1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

CO2 Cuts

November 29, 2009

Germany's second largest power firm wants to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by the end of 2012. According to RWE chief executive, the company could achieve that goal without hurting its balance sheets.

https://p.dw.com/p/KkED
A massive solar power station in the Mojave desert in California.
RWE plans to increase its renewable energy productionImage: AP

Juergen Grossmann told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday, November 29, that he wanted to reduce his firm's carbon imprint from 180 to 140 tons by closing older power stations and increasing the use of renewable energies.

"This includes closing 16 of our oldest power stations," Grossman said. "Then, we will make just as much money from renewable energies as we do now."

Grossmann also discussed the possibilities of Europe's latest renewable energy idea, the multi-billion euro Desertec project, which intends to harvest Saharan solar energy and send it back to Europe.

"It's a fascinating project, but we still have to lay the power cables from Africa to Europe," Grossman said. "We want to try harvest energy from the desert in the future, but that alone won't be enough."

The RWE boss believes that the German government can achieve its goal of obtaining one third of the country's power from renewable sources by 2020, but says it could be difficult to increase that quota.

"We will only achieve complete supply from these [renewable] energies, when we learn how to store electricity. After all, the wind doesn't always blow, and the sun doesn't always shine."

"Also, if you ask customers whether they would be prepared to pay more for electricity if it were more environmentally friendly, or whether they just want cheap electricity, most will reply that they just want to pay less, regardless of the power's source."

RWE employs 66,800 people, supplying electricity to 20 million customers and gas to 10 million.

Nuclear present, fusion future

Juergen Grossmann
Grossman believes Germany should keep its nuclear power stations running longer than plannedImage: picture-alliance / dpa

Grossmann also told the Sunday newspaper that nuclear power was still irreplaceable, especially if reducing carbon dioxide emissions should be the primary target in the fight against climate change.

"The nuclear power plants which we already have certainly should not be turned off so long as they are safe," he said. "Other countries have proposed to keep similar plants running for 20 or 30 years longer."

The German government had planned to shut down all of the country's nuclear power stations by 2020, but Chancellor Merkel's new government has made it clear that it might reconsider this policy.

According to Grossman, the government could consider placing higher taxes on nuclear plants to justify their existence.

"By extending the running time of these plants, the government could rake in substantial sums of money. For example, this money could be put towards building new and improved schools or kindergartens."

For Grossman, the ultimate goal remains nuclear power's as yet unrealized cousin - fusion power, which merges multiple like-charge atomic nuclei together, instead of splitting a single atom.

"If that could be made possible, it would probably be the cheapest and the best source of electricity," Grossman told the newspaper. "I estimate that fusion will become a reality within the next 50 to 80 years."

msh/dpa/AFP

Editor: Toma Tasovac