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Unused energy is sold to Switzerland for increasing water level of its dam for hydropower.

In Germany, thanks to its geographic position, 50% of its energy is produced with renewable power. However,
due to political reasons, after the shutdown of nuclear power plant, the other 50% of its energy is replaced by
coal fuel.

Consequently, CO emission has increased since the shutdown of all the nuclear power plants. In case of
2
shortage of electricity, clean energy is imported from the hydraulic power station in Switzerland.

In any case, renewable energy requires a lot of a country’s resources. In Europe, the technologies are very
advance, but due to geographic constraints (rivers, wind or sunlight) , each country cannot develop diverse
types of energy power. Countries like China or United States which cover large land area can build diverse
power stations to adapt to the variability of public demand and actually they are now doing so.

Last but not least, it is di cult to say which is the best sustainable development strategy for each country.
“How to manage the energy in a more e cient way” is the key for future development. For the future, we
should invest more on the research of e cient energy production. But for now, we should save as much as
possible in our daily energy consumption.

About the author
Dr Lou Sai LEONG studied nuclear physics at Unversité de Paris Sud in Paris,
France. She is now an expert nuclear engineering analyst at Mirion Technologies
CANBERRA Japan.

© Copyright Friends of UNESCO e-Newsletter Editorial
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Editor:
David Lai
Nelson Chan
Tim Leung