Dr. Kreibich & German Energy
This past Thursday, Babson College had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Kreibich, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Boston, on campus for a Q&A event. The event began with the sharing of snacks and drinks courtesy of the Babson European Society. Dr. Kreibich mingled with students and professors alike for a while before taking her seat next to Professor Wong to begin the discussion. The conversation began with the history of energy in Germany, specifically the infamous nuclear power. Dr. Kreibich highlighted that the anti-nuclear movement began with the introduction of the Greens party. The Greens were founded with the principles of sustainability and environmental protection as their top priorities. Dr. Kreibich explained that their cause was rather small until April 12, 1986, when the nuclear reactor at Chornobyl exploded, releasing 400x more radioactive material than the bombing of Hiroshima. Dr. Kreibich recalled that she was in the southeast of Germany during that April and remembered avoiding any milk or potatoes that were harvested after the explosion to avoid radiation. Chornobyl scared the greater German population into adopting the notion of abandoning nuclear energy. Thus began the long campaign against nuclear energy, a campaign that waned after the turn of the century. However, much like its beginning, the nuclear meltdowns in Japan during the 2011 tsunami revitalized the German campaign against nuclear energy. Dr. Kreibich explained that she felt many Germans were reminded of the fear they felt during 1986 and, in turn, felt a new commitment to the anti-nuclear cause.
As of 2022, there are no nuclear reactors in the entirety of Germany. However, this transition is what gave way to a national dependence upon cheap energy imports from neighboring France and Russia. Dr. Kreibich noted that the French love nuclear energy, and thus, almost all of the supplied energy to Germany is nuclear. I found this transition rather interesting as it begs the question: Does Germany truly want a nuclear-free world or one where they bear none of the risks? In recent years, it seems more evident that Germany has been keen to bear none of the risks and all of the benefits. Although this comes as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, there has been a halt in oil and gas being supplied to Germany. At first, this raised major issues for the German public as there was concern that there would not be enough energy to heat homes during the winter. Dr. Kreibich pointed out the resilience of the German government and its ability to quickly reallocate sourcing methods to more reliable countries. The war in Ukraine also ignited domestic debate around German energy dependence and gave birth to a new sustainable energy agenda. This agenda would see more investment into sustainable energy, specifically in Stuttgart; as Dr. Kreibich pointed out, they remained a leader in solar energy.
Through the conversation between Dr. Kreibich and our very own Professor Wong, I found myself having more questions about the German political agenda than I did before. The most pressing being the issues surrounding Black Zero, a cap on the government deficit that halts the possibility of investing heavily in large government projects. Not to say the German government wont be able to finance important infrastructure and development projects, but it will not be able to incur any debt larger than .35% of the GDP in any given year. This significantly hinders Germany's ability to employ massive amounts of capital towards sustainable energy development and may cause continued dependence on foreign energy within Germany. This could lead to larger economic disasters if the price of imports were to spike and leave Germany exposed to much risk. Without heavy investment and subsidization of sustainable energy, the current growth of renewables will begin to slow and may allow for oil companies to recognize further opportunities to extract and pollute the environment. I believe that German corporations will have to take on this new responsibility and find a way to finance such endeavors. So, if given the chance, I would like to speak to executives at Mercedes, one of the largest German car manufacturers, to understand their sustainability plan moving forward. There are many monetary gains to be made for German manufacturing firms if the price of energy is reduced, making the shift from foreign energy vital to recognizing these benefits. Hopefully, this need will drive innovation within firms and begin to incentivize the shift from within German markets.
