Kretschmer: Energy transition may take a little longer

Saxon newspaper Kretschmer: Energy transition may take a little longer At a power plant conference in Dresden, Saxony's Prime Minister Kretschmer once again called for the use of nuclear energy. He wants more time for the energy transition, other participants want more speed. Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) and Federal Green Party Chairwoman Ricarda Lang were guests at the power plant technology colloquium at the Technical University of Dresden Dresden. During a discussion with energy experts and politicians in Dresden, Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) called for more time to properly organize the energy transition. If the social issue is not given sufficient attention, there will be backlash from the population. At the power plant technology colloquium at the Technical University of Dresden on Tuesday, Kretschmer again called for “domestic nuclear power” to be used. The federal chairwoman of the Green Party, Ricarda Lang, and the president of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Manfred Fishick, called for more speed for renewable energies. Lang said the slowness in Europe was “a global risk for us.” The former garden area in Sebnitz is being reforested During a panel discussion as part of the congress with an audience of 850, Kretschmer said that everything possible must be used to ensure security of supply and low energy prices: "I believe that we cannot do without nuclear energy, that we may need domestic gas and that we still have brown coal have to speak once." Future scenarios with a hydrogen network with other countries and with imports from Africa are correct, “but we have to get through this decade”. There is a risk of a shortage of energy and raw materials. Kretschmer: The energy transition needs to be relaunched Germany only contributes around 2.5 percent to global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, so a few more years of energy transition are not important. “We need a reset of the energy transition,” said Kretschmer. In the past few weeks, Saxony's Prime Minister has said several times that the energy transition has failed. There was opposition from the industry. Federal Green Party leader Ricarda Lang said at the Dresden conference that the energy transition would only succeed “with more watt-hours” of electricity. “We have a lot in our hands and have to do it faster,” said Lang. When it comes to developing electromobility, Europe is already being overtaken by China. Mining lignite in Germany will “no longer be worthwhile” well before the 2038 exit year from the coal compromise. Lang regretted that decisions in the European Union were “incredibly complicated and slow”. Kretschmer said many European governments were angry about Germany's energy policy: "We are the wrong-way drivers, not the others." Economics Grimm: New nuclear discussion useless Like Kretschmer, the economist Veronika Grimm, economics professor in Nuremberg, emphasized the “social balance” of the energy transition as a prerequisite for it to be accepted. Saxony has good opportunities: The economic dynamism is currently greater in East Germany than in the West, and in Saxony three percent of the gross domestic product is invested in research and development - that is twice as much as in some western countries. The announced new factories gave hope. The logo of the 55th Power Plant Technology Colloquium at TU Dresden also includes an atom symbol. Grimm Kretschmer countered that a new discussion about nuclear power in Germany would be of no use. Rather, Germany must cooperate with other countries in energy exchange. Even if all French nuclear power plants were functioning, the future electricity price in Germany would not fall to six cents per kilowatt hour wholesale. “Energy will remain more expensive,” predicted Grimm. This is also due to the planned climate protection taxes. The income from this would have to be redistributed and benefit poorer people. “They also have a smaller CO2 footprint.” Dresden Professor Beckmann: Can't estimate risk A lecture “On the status of the energy transition in Germany” by Michael Beckmann was scheduled for the afternoon. The Dresden professor of energy process engineering has been one of the conference hosts for years. In his lecture, however, Beckmann largely avoided using numbers and did not have a presentation thrown at the wall. He said: "We are lagging behind the targets." The last German nuclear power plants were shut down in mid-April. Germany has now turned from an electricity exporter to an importer. Although electricity is temporarily exported, money still has to be given for this. Beckmann said he did not want to downplay climate change. “But are we dealing with this rationally?” he asked.