Germany?s new ?renewable? energy policy

Source:  SPPI



Kelvin Kemm



In a deteriorating economic situation, Germany’s new environment minister, Peter Altmaier, who is as politically close to Chancellor Angela Merkel as it gets, has underlined time and again the importance of not further harming Europe?s ? and Germany?s ? economy by increasing the cost of electricity.


Yes, you read that correctly, twenty three-new coal-fired power plants are under construction in Germany, because Germany is worried about the increasing cost of electricity, and because they can?t afford to be in the strategic position of importing too much electricity.

Just recently, German figures were released on the actual productivity of the country?s wind power over the last ten years. The figure is 16.3 percent!


Even worse, after spending billions of Euros on subsidies, Germany?s total combined solar facilities have contributed a miserly, imperceptible 0.084% of Germany?s electricity over the last 22 years. That is not even one-tenth of one percent.

Moreover, the actual cost of Germany?s wind and solar electricity is far and away higher than its cost of coal and nuclear power. So much for ?free? solar and wind. So much for all the German jobs that depend on reliable access to plentiful and affordable electricity.

As to natural gas produced via hydraulic fracturing, that too is prohibited, even if it is required to back up undependable wind and solar facilities. No wonder Germany?s natural gas and electricity prices are practically unaffordable.

Meantime the extreme greens continue to preach about the wonders of life based on solar and wind power. They also talk constantly about ?sustainable living,? a ?sustainable future,? and an otherwise hydrocarbon-free and ?decarbonized? tomorrow. Be warned! What these vacuous exhortations mean is that people must not enjoy the lifestyles and living standards of a modern world.



Meanwhile, in South Africa, an organisation calling itself ?Green Truth? has distributed a notice about a newly released movie titled simply ?Fuel.? Here is part of the promotional notice:


?The film includes interviews with a wide range of policy makers, educators and activists such as Woody Harrelson, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Tickell knew he just couldn?t idly stand by any longer. He decided to make a film, focusing on the knowledge and insight he discovered, but also giving hope that solutions are at reach. A ?regular guy? who felt he could make a difference, he spent 11 years making this movie, showing himself ? and others ? that an individual can indeed make a difference. Stirring, radical and multi-award winning energy documentary! FUEL features experts and eco-celebrities such as: Sheryl Crow, Larry David, Richard Branson and Robert Kennedy, Jr.?

The notice frequently emphasizes ?sustainable living? and ?a hopeful future.? And the singers, actors, activists and other energy ?experts? featured in the film are all extremely wealthy, and not at all likely to adopt the ?sustainable? lifestyle that they and Tickell advocate so passionately.

Does this film have anything to do with ?truth? about energy? Or is it simply a propaganda film for the producers? and activists? version of ?sustainable lives,? for others, though not for themselves? It takes but a fleeting moment to realize that it is just like Al Gore?s ?An Inconvenient Truth? ? leagues removed from truth, and laden with scientific errors, personal biases, and the hypocrisies of affluent partisans who own big houses and fly private jets to events where they tell other people how to live ?more sustainably.?

I?m sure ?eco-evangelist? Josh Tickell is just ?a regular guy,? just as his movie promo says he is. But I would much rather have my country?s electricity future planned by electrical engineers and scientists, and by citizens and politicians who actually live here ? rather than by a ?regular guy? environmental activist and his self-proclaimed ?experts? on energy and ?sustainable? lifestyles.

As formerly eco-evangelist Germany has demonstrated, countries cannot afford to have national energy policy moulded by movies like ?Fuel? and ?An Inconvenient Truth.? Their policies ? and their future ? need to be based on genuine truth and honest reality.

