Levels have been thrown in rows in Germany over the past few days. In the Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen nuclear power plants. In the Rhenish lignite blocks in Weisweiler, Neurath, Niederaussem. There is no doubt: the energy transition is rolling.
But it is not yet an energy turnaround if somebody switches off power plants somewhere and wind turbines and solar cells connect to the grid elsewhere. It is more than the transition from nuclear or fossil fuels to renewable sources. It is a change in the system, away from the constant flow of electricity from large fossil fuel power plants to a decentralized system of green energy that is closely networked in every respect. And this is exactly where natural gas comes into play.
The traffic light clearly recognized the need
It’s hard to criticize these days. The EU Commission wants to classify investments in gas power, as in nuclear energy, as sustainable. The Ampel-Coalition is in a mess because, on the one hand, it does not want to know anything about nuclear energy, but on the other hand, it relies on new gas-fired power plants – regardless of climate protection. Natural gas, as she specifically stated in the coalition agreement, “is indispensable for a transition period”. Like it or not, that’s exactly how it is.
Because as good as the energy transition is for the climate, nuclear safety and independence from energy imports – it is challenging to handle. Electricity from wind and sun fluctuates. He demands storage to bridge lulls and cloudy days, a dense power grid in all neighboring countries to compensate for bottlenecks – and gas-fired power plants.
You can jump in quickly when the network gets tight. They can be distributed all over the country and are set up comparatively quickly. In addition to electricity, they can also generate local and district heating and thus use the energy efficiently. In the future, they can be operated with larger proportions of green hydrogen or synthetic methane, so they would be more climate-friendly. Climate protectors don’t like to hear it: the energy transition will not succeed without the natural gas bridge.
The federal government is facing a dilemma
Just green and sustainable, that’s why natural gas is far from being. This is the mistake of thinking of the EU Commission, which now wants to stamp investments in modern gas-fired power plants with its taxonomy, at least temporarily, as “sustainable”. Natural gas may be more climate-friendly than coal, but it remains a fossil fuel, with all the consequences for the atmosphere. Investments in modern gas-fired power plants are required. But to pretend to climate-minded donors that they are putting their money into “green” technologies is simply window dressing.
This also presents this federal government with a dilemma. On the one hand, it needs natural gas for the stability of the power grid, on the other hand, the climate targets call for a reduction in gas consumption – up to net zero in 2045, if the bottom line is that Germany will no longer cause climate-damaging emissions.
This balancing act can only succeed in the short term through an energy turnaround in the boiler rooms – through buildings that require less energy, but increasingly draw it from combinations of solar energy and heat pumps, not from gas boilers. And then, in the long term, with a stable system made up of many more green electricity systems, storage facilities, power grids and regeneratively produced hydrogen. The technologies are there, the path is taking shape. But it’s across the bridge.