Has Germany's Committment To "Green" Energy Paid Off?

[ralph124c]

Germany has spent a fortune on windfarms, solar cell arrays, and other “Green” energy sources. It has also announced its intention to shut down its nuclear power plants. yet, I don’t see that these alternative sources are anywhere near the level of replacing Germany’s main power source (coal fired thermal plants).
So I have a few questions for German dopers:
-is it likely that the government will alter its stance on nuclear?
-the energy produced from solar/wind is expensive-is the subsidy of this becoming onerous to German rate payers?
-how does the German Government deal with the enormous “sunk” costs of the “Green Energy” investments?

[Crafter_Man]

Not sure about Germany, but a decade-or-so ago Spain spent billions in an effort to be the “greenest” European country in terms of energy production (PV solar plants,etc.). Wish I had a cite, but I read somewhere that it did not turn out well.

[engineer_comp_geek]

You may find this article from a few months ago interesting:

Germany and Spain Move to Curb Green-Energy Supports

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323478004578304181995426900.html

A few relevant quotes for those that don’t want to read the entire article:

More than a decade ago, Germany and Spain created similar laws to aggressively promote the adoption of renewable energy. The two countries were again marching in step on Thursday—this time to fix a web of subsidies and compensations they created for green energy that had the unintended effect of driving up household electricity bills.

Renewable-energy producers “are going to receive less revenue, but these measures are better for consumers” said Energy Minister José Manuel Soria.

Renewable-energy companies said that the government was backing away from previous promises that it would ensure them a reasonable return on their investments.