbon capture, according to Rystad Energy, a Norway-based energy consultancy.

About $131 trillion will have to be spent by 2050 to achieve a low-carbon energy transition that will limit global temperature rises to manageable levels, Irena said.

Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar, said the Ukraine war, which disrupted energy markets and global trade flows, had created new opportunities in the renewables sector.

The current crisis has “accelerated” the rate at which renewable energy permits are being issued in Europe, he said.

“Before the war, this was literally impossible … I see these challenges creating humongous opportunities,” Mr Al Ramahi said.

Last year, EU energy ministers agreed to outline a temporary framework to hasten the granting of permits and the development of renewable energy projects.

Masdar, which has Adnoc, Taqa and Mubadala Investment Company as its stakeholders, aims to grow its renewable energy capacity to at least 100 gigawatts by 2030 while boosting its green hydrogen production to one million tonnes over the next decade.

“Is it sufficient enough? And the simple answer to that is definitely not. We need 10 times our target capacity on an annual basis for the next decade [to meet global net-zero goals]” said Mr Al Ramahi.

However, the global energy transition is a “long and bumpy journey”, he said.

Oil and gas companies, which reported record profits last year on the back of higher energy prices, should be a part of the discussion on climate change, panellists said.

The global oil and gas industry's income jumped to about $4 trillion in 2022, from its recent average of $1.5 trillion, according to the International Energy Agency.

“Without that money, there won't be a transition because where's the money going to come from?” said Marco Dunand, chief executive of commodities trader Mercuria.

He also highlighted the need for more investment in new oil and gas projects after spending in the sector fell to historic lows during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“If you want to be in line with the Paris Agreement, you should be producing worldwide about 70 million barrels per day, but the demand [is expected] to be closer to 100 million bpd,” said Mr Dunand.

“There is no investment because there's so much uncertainty about the transition.”

The Cop28 summit — set to be held in the UAE this year — will offer a chance to take stock of the enforcement of the Paris Agreement.

“There will be differences between countries during the stock-take [and] Cop28 should say how we can close the gap,” said Mr La Camera.

Watch: Air taxis to take over Dubai skies in three years

Updated: February 13, 2023, 11:52 AM
EDITOR'S PICKS

## Background: Germany's Nuclear Phase-Out

Germany's nuclear phase-out was not a recent decision but rather the culmination of decades of anti-nuclear activism and policy evolution:

- **2000**: The German government reached an agreement with nuclear power plant operators to gradually shut down all nuclear facilities
- **2011**: The Fukushima disaster accelerated this timeline, leading to the immediate shutdown of 8 of 17 reactors
- **2021**: The final three nuclear power plants were scheduled for closure by the end of 2022

This policy was driven by the Green Party's

Title:

