I thought this was interesting. It just goes to show the impact of the Japanese nuclear meltdown. I wonder how much it will cost them to shut them down and the alternatives they will use. Perhaps investment in German energy comapnies that provides gas or oil or coal might be a good investment. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13592208
i bought some UNG around 10.5 for exact same reasons. US will follow..expecting demand to rise + if oil stay this high, i'm pretty sure there will be a lot of cars in US running on nat gas. http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=73452 if they adapt this-there is will be only one way for UNG- UP
This is a classic case of political pandering. My guess is that within a few years Germany's going to completely reverse this move. It's simple math. 23% of Germany's electricity comes from 17 nuclear power plants. One was already off-line due to problems, the other seven were shut down after Fukushima. That leaves 9 operational units. Assuming the 23% was provided equally by the 16 that were originally operational they've lost 10% of total electric capacity. Wait until summer and let's see some rolling blackouts...
Actually Germany is a net exporter of electricity, so some of the plants aren't needed. Plus they are leaders of the world in deploying solar PV, which they already have 17 Gigawatts installed and they're continuing to expand in that area to meet their Kyoto targets.
Sound bites are great but, numbers tell an entirely different story. First, PV. Yep, Germany's gone all-in and 17TWh is a lot. But, in the scheme of things it's only 2% of Germany's total electric generation, which is around 600TWh. Second, yes again, Germany is a net exporter of electricity. But, that amount is only 12TWh. Since nuclear power produces 23% of Germany's electricity the loss of 7 of 17 operational reactors means that they've lost about 60TWh of capacity. But, because they consume around 550TWh it means that the loss of those reactors could put them at a net deficit. If that's the case then come the summer there will be rolling blackouts.
Doesn't this woman have like an approval rating of 23% right now? Maybe we can use her for fuel - all that hot air.
Yes, the catalog of postponed issues, mistakes, mishaps, and near catastrophes surrounding nuclear power only reenforces my impression that the we are not conscientious stewards for our future.