Coal Under Attack As Germany Announces Plans To Be Coal Free By 2038

Coal Under Attack As Germany Announces Plans To Be Coal Free By 2038

In another blow to the coal industry, the German Parliament is understood to have agreed legislation that will see coal-fired power phased out of the country's energy in less than twenty years. 

As the EU aims to slash its emissions by 55% from 1990 levels and adopt a green recovery strategy, it will need to accelerate the pace of transition in the power sector, which accounts for the largest share of EU greenhouse gas emissions. Many expect that the clean energy sector will receive a significant amount of funding from the EU's proposed €750 billion post Covid-19 recovery fund.

Fossil fuel apologists may argue that shutting down coal-fired power will have a negative impact on jobs and the economy, but the long term effects are expected to be positive as a green recovery builds a robust and resilient economic future.  Funds devoted to ensure a just transition are widely in play. In order to compensate for the transition to a lower carbon energy future, the German Government is to provide €40 billion in funding to ameliorate the effects in coal-producing regions such as  North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg.

Environmentalists worry that the German target is set too far in the future to