When renewables are not enough
Germans are attached to natural gas and nuclear energy
03/28/2023, 2:01 p.m
According to the RTL/ntv trend barometer, just ten percent of citizens believe that renewable energies will be able to cover Germany’s energy needs in the foreseeable future. Until then, natural gas and nuclear power are very popular.
Only a small minority of Germans believe that in the foreseeable future the energy demand in Germany can be covered solely by renewable energies such as sun and wind. According to the RTL/ntv trend barometer, 10 percent answer a question like this with “yes”. 88 percent, on the other hand, answered the question in the negative. 2 percent responded with “don’t know”.
Even among the supporters of the Greens, not even a fifth – 18 percent – believe that sun, wind and the like will soon be able to cover Germany’s energy needs. 80 percent do not believe this. Of the SPD supporters, 11 percent answered “yes”, 88 percent “no”. In the Union it is 8 to 92 percent. The rejection is even higher for the FDP (95 percent) and AfD (97 percent).
So what to do if renewable energies do not meet demand? The Germans rely primarily on natural gas and nuclear energy. When asked which conventional types of energy should continue to be used to generate energy, 59 percent responded with natural gas and 57 percent with nuclear energy. In addition, 34 percent indicate oil as an energy source and 25 percent coal. Multiple entries are possible.
The answers differ depending on the party proximity. The answers given by SPD supporters roughly correspond to those of all respondents, although only 51 percent are in favor of nuclear energy. Not surprisingly, the difference among Greens supporters is even greater: 63 percent would continue to use gas, but only 38 percent would use nuclear energy. Oil (27 percent) and coal (17 percent) also underperform significantly.
In contrast, only 53 percent of FDP supporters would continue to use gas, but 82 percent would use nuclear energy. 67 percent of the CDU and CSU supporters are in favor of the two energy sources, with AfD supporters 57 percent for gas and 79 percent for nuclear energy. The agreement with oil (46 percent) and with coal (40 percent) is strikingly high here.
The future of energy supply is one of the most important issues in the political debate. Since Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine, Germany has been trying to free itself from its dependence on Russian energy supplies in the form of gas and oil. These include the massive expansion of terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and alternative oil suppliers. In addition, the service life of the two still active nuclear power plants was extended. However, they should be finally switched off by the end of April. Coal power generation is scheduled to end in Germany in 2038.
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of RTL Germany from March 24 to 27, 2023. Database: 1001 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points.