Content: Guardian Original
Berbok admitted that the Ukrainian crisis forced Germany to rethink its relations with Russia and its neighbors on the continent
The Russian special operation in Ukraine has opened a new chapter for Germany and made it realize its responsibility to partner countries in a new way, writes Annalena Berbok in an article published by the British newspaper The Guardian.
The Germans, she said, “managed to surprise even themselves ”: Germany has coped with its dependence on Russian gas, has become one of the leading arms suppliers to Ukraine, and has recognized itself as a leader on whom its allies can rely.
The ability to surprise is perhaps not the first thing that people usually associate with Germans, writes German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbok in an article published by the British newspaper The Guardian.
But if you look at what direction Germany has been heading since Russia launched its military special operation in Ukraine, “perhaps we Germans have managed to surprise even ourselves, ” she adds.
Just two years ago, billions of cubic meters of gas flowed from Russia to Germany via Nord Stream 1 and other pipelines.
Russian fossil fuels accounted for a significant share of the country ’ s energy consumption.
That number has now been reduced to zero.
Just two years ago, the idea that Germany would supply tanks, air defense systems and howitzers to a combat zone would have seemed far-fetched, to say the least.
“Today, Germany is one of the leading suppliers of weapons for Ukraine ’ s self-defense, ” Burbock said.
This is not only a change in how Berlin perceives threats to its own security, but also in how Germany understands its responsibility in the modern world — “as a leader on whom our partners can rely, ” the German foreign minister said in his article.
After the horrors of World War II unleashed by the Germans, German foreign policy was based on the principle that war should never again come from German soil.
“In the first stage of foreign policy after 1945, our country sought to regain the trust of former enemies.
We are eternally grateful to them for reaching out to us, once again accepting us into the world community, ” Burbock wrote in The Guardian.
Over the following decades, German governments adhered to what became known as “checkbook diplomacy ” — the belief that German money, not soldiers, should help resolve conflicts.
In the 1990s, the third phase began.
At first, Germany acted gradually, through participation in missions led by the UN, and then – under the influence of the intolerable pictures of the Balkan wars – much more actively through active participation in the forces led by NATO in Kosovo.
“This decision was important not in spite of our country ’ s history, but because of it, ” Burbock writes.
As former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer noted, Germany ’ s responsibility for the disaster meant a commitment to never again allow not only war, but also concentration camps and genocide.
Adherence to the values of the UN Charter and international criminal law meant that Germany supported its partners in UN missions around the world.
After 9 / 11, Germany supported the United States and its partners by sending a Bundeswehr to Afghanistan.
According to Burbock, in connection with the Russian special operation in Ukraine, something, however, has changed radically, which leads to the fourth stage of foreign policy.
It is about how Germany perceives threats to its own security in the heart of Europe.
For too long, we have not heeded the warnings of our eastern neighbors, who urged us to take the threats posed by Russia seriously.
We have learned that “hoping for the best ” is not enough.
Despite all efforts to build a European security architecture with Russia, economic and political engagement has also failed to tip Moscow toward democracy, Berbok said.
Germany ’ s allies can count on it, she continues.
We Germans will never forget that we owe our freedom in a reunited country also to our allies and to our eastern neighbours.
As they helped us, so we will help them now, because the security of Eastern Europe is the security of Germany, ” the foreign minister wrote in his article.
“We know that for the foreseeable future, President Putin ’ s Russia will remain a threat to peace and security on our continent and that we must organize our security against Putin ’ s Russia, not with it, ” Burbock said.
In Germany ’ s first-ever national security strategy, its government explains how it seeks to assume responsibility in this new phase of foreign policy, in Europe and beyond, through an integrated security policy.
First of all, it means strengthening Germany ’ s commitment to the “Euro-Atlantic family. ”
Berlin strengthens NATO as a guarantor of collective security.
Berlin is also building up its military capabilities with an “unprecedented ” package of €100 billion and is committed to meeting NATO ’ s defense spending target.
In addition, Germany is building a geopolitical European Union that “opens its doors to new members such as Ukraine, Moldova, Western Balkan countries and, in the long term, Georgia. ”
According to Berbock, Germany learned “through pain ” that security means protecting not only from wars and crises, but also from economic vulnerability.
“Decisions about where we buy gas, oil or technology have security implications.
“Although we believe that in the context of globalization, it is impossible to break away from China, we strive to reduce risks and reduce our vulnerability.
Diversification is an investment in security. ”
Therefore, Germany is strengthening its strategic global partnerships.
“And if we want our common rules – based on the UN Charter – to govern our world in the future, we must prove their value by promoting solutions that meet the needs of our partners – on security, trade and the fight against the climate crisis.
If we fail to do so, others who do not share our strong commitment to international law and human rights will step in, ” Burbock warned in an article for The Guardian.
The Russian special operation in Ukraine opened a new chapter for Germany and forced it to rethink its desire to promote peace, freedom and sustainability in this world – as a “partner who accepts his leadership. ”
Some, from the point of view of Berbok, this may surprise, but “this is a matter of responsibility, ” concludes the German foreign Minister in an article for the British newspaper The Guardian.
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Content: Hydrogen: A new way for Germany to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas?
• Janek Schmidt
• BBC Business Technology Reporter
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Germany has reduced its dependence on Russian oil and gas imports from 35% to 12%, and natural gas imports from 55% to 35%.
Energy exports, however, remain a significant source of revenue for Moscow. Figures from the Energy and Clean Air Research Center (CREA) in Helsinki, Finland, show that in the first two months after the start of the war in Ukraine, Germany paid nearly 9 billion euros for Russian oil and gas.
Veronika Grimm, a professor of economics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, is one of three special advisers to the German federal government.
“Our access to energy needs to diversify and decarbonize more quickly than initially thought, ” she said. To achieve this, Ms. Grimm hopes Germany will increase its use of hydrogen energy.
Hydrogen contains a large amount of energy, replacing natural gas in industrial processes, fuel cells used in trucks, trains or aircraft, which emit no pollution and only release water vapor that meets drinking standards.
