Wind of change in Germany
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2021
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can the ambitious renewable energy plans of the incoming government overcome domestic nimbyism and Russian gas politics?
Ed Butler hears from one member of the new left-liberal-green coalition, Social Democrat MP Jens Zimmermann, about their plans to phase out coal entirely by 2030, and replace 80% of electricity generation with wind and solar. But building new wind turbines already faces substantial red tape and vociferous opposition from bird conservation groups, as industry man Steffen Lackmann explains.
Meanwhile, how will the government tackle a more pressing matter - Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged restriction of gas supplies to Europe this winter in order to force German approval for the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Ed speaks to Gustav Gressel, geopolitical analyst at the ECFR think tank, and to Melissa Eddy at the New York Times' Berlin bureau. Plus Yuri Vitrenko, head of Ukraine's gas pipeline company Naftogaz, explains why he fears approval of the pipeline could mean war in his country.
(Picture: Leaders of the incoming German government, including Chancellor-elect Olaf Scholz (centre), inadvertently re-enact the opening scene from Reservoir Dogs; Credit: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi there, my name's Ed Butler and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:06.5 | Today, Germany's bold and expensive plans to clean up its energy mix. |
| 0:12.0 | Is it realistic? |
| 0:13.1 | We have in Germany already agreed on phasing out coal. |
| 0:17.1 | And the one trillion dollar question is how can we create all that energy needed out of renewable sources? |
| 0:26.1 | Germany leading the way with a new greener government, but will that mean giving in to Russian pipeline politics? |
| 0:33.3 | On this show, Ukraine's gas supremo warns Berlin against appeasing Moscow. |
| 0:39.3 | Russia is using gas as a geopolitical weapon. |
| 0:43.1 | That's why now we expect Putin to invade Ukraine |
| 0:47.2 | unless he understand that he cannot do that without consequences. |
| 0:52.0 | Germany's gas conundrum. |
| 0:53.5 | That's Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 1:00.9 | This is an extraordinary sight. |
| 1:04.6 | That was me in a German coal field some seven years ago. |
| 1:08.3 | Looking at this gigantic crane, it's half crane, half lorry. |
| 1:13.2 | It's got these huge caterpillar tracks strapped along its bottom. |
| 1:16.8 | The size probably of a hotel, at the end of which is a rotating wheel, |
| 1:22.5 | which is scooping out the soil from this wall of brown earth to my left. |
| 1:29.2 | The earth is rich in lignite coal, and Germany depends crucially on this, more than ever, |
| 1:34.7 | because they're shutting down the few remaining nuclear power plants that they have by 2022, |
| 1:40.1 | and they're going to need ever more of this as a power source. |
| 1:44.7 | Well, that was 2014, since when Germany has continued to struggle with its dirty coal problem. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.