CANE - Coalition Against Nuclear Energy South Africa

“Renewable sources are now producing more energy than nuclear stations in Germany. For years nuclear generation has contributed less than six per cent of the entire energy consumed, while in the first half of this year power from wind, water, the sun, bio sources and the heat of the earth comprised 6.4% of the electricity, heat and fuels consumed, up from five per cent in 2004. Simultaneously the clean energies also increased their contribution to climate protection. While the use of wind and other renewables displaced about 70 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2004, it will be 80 million tonnes this year. The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) presented the numbers recently in Berlin. The growth in clean energy production also created jobs. The BEE says employment in the sector rose from 130,000 in 2004 to 150,000 in the first half of this year. The fact that nuclear power has so many proponents despite its declining importance is explained by BEE manager, Milan Nitzschke, as being due to the fact that over the years distorted energy statistics have systematically drawn a false picture of the contribution nuclear energy makes to the total energy supply. “What was measured and reported was the use of uranium, of whose energy content less than a third reaches the consumer as electricity.” Nitzschke explains that what counts is not the primary energy, but the final energy that reaches the consumer. “If you’re clear on just how little atomic energy actually contributes to the energy supply in Germany and the world, it’s hard to follow the notion of some politicians that we could get away from fossil fuels with nuclear power.”