Dresden (dpa / sn) - Saxony's regional development minister Thomas Schmidt (CDU) advocates using all energy sources in view of the high energy prices. "I think it's wrong that certain types of energy production are excluded just because they account for a small proportion," said Schmidt of the German Press Agency. In addition to gas, coal, nuclear energy, wind power and photovoltaics, geothermal energy, biogas and hydropower should also come into focus. "It's not always about the large commercial plants. I can also imagine that a municipal swimming pool could also be heated with a biogas plant."
Schmidt also advocated seriously considering fracking in Germany. "We buy fracking gas for an incredible amount of money in the USA and in Arab countries. Why not in Germany too?"
At the same time, he advocated extending the service life of existing nuclear power plants. "I don't understand why they aren't left connected to the grid for another three or four years. But I don't see a future for new nuclear power plants, even if the technology has continued to develop. That's an illusion." There is no majority in the population for that. You only have to look at the discussion about the repository.
The minister didn't want to speculate whether, in retrospect, the energy transition was wrong or just wrongly approached. "You can only create change processes if you inspire people to do it. You can't do it with a raised index finger. Change can't be forced, otherwise society threatens to collapse." Every company and every consumer is now faced with the question of getting through the crisis well. "I'm very concerned that society is falling apart. Even people who work diligently every day may not be able to pay for it in the end. It's playing with fire."
