Optimistic predictions that Germany’s decision to turn its back on nuclear energy will lead to the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector have met with scepticism. “Every job (in Germany) in the solar (sector) costs 250,000 euros ($318,000)” to electricity consumers, meaning they are “doomed” or already lost jobs, Frondel commented. According to a study last year by Stuttgart University’s Institute for Energy Industry and Efficient Energy Use, the end of nuclear energy by 2022 will have a limited negative impact on jobs in the short term. “But by 2025 job losses of about 185,000 people will be recorded here too,” it said. Additionally some research institutes believe the expected rise in the cost of electricity in Germany will hold back growth and neutralise in the short term any employment benefits reaped from the move to renewable energy. One recent example underscores their fears—German company SGL Carbon announced it would build a carbon fibre factory in the United States rather than in Germany since electricity there is cheaper.

(Dr. Benny Peiser)