Germany Plans 26 Coal-Fired Plants

German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports constructing 26 coal-fired power plants, despite her strong environmental stance, a published report said Wednesday.

The plants proposed by Germany's four major utilities -- Vattenfall AB, RWE AG, E.on AG and Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG -- would generate large amounts of so-called greenhouse gases, despite Germany's pledge to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions 40 percent by 2020, Der Spiegel reported.

One Vattenfall plant would burn up 2 million tons of inexpensive Polish coal a year to provide 800 megawatts of electricity and 600 megawatts of heat, the magazine said.

A black coal plant emits 949 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour, the magazine said. The lowest rank of coal, known as lignite, or brown coal, emits 1,153 grams.

By contrast, a natural gas-fired plant produces just 428 grams and a nuclear plant's emissions are practically zero, the magazine said.

Merkel says the plants would create thousands of jobs and spur $40 billion in German investment. They would also replace older, dirtier plants.