The German branch of the environmental NGO Greenpeace acknowledged that in the context of the European fuel crisis, the return of Germany to the use of coal-fired power plants for energy generation has become inevitable, the eco-activists said in a statement.
“[We] are sad that already mothballed coal-fired power plants are being reconnected to the grid, but this is inevitable [in a crisis],” NGO representatives said, noting that this measure is aimed at “reducing dependence on energy supplies from Russia.”
At the same time, the organization emphasized that the German authorities “should not give up climate protection for the sake of energy security.”
In this regard, environmental activists pointed out the inadmissibility of using power plants operating on brown coal.
Greenpeace also noted that due to the additional volumes of carbon dioxide that will enter the atmosphere through coal-fired power plants this year, Germany would need to step up measures to reduce emissions in subsequent periods.
This is necessary, in particular, to implement the strategy of phasing out the use of coal by 2030, NGO representatives believe.
As indicated in the German branch of the organization, this week the federal states of Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia will re-commission two coal-fired power plants.
This measure was taken against the background of the energy crisis in Germany, which arose, among other things, due to the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the European Union, including an embargo on the supply of energy resources from the Russia.