Climate Changed
Markets to Force Germany’s Exit From Coal Before Deadline
- Compensation for lignite workers, coal regions costs billions
- Rising pollution costs have cut into profit from burning coal
A lignite mine in Niederzier and Elsdorf, Germany.
Photographer: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Germany could close its last coal-fired power plant long before a 2038 deadline as the dirtiest fossil fuel gets squeezed out of the energy mix by clean electricity.
A plan struck on Thursday by Chancellor Angela Merkel to compensate regions and companies for the exit anticipates some of the most polluting plants running down the clock to the final date. But a cocktail of rising renewables, halted investments and soaring carbon emission costs will probably hasten the exit, according to economists and analysts.