Germany Reconsiders It's Green Energy Program

[Rightguide]

Germany’s ‘Green’ Energy Disaster Is A Warning To The United States​

BY: DAVID HARSANYI
JUNE 21, 2022

The move to “clean energy”—without nuclear—has accomplished three things:

1. It has prompted Germany, and the rest of the EU, to begin relying more heavily on Russian natural gas as it “transitioned.” Putin, who has begun demanding EU nations pay for their energy in roubles, is now able to undercut the European economy at will.

2. It has created the highest global electricity prices per household in the world. In 2019, German households were paying 34 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 13 cents in the United States. The price of energy has doubled since 2000, when Germany first mandated decarbonization, an effort that forced energy companies to purchase long-term inefficient renewables at high, fabricated prices.

3. It has meant the burning of coal. Even before Russia began cutting off supply, Germany was more reliant on coal than the United States. This week, Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who earlier this year rejected a European Union label of nuclear energy as “green,” announced that in an effort to avoid future gas shortages—because cars can’t run on wind—the government would incentivize the use of more coal-fired power plants.

The “transition” to green that Germany began 30 years ago has not worked. In 2000, Germany obtained 84 percent of its energy from fossil fuels. By 2019, it was 78 percent. As Vaclav Smil pointed out a couple of years ago, at this rate, Germany would still be deriving 70 percent of its energy from fossil fuels by the year 2050. With a move back to coal in 2022, it will surely be even later, if ever.

More here:

https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/2...y-disaster-is-a-warning-to-the-united-states/

 

[ll74]

Holy duck you guys overreact so damn much
And mostly you

 

[Chernosoth]

without nuclear

The tremendous amount of money and resources sunk into nuclear energy reinforce the need to believe it will someday be sustaianable. Nuclear plants are being shut down without replacement because nations can't afford them. And the waste can't be safely stored. The best we can do is bury it in some very remote desert, preferably an endorheic region that will be uninhabitable for thousands of years. But nowhere stays a desert forever. With changing climate and landscape, the contaminated groundwater will eventually flow to everywhere. Europe doesn't have much desert, its deserts are not very remote, and it is rapidly losing global power to make deals for waste storage.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Germany is not the only country that’s incentivizing coal production and consumption. China’s coal industry is booming. The Global Energy Monitor estimates that as of July 2022, China had 258 coal-fired power stations proposed, permitted or under construction that when completed will generate 290 gigawatts, more than 60% of the world's total coal capacity under development. They also reported that as of July China had 174 new coal mines or coal-mine expansions proposed, permitted or under construction that will complete would produce 596 million metric tonnes per year.

 

[oggbashan]

Putin has closed the gas pipeline Nordstream 1 indefinitely. But Germany already has 85% of its winter gas supplies in storage. They are extending the life of their nuclear power stations and even considering building a new one.

In the longer term, Germany, like most European countries including the UK, eventually aim to be carbon neutral but the shortage of gas is presenting a short-term problem that needs addressing

 

[JohnEngelman]

Germany is not the only country that’s incentivizing coal production and consumption. China’s coal industry is booming. The Global Energy Monitor estimates that as of July 2022, China had 258 coal-fired power stations proposed, permitted or under construction that when completed will generate 290 gigawatts, more than 60% of the world's total coal capacity under development. They also reported that as of July China had 174 new coal mines or coal-mine expansions proposed, permitted or under construction that will complete would produce 596 million metric tonnes per year.

And the summers keep getting hotter, especially in China.

 

[oggbashan]

And the summers keep getting hotter, especially in China.

China is also investing heavily in green technology but its energy requirements cannot be met by green initiatives alone and might not be for decades.

 

[iso36]

I still think the way forward is in finding ways to make burning stuff more efficient while we transition away from burning things over the next 50-100 years.

Right now, cars could get 150 mpg, but it’s not being done.

Emissions from vehicles could be more than halved, just like that.

 

[Chobham]

Everyone's looking for a "magic bullet", instant gratification, and there isn't any.

 

[JohnEBbad]

Everyone's looking for a "magic bullet", instant gratification, and there isn't any.

Exactly. Every Red Green thinks that it is resistance from nefarious actors preventing the realization of their dreams when Occam would tell them, it seems that, for now, with current technology and science, that we have discovered the most efficient energy and have made great strides making it as clean as possible (at least in some countries not on a program to "catch up economically and militarily) so maybe the enemies of progress need to stand down and keep their powder dry instead of falsely believing that government can just shit skittles and rainbows.