Minister Röttgen, Germany is phasing out nuclear energy and is the first major industrialized country to implement a fundamental switch to renewable energy. How will this decision change Germany?
It will change Germany a lot. After decades of bitter controversy, these decisions on the future of our energy supply mean that we have taken the subject of energy supply out of the domestic political battle zone and achieved a consensus on this key political and economic issue. That will do our society good. The decisions also have an enormous economic significance: for the first time we are combining a clear schedule for phasing out the economic use of nuclear energy with a comprehensive concept for the era of renewable energy and energy efficiency. This gives the capital-intensive energy sector the security it needs for investment, which is urgently needed to carry out the fundamental transformation of the energy supply. The energy revolution is our economy’s great modernization and innovation project. It will lead to a big innovation surge and will strengthen our position as the world market leader in environmental technologies. With state-of-the-art technologies we can further boost our economic development and create growth and jobs.
Isn’t the energy revolution a huge gamble for an industrialized nation that wants economic growth at the same time?
The energy revolution is a great challenge, there’s no question about it, but it’s also a huge opportunity for technological progress. Scientists say that – technologically speaking – we will already be able to generate 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy sources in 20 years. Our initial target is now to double the percentage of power that comes from renewable sources in the next ten years – from 17 percent now to at least 35 percent. Economic growth must be accompanied by the careful use of our finite resources and the foundations of life. Only then will our economy be sustainable and future-viable.
Germany’s rapid nuclear phase-out was a response to Fukushima. From the point of view of safety, what sense does it make to shut down the German nuclear power plants when nuclear power is still being generated in other European countries?
We shall keep up the pressure in future, too, to ensure that safety standards are continuously raised and improved in the countries that choose to continue using nuclear energy. When other countries see that a major industrial country like Germany is able to manage without nuclear power, they might follow our example. It will certainly raise the competitive pressure.
What impact has the energy revolution had on Germany’s ambitious climate-protection targets? Can they still be met?
Ambitious climate protection is a major driving force behind the transformation of the energy supply. In future we will therefore continue to take the lead and won’t in any way water down our climate-protection goals of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020. Developing renewable energy is just as important as improving energy efficiency and reducing power consumption.
How well do you believe Germany’s nuclear phase-out plans are accepted abroad? Many people abroad wonder whether Germany really can manage the energy revolution. What’s your reply?
It’s true that our neighbours abroad are closely watching what we are doing. They want to see how the first major industrialized country will manage it. This is why the fundamental change we have made is significant – not only socially and economically, but also internationally. I believe we have the technological expertise in Germany to successfully accomplish the energy revolution. Germany is not going a separate route; it is moving ahead with a development that will dominate the 21st century.
