Nuclear energy in Luxembourg
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Energy in Luxembourg describes
energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...
and
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
production, consumption and import in
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Energy policy of Luxembourg will describe the politics of Luxembourg related to energy in greater detail. Electricity sector in Luxembourg is the main article of electricity in Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a net energy importer. Primary energy use in Luxembourg was 48 TWh in 2009, or 98 TWh per million inhabitants.IEA Key energy statistics 2010
Page: Country specific indicator numbers from page 48


Overview

There was no decline in the climate change gas emissions () from year 2008 to 2012 in Luxembourg. There was no better efficiency in the use of electricity from 2008 to 2012.


Electricity

In 2008, electricity use per person in Luxembourg was 2.6 times greater than in the United Kingdom. The
1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...
led
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
to briefly consider constructing a nuclear power plant. In 1972 RWE and the government negotiated a project to build a 1,200 MW
nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
along the
Moselle river The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblen ...
near
Remerschen Remerschen ( lb, Rëmerschen) is a former commune and small wine-growing town in south-eastern Luxembourg, belonging to the commune of Schengen, near the point where the borders of Germany, France and Luxembourg come together. , the town of Remer ...
. In 1974 there were already signs that there was little support for the project among public opinion. The opposition to the project grew, and became more organized, ultimately forcing the government to cancel the project at the end of 1977. Subsequently, the construction of the large French
Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant The Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in Grand Est in the Cattenom commune, France, on the Moselle River between Thionville (7 km upstream) and Trier (48 km downstream). It is close to the city of Luxembo ...
in 1979 close to the Luxembourg border caused tensions between the two countries.


Renewable energy

Luxembourg is the EU country with the second smallest forecast penetration of renewables, with the NREAP assuming that only 12% of electricity consumption will be covered by renewables in 2020. At the end of 2010 the installed capacity of wind power covered on average 1.1% of electricity use. This is among the lowest in Europe, with only Latvia,
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, Slovakia, Slovenia and
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
generating a smaller share of their electricity from wind power. In comparison,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
can generate over half of its electricity from wind power under optimal wind conditions in 2010.


Climate change

Emissions of
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...
in total, per capita in 2007 were 22.4 tons CO2 compared to EU 27 average 7.9 tons . 1990 emissions were 13 Mt eq Kyoto protocol target is reduction of 4 Mt (28%).Wind energy and EU climate policy Achieving 30% lower emissions by 2020
EWEA October 2011 p. 39


See also

* Cegedel * List of Ministers for Energy of Luxembourg


References

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