By, Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger: In the wake of the chain of disasters in Japan, the solar industry seems to have profited, as difficult as it is to state for a fact. With the buzz around nuclear energy and the scramble to change energy politics in countries like Germany, it is rather apparent that it took a disaster in order for the ex-advocators of plutonium-uranium power to take a step back and reconsider the very real risks that are involved in tilting the power-pie towards nuclear. It is rather a frightening thought knowing that, for example, more than 70 percent of what France feeds into its grid is from its nuclear power generators. Information from the Power Reactor Information System or PRIS states that out of the total power production of 550,300 gigawatt-hours for 2010, 407,900 was derived from nuclear energy. Germany, in comparison, has 133,012.06 gigawatt-hours in 2010 from nuclear power according to the same source.Numbers give a clear picture at times on what the actual situation is. There are more than 400 functioning nuclear reactors worldwide. More than 400! Fukushima is just one example, and the eminent and potential fear is already keeping the world on its toes. Chernobyl has demonstrated the consequences of human error with a science that has not truly been mastered by the human race. In this sense, when weighing the economics of social welfare, it seems that a solar power installation would win by miles in the argument against a nuclear power plant. After all, every Environmental Impact Assessment study calls for the pros and cons to be weighed. Does the supply of affordable electricity and profit margins for multinational energy corporations, then, outweigh social and environmental risks? It shouldn’t. The ripples being caused in the political scene in Germany, which already has a current PV power of 12.1 gigawatts according to the German Federal Network Agency, is evident. As a point for solar here, it is worth noting that Germany’s installed solar panels are providing more energy than the total power output of the Fukushima six nuclear reactor plant (with a ridiculously much lower risk to social and environmental welfare). And potential is still ripe and ready to go. This very potential is ready to be set into motion and stone with the mass demonstration that took place on Saturday, 26 March, 2011 in Germany in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. More than 250,000 people took to the streets with signs demanding for the complete shutdown of nuclear plants, and more support and funding for solar and wind energy. Opinion polls showed that 80 percent of the German population opposed the government’s extension of nuclear power policies and plans, preferring renewables like solar. EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, Angela Merkel’s close ally in energy politics, did a 360, saying: "We are all in the hands of God" and converted his faith to clean and safe energy. Even former nuclear proponents like Chancellor Merkel herself, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and CDU Politician Stefan Mappus seem to have changed their positions on the matter asking for the temporary closing of the seven nuclear power plants that went online before 1980. Of course, this move came timely, before the state elections yesterday. 71 percent of the population however, decided that this was a political move and voted themselves into a historical moment in Germany. Baden-Württemberg and Rheinland-Palatinate turned grün and the Green party saw their share of votes soar. Baden-Württemberg’s greens increased the likelihood to govern the state in a coalition with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), leaving the former pro-nuclear parties in the lurch. The energy giants E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall are already on a fight-path, warning of energy shortages and unbelievable energy costs should their nuclear plants be thrown out of the window. Their aim has been to extend the lifespan of the 17 nuclear reactors in Germany and to get the old reactors back on the grid after safety checks and the three-month moratorium set by Merkel. One hundred billion euros has been given in government grants to fuel the nuclear chimneys. Money that the solar sector, for one, can use after the slash and burn it has endured the last months in the EU. Right now, 11 percent of Germany’s energy flows from this sector. Seven nuclear reactors down and still no crisis in sight. A sign that the nuclear lobbyists are just painting a bleak picture to scare the masses. The steering away from nuclear means that the renewable energy mandate needs to double its ten percent share to replace nuclear. New research undertaken by the Heinrich Böll Foundation states that Germany can replace fossil and nuclear energy with solar, wind, water, biomass and other renewable forms, within the next 30 years. Munich has already made the bold statement after saying that it would be the first city with over a million to be powered 100 percent by renewables by 2025. This, considering Munich’s green electricity, is already cheaper than nuclear and the energy mix from the utilities companies, as a ZDF documentary highlighted. The Sunday results seem to send a clear message. Political power composition like grid power composition is going to see that much-needed change. The Greens are famously anti-nuclear and pro-solar and wind. It might only a matter of months before this hopeful wind of change will give the much-needed boost to sectors like solar to step in and take over the reins from yesterday’s nuclear. It is time to assert the fact that only the sun, is meant to radiate. Source: PV-Magazine
