Noah Rettberg, physics lab technician in training and popular Decouple guest, sheds some light on the protests regarding the expansion of the Garzweiler mine into Lützerath and unearths the deeps roots that Germany and lignite share.

Germany, with limited bituminous coal and no petroleum to speak of, has always been able to lean on its sizable lignite coal reserves. It has been transformed into anything from synthetic fuels to margarine to autobody.