Germany’s Dirtiest Coal-Fired Power Plants Are Back in Profit (www.bloomberg.com)
from schizoidman@lemmy.zip to world@lemmy.world on 22 Jan 2026 08:04
https://lemmy.zip/post/57512614

archive.is/kaR1A

A sharp drop in carbon permit prices last week pushed lignite-fired power plants back into profitability for the first time since November, according to analysis from Energy Aspects Ltd. and the London Stock Exchange Group. The plants are now even cheaper to run than gas-fired generators, despite producing far higher carbon emissions.

#world

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Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world on 22 Jan 2026 08:21 next collapse

Danke, Fotzenfritz!

gigachad@piefed.social on 22 Jan 2026 08:42 next collapse

Because wind turbines make you impotent or something. Idk, I am not an energy expert

Attacker94@lemmy.world on 22 Jan 2026 19:01 collapse

iirc the processes involved in disposing of the turbines are incredibly bad for the environment and very energy intensive. I would imagine that coal is still dirtier, but I am not as confident when comparing against gas power due to the short lifespan of the blades.

JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world on 22 Jan 2026 23:18 collapse

Turbine blades last twenty to thirty years. What short lifespan are referring to?

Attacker94@lemmy.world on 23 Jan 2026 01:43 collapse

My mistake, I don’t know where I remember 7-8 years from, maybe an older technology. In any case I am now not sure my supposition about LNG is correct either, I tried to verify, but the US stats got nuked and I couldn’t find anything for other places.

As an aside does anyone know how wind stacks up against fission? It just always has appeared to be the best option for clean energy, or at least until we have fusion.

JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world on 22 Jan 2026 12:40 collapse

Funny how something not being ‘profitable’ for six weeks becomes newsworthy once it returns to the black.

These coal plants are in their last few years of operation as a stopgap until enough renewable infrastructure is built to replace them. I prefer these things to be used for a bit longer than have more methane power plants constructed. Evidently Germany feels the same given the reduction of 20GW to 10GW capacity over the next six years.