Newly-enacted German laws basically ban hydraulic fracturing until 2021 or later.
The laws ban a “particularly controversial” form of fracking and impose strict regulations on all other methods. Germany’s parliament and 16 German states approved the laws in June and July of 2016.
Some environmentalists don’t think the laws go far enough to stop fracking.
“If we want to meet the climate goals set in Paris, we need a clear ban on every type of oil and gas fracking,” Kai Niebert, the chairman of the environmental group Deutscher Naturschutzringan, told the newspaper Deutsche Welle.
Environmentalists wanted the German government to permanently ban fracking, and are upset parliament could potentially reassess the ban in four years.
In Europe, laws regarding fracking vary from a 2011 fracking ban in France, to British laws encouraging fracking.
Germany estimates that it will spend over $1.1 trillion on its “Energiewende” plan to boost green energy production and fight global warming. But the plan hasn’t achieved the government’s goal of significantly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Energiewende has also made German electricity much more expensive, with the country paying roughly 39 cents per kilowatt-hour due to intense fiscal support for green energy. In comparison, the average American only spends 10.4 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Germany used to use largely nuclear power, which made up 29.5 percent of its energy in the year 2000. This share dropped down to 17 percent in 2015 and by 2022 the country intends to have every one of its nuclear plants shuttered. The shift caused Germany’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to actually rise by 28 million tons each year, since the nuclear policy necessitated a switch to coal. Germany’s government decided to abandon nuclear energy after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan galvanized opposition.
Industry groups are worried that these laws will reduce the country’s economic competitiveness due to high power prices. Environmental groups like The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Food and Water Watch, and assorted local groups claim that fracking contaminates ground water and makes the air dirtier.
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