Last week, I argued that Australia is the dumbest developed nation on Earth for choosing to give itself expensive and unreliable energy when it is literally a global energy superpower rich in everything other than oil.
In retrospect, I should have awarded the “dumbest developed nation” prize to Germany, which stupidly chose to blow up its zero-emission, non-weather-dependent, nuclear generators in favour of wind and solar generation, alongside a return to coal generation.
Germany shut down its final nuclear power plant on April 15th, 2023. The images of protestors celebrating the end of their 50-year war on nuclear energy were met with anger and disgust by pro-nuclear activists online.
It’s difficult to believe that protesters could celebrate something that so clearly harms Germany’s ambitions for clean energy and energy security. Shutting its nuclear facilities has caused Germany to be far more dependent on fossil fuels than its nuclear neighbour France, while driving up energy costs.
Germany emits 440 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour it generates, versus just 30–40 grams in nuclear-heavy France.
Germany now has the highest electricity prices in Europe, alongside the fifth most expensive electricity prices in the world:
The impact on German industry has been destructive, with industrial production shrinking at an alarming rate:
As expected, the deindustrialisation of Germany has been concentrated in energy-intensive industry, which has shrunk 20% since 2022:
I can think of no other major developed nation that has butchered energy policy as badly as Germany. Although the United Kingdom and Australia are giving it a fair shake.
