A Revolution for Renewables. Germany Approves End to the Nuclear Era

It's official: Germany's 'Energy Revolution' has begun. The country's lower house of parliament passed on the 30 June 2011 a series of laws that will push forward the phase-out of nuclear plants and promote renewable energies. The world's fourth-largest industrial nation is scheduled to be nuclear-free by 2022, but will its reliance on fossil fuels increase?

The historic step was expected to be ratified by the country’s 16 federal states in the upper house of the federal parliament on 8 July 2011, closing a bitter chapter about the pros and cons of nuclear energy that started in the 1980s.

• Primary Source

Deutsche Welle, 30.6.11: Broad parliamentary coalition confirms phase-out of nuclear power http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15201262,00.html

ESO: Background information: Berlin bets big on renewable energy http://www.europeansources.info/record/berlin-bets-big-on-renewable-energy/

EurActiv, 1.7.11: Oettinger urges coordination of German nuclear exit http://www.euractiv.com/energy/oettinger-urges-coordination-ger-news-506128

---