751-Sabar Institute Of Management, Tajpur - Gujarat Technological ...

Although they have introduced prototypes of hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, carmakers in
Germany are betting on the longer-term vision of fuel cell cars that consume hydrogen.
DaimlerChrysler, for example, has said it will bring such vehicles to the market by 2010. And in
what has the makings of a startling turnaround, the demand for hydrogen that would result could
help bring about a nuclear renaissance in Germany. In the late 1990s, after massive antinuclear
protests, the government coalition of Social Democrats and Greens decided to shut down
Germany’s nuclear power plants by 2020. The country committed itself instead to developing
renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
But whether renewable energy sources can ever contribute sufficiently to German energy
production is much debated—hence the reëmergence of the nuclear option. Developers of socalled
third-generation nuclear plants claim that their technology is much less risky. The
European pressurized-water reactor, for instance, developed by Siemens and the French
company Framatome, has various safety features—such as double-wall containment—that by
limiting the release of radioactivity are supposed to make a catastrophic core meltdown much
more manageable. Given the availability of such improved reactor technologies, Germans might
possibly change their minds about nuclear energy. Though the coalition now in power remains
adamantly opposed to it, the Christian Democratic Party has announced that if it regains power—
not an unlikely prospect—it will rethink the country’s policy on nuclear energy. Looking further
ahead, German researchers are doing world-class basic science in fields ranging from materials
science to biomedicine. German neuroscientists have made important contributions to research in
brain implants and in noninvasive brain-machine interfaces. But neurotechnology brings with it
tricky ethical dilemmas. One concern is that the findings of brain science will undermine our
notion of autonomy and individual responsibility.
Innovation and new technologies are of vital importance for maintaining Germany's international
competitiveness as an economic performer. An innovation-friendly policy environment, cuttingedge
technologies, and broad-based innovation in German industry are essential for achieving
growth, job creation and prosperity over the long term.
The present economic situation in particular offers important opportunities for investing in new
technology - such as technology to fight climate change and to protect the environment - that will
help German companies remain global technological leaders in the future. Only those companies
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