Germany wants to take serious action on climate change. After more than six months of intense negotiations and years in the making, the country recently embarked on a path that will likely put an end to all its coal-fired power plants by 2038. The plan calls for shuttering a quarter of Germany’s coal-burners, some 12.5 gigawatts, within three years.
This is the result of contentious negotiation within a government-appointment panel bringing in industry, political and civic leaders and environmental interests, resulting in a 336-page phaseout plan (German PDF http://bit.ly/wsb_plan). Germany currently relies on coal for more than a third of its energy needs, and has already pledged to phase out nuclear power, which accounts for another 10%.