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Abstract

Germany’s political decision to refrain from the further use of nuclear energy by the year 2022 has far reaching implications for this highly industrialized nation. Not only the production of electricity but the whole energy supply system is subject to this most ambitious reorganization of Germany’s energy structure. Industry as well as private households, i.e. production as well as consumption behaviour will have to face a profound change. In their report to the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, the members of the Ethics Commission for a Safe Energy Supply present an elaborate proposal of measures to facilitate the complete shutdown of nuclear power plants in Germany within the period of only one decade. In this article we analyse the energy balance of Germany and how the results of the study carried out by the Ethics Commission are quantitatively reflected related to Germany’s energy consumption.