Germany mines 175 million metric tons (Mt) of ligniteor brown coal, per year for producing one quarter of its electricity (150 TWh/a) in 22 GW of mine-mouth power stations.Similar contributions to grid supplies are provided by hard coal (20%) and nuclear power (23%), with the remainder covered by 17% renewable energies and natural gas for peak load generation.
When legislation was enacted in 2002 to phase out the Germanys 19 nuclear reactors within two decades, lignite and wind power were expected to fill the ensuing generation gap. An estimated 40 billions of recoverable lignite reserves would be hypothetically adequate to provide half the countrys electricity (twice current lignite generation) for over a century. However, the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) introduced in 2005 has restricted the economic viability of this option.
Lignite currently covers about 12% of Germanys primary energy requirements, but comprises over a fifth of its CO2 budget. Guest article from Jefffrey H. Michel |