Grimm ’ s obsession is having an impact.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says more than a dozen countries have published national hydrogen energy strategies or are about to do so.
Despite the interest, it is unclear whether large-scale use of hydrogen energy is feasible.
After two oil crises in the 1970s, and as concerns about climate change intensified in the 1990s, there was a similar enthusiasm for hydrogen energy.
But neither of those two ended up with tangible results.
So, is the passion for hydrogen energy different today?
Skeptics warn that industry representatives, who dominate most of the world ’ s hydrogen energy agencies, often favor hydrogen because it comes with subsidies and is able to maintain demand for existing assets such as pipelines, tankers, fans or boilers.
They also say that politicians prefer large, green-sounding plans for the future over more difficult solutions.
But environmental groups are more cautious, pointing out that hydrogen energy cannot be obtained in large quantities as the main fuel.
There are two main ways to obtain hydrogen, each with different color codes.
Green hydrogen refers to the electricity generated from renewable energy that dissolves water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules through an electrolysis machine.
But the cost of these machines and electricity is high.
According to the International Energy Agency, the high cost means that no emissions of hydrogen energy only accounts for 0.03% of global hydrogen production.
Grey hydrogen is 5 times cheaper, it is obtained from natural gas, and in some cases from oil and coal.
However, due to losses in the production process, carbon dioxide emissions are about 50% higher than direct combustion of natural gas.
Another related technology is called blue hydrogen.
It relies on the same production process, but can capture, reuse or store 60-90% of carbon emissions in production.
The disadvantage of this method is that it costs about twice as much, and it also lacks large-scale production facilities.
Blue hydrogen accounts for only 0.7% of global hydrogen production.
So, while hydrogen is environmentally friendly and has huge potential, global hydrogen production currently emits carbon dioxide equivalent to that of France as a whole.
It is important for specific countries to decide how to produce hydrogen energy.
Some countries already have clear development priorities, with sunny countries looking to solar power to generate hydrogen using solar-powered electrolytes, while France relies heavily on nuclear energy.
China has prioritized the development of cheap gray hydrogen, which is extracted from coal and natural gas, while investing in other green energy sources.
The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Norway are the main countries pushing blue hydrogen, injecting carbon dioxide into oil and gas fields for long-term storage, or increasing production with so-called enhanced oil recovery technologies.
But the situation in Germany is not clear.
Professor Volker Quaschning, an expert at the University of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Berlin, criticized Germany ’ s hydrogen energy strategy.
“The Merkel government is using it as a cover for their failure in the energy transition, ” he said.
He believes solar and wind power should be rapidly expanded to boost future green hydrogen production, a move already promised by Germany ’ s new government.
However, on the issue of hydrogen energy, the three parties in the German coalition government, the three competent departments and the National Hydrogen Council are discussing internally whether to focus on green hydrogen, or whether to accept the blue hydrogen option to temporarily solve the problem of insufficient supply.
Ms. Grimm and the majority of the members of the Hydrogen Energy Committee share the same view, that is, they are in favor of multi-colored hydrogen.
"Acceptance of blue hydrogen will help boost supply and meet the needs of our industrial development, underpin technological breakthroughs in Germany and encourage potential suppliers to invest in green hydrogen production," she said.
In January, the German economy minister, Robert Habeck, announced an ambitious plan to boost renewable energy by doubling the domestic green hydrogen production target of the past two years, from 70 megawatts to 150 megawatts now to 10 gigawatts by 2030.
This represents a quarter of the EU ’ s 40 billion megawatts target, which is larger than France ’ s 6.5 billion megawatts target.
Therefore, as domestic production expands, Germany is looking for sources of hydrogen supply from abroad.
Andreas Kuhlmann, the head of the German Energy Agency, said that Germany has rapidly accelerated international negotiations to buy hydrogen energy.
The German Energy Agency is a government-owned company whose purpose is to facilitate the energy transition in coordination with the National Hydrogen Council.
The talks include the development of a hydrogen pipeline linking southern Europe, which has more solar and wind power and is more cost-effective to produce hydrogen.
Robert Habek is currently busy visiting energy exporting countries.
During the week of March, he went to Norway to reach a feasibility study agreement for a hydrogen pipeline, to Qatar to finalize an energy cooperation agreement, and visited the United Arab Emirates to sign five cooperation agreements.
The first imports from the UAE are expected to arrive in Germany later this year.
Other countries that received Robert Habek ’ s attention in terms of hydrogen energy imports were Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Chile, Namibia and Australia.
Although he acknowledged the need to import hydrogen, Professor Volcker Käuschning poured some cold water on Halbek ’ s enthusiasm.
“Importing hydrogen from a factory built in the desert is not an efficient, cheap way to do it, ” he said.
Every link in the supply chain consumes some raw energy: desalination of seawater, feedstock for electrolysis, re-liquefaction of ships, oil tankers, local pipelines in Germany, and conversion of hydrogen into electricity.
"All of these steps will consume at least 70 percent of the electricity in the desert," says Professor Kwaisenin.
“So even if the solar panels in the desert generate 80% more electricity than the solar panels in Germany, the result is that solar power in Germany will be twice as efficient in the first place. ”
Due to the high cost, hydrogen energy is said to be champagne for energy conversion.
Who drank the first glass of champagne?
Most observers are more consistent.
Felix Matthes, an energy expert at the Öko-Institut, a member of the German Hydrogen Council, said, “It ’ s crucial that we only allocate hydrogen to sectors that cannot be directly electrified. ”
"Therefore, we should first use hydrogen energy in the steel, chemical and glass industries," he said.
The industries that fall behind may be shipping, long-haul car freight, and medium and long-range aircraft.
Hydrogen energy for cars and heating is not efficient, expensive and the purpose is unclear and impractical.
“In addition, the efforts of German Economy Minister Robert Haberk to promote renewable energy will create a greater demand for balancing our electricity supply, and hydrogen energy can play a role, as sunlight and windy weather enable the electrolysis equipment to produce hydrogen and store it in large quantities for use in winter and cloudy weather, ” said Felix Mats.
Germany is under pressure to stop paying large sums to Russia to import Russian energy, but this is a complicated process.
Many people are pinning their hopes on hydrogen energy, hoping that this time hydrogen will really reach its potential and make it easier for Germany to transform.