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"Absolutely sensible": Nobel Prize winner advocates fracking and nuclear power instead of gas - with one caveat

2022-08-27T10:45:00.851Z


"Absolutely sensible": Nobel Prize winner advocates fracking and nuclear power instead of gas - with one caveat Created: 08/27/2022, 12:33 p.m By: Lisa Mayerhofer The US economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz © Mariscal/dpa In war you have to be pragmatic, says Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He advises the federal government on gas alternatives such as frack


"Absolutely sensible": Nobel Prize winner advocates fracking and nuclear power instead of gas - with one caveat

Created: 08/27/2022, 12:33 p.m

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

The US economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz © Mariscal/dpa

In war you have to be pragmatic, says Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

He advises the federal government on gas alternatives such as fracking, nuclear and wind power.

Berlin – Germany has been in an energy crisis since the outbreak of the Ukraine war and the sharp reduction in Russian gas supplies.

The prices for electricity, hot water and heating have been climbing to new record highs for months, which is affecting both the economy and consumers.

The federal government is desperately looking for alternatives to Russian gas.

Gas Crisis: Debate on Fracking, Nuclear Power and Co.

Experts criticize that the expansion of renewable energies such as solar and wind power has been overslept in recent years.

Some economists, such as former Ifo boss Hans-Werner Sinn, are also calling for nuclear power plant operating times to be extended in view of the energy crisis.

Some politicians - like recently Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) - are also increasingly bringing the controversial fracking into play, which is not practiced commercially in Germany.

Fracking uses pressure and chemicals to extract gas or oil from rock layers, which poses environmental hazards.

In Germany, the gas deposits in the north-east of Lake Constance would be an option – but the Baden-Württemberg CDU is now up in arms.

The debate about which methods are the right ones and to what extent to secure Germany's energy supply is extremely heated.

Nobel laureate on gas crisis: 'Now is not the time for half-hearted action'

In an interview with Die

Welt

, the American Nobel Prize winner in economics, Joseph Stiglitz, recommends more “pragmatism” to the federal government: “Now is not the time for half-hearted measures.

Europe should have realized this six months ago, but it is still possible to take countermeasures now to address supply shortages by investing in energy alternatives," the top US economist told the newspaper.

He considers fracking to be a possibility to secure the energy supply.

The good thing about fracking is that it is a short-term measure "that you can set up and end just as quickly," Stiglitz told

Welt

.

He also considers the further use of nuclear energy to be sensible.

"I'm not a fan of this technology, but if you can let the nuclear power plants run longer or even bring back the power plants that have been shut down and still ensure safety, then it makes perfect sense to do it now," explained the economist.

Stiglitz thinks you have to use everything you have: "Why don't you just say here: Let's use all the solar panels we can find, let's turn on all the wind turbines we have.

You have so much wind here in Germany – just use it," he told Die

Welt

.

Stiglitz warned Germany about Russia in 2006

In the interview he also mentioned that he had already warned the German government in 2006 that Russia was not a reliable partner for gas supplies.

However, he did not receive an answer from the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).

Joseph Stiglitz, born in 1943, is Chairman of the US President's Council of Economic Advisors.

The former chief economist at the World Bank received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001.

He is also the lead author of the 1995 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

(lma/dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-27

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