Germany enjoys a reputation as a pioneer of clean energy. Its leader, Angela Merkel, was even dubbed the “climate chancellor” when she decided to ditch nuclear power in 2011. But the reality is much dirtier.
Centuries-old villages across the country are being bulldozed to make way to mine brown coal — one of the filthiest and cheapest fossil fuels. As the world’s biggest brown coal miner, Germany is at risk of missing its 2020 carbon emissions targets.
But in recent days, hundreds of protesters have pitched tents on the green in front of Pödelwitz’s church. Christopher Laumanns, from the city Leipzig, is one of the climate activists camped out in Pödelwitz. He says that since Merkel made the decision to switch off nuclear power, 3,000 people have been displaced in Germany because of mining for lignite — the technical name for brown coal — and another 2,500 are currently in danger of losing their homes.
Lignite is a low-grade, waterlogged form of coal, mined from vast, shallow, open pits. It’s considered the dirtiest of coals because it is inefficient. Greenpeace warns that for the same amount of energy extracted from high-grade anthracite (black, hard coal), burning lignite releases between two and four times as much CO2 into the atmosphere.
“Germany needs to wake up and people need to see that it’s not the green icon that it is often portrayed as,” Laumanns urges.
Date: August 6, 2018
Image: Google Images
Coordinator: EnvGuide Team
Source:https://www.npr.org/2018/08/06/635911260/germany-turns-to-brown-coal-to-fill-its-energy-gap