"Germany's Energy Poverty"

Post by **Richard S.** » Thu. Sep. 19, 2013 9:37 am

Seems thing are not all rosy, who would of thought:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/high- ... 20288.html
Germany's Energy Poverty: How Electricity Became a Luxury Good

German consumers already pay the highest electricity prices in Europe. But because the government is failing to get the costs of its new energy policy under control, rising prices are already on the horizon. Electricity is becoming a luxury good in Germany, and one of the country's most important future-oriented projects is acutely at risk.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan two and a half years ago, Merkel quickly decided to begin phasing out nuclear power and lead the country into the age of wind and solar. But now many Germans are realizing the coalition government of Merkel's CDU and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) is unable to cope with this shift. Of course, this doesn't mean that the public has any more confidence in a potential alliance of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens. The political world is wedged between the green-energy lobby, masquerading as saviors of the world, and the established electric utilities, with their dire warnings of chaotic supply problems and job losses.

Even well-informed citizens can no longer keep track of all the additional costs being imposed on them. According to government sources, the surcharge to finance the power grids will increase by 0.2 to 0.4 cents per kilowatt hour next year. On top of that, consumers pay a host of taxes, surcharges and fees that would make any consumer's head spin.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Thu. Sep. 19, 2013 9:44 am

Geeze Richard, thanks for that uplifting lil tid-bit:(

waldo lemieux · Post by **waldo lemieux** » Thu. Sep. 19, 2013 7:40 pm

Really !!
Somebody hum a few bars of that old Helen Reddy song.... "shure could use a little good news today" . Hey , I was trying it myself and everybody left, alone at last....

tsb · Post by **tsb** » Thu. Sep. 19, 2013 7:56 pm

Physics must not be taught in Germany anymore.
Mindless green a-holes.

samhill · Post by **samhill** » Thu. Sep. 19, 2013 8:16 pm

I can see why they want to get away from the nuke plants but you have to develop something else reliable first. They jumped into the nukes on a large scale, what ever happened to German engineering?

coalkirk · Post by **coalkirk** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 5:45 am

samhill wrote:I can see why they want to get away from the nuke plants but you have to develop something else reliable first. They jumped into the nukes on a large scale, what ever happened to German engineering?

Think Hindenburg!

samhill · Post by **samhill** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 8:06 am

There are still some flying around today coalkirk, think about what was known then as opposed to what we know now. That's where lessons are learned & hopefully remembered so you plan ahead rather than the moment. All in all you have to admit they have come up with many positives (not always for the betterment of man) but none the less their engineering has been pretty good, even good enough for others to steal both man & ideas.

Pacowy · Post by **Pacowy** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 8:28 am

waldo lemieux wrote: Somebody hum a few bars of that old Helen Reddy song.... "shure could use a little good news today" .

Waldo, I'm pretty sure the girlie men are supposed to be humming "I Am Woman." Maybe that's why everybody left.

Samhill, what about the possibility that German engineering has been dissipated by high electricity prices? Without cheap electricity, a lot of industries lose competitiveness and business moves elsewhere. If you lose the position where you're innovating and producing things, it wouldn't be surprising to see engineering wither on the vine.

Mike

whistlenut · Post by **whistlenut** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 8:38 am

Well stated, Mike!!!! ....better to have a GOOD plan 'B' before dismissing Plan 'A'! ...........wind towers in Germany are delivering around 18% of what was 'promised'.

Guess what Pilgrims, the same is true here, also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of 'Green Money' subsidized the construction of these plants........how's that workin' out for all the 'Pointy Heads'?????????????

samhill · Post by **samhill** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 8:42 am

As I said they should keep what they had until a viable replacement is found, I'm not defending their decision to shut down the nukes. As far as I know they are not too prone to earth quakes or other natural disasters, so what's the big hurry?

stovepipemike · Post by **stovepipemike** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 8:57 am

German engineering will always be plentiful over there. The road to the future is an engineered one.Somebody has got to take the lead for an energy breakthru,it is for sure we aren't.When some nation gets hurting bad enough,that's when change will be funded and embraced.The proverbial new money trail is often started with the motion of a sliderule....oops showing some age there. Mike

Pacowy · Post by **Pacowy** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 9:23 am

stovepipemike wrote:German engineering will always be plentiful over there. The road to the future is an engineered one.Somebody has got to take the lead for an energy breakthru,it is for sure we aren't.When some nation gets hurting bad enough,that's when change will be funded and embraced.The proverbial new money trail is often started with the motion of a sliderule....oops showing some age there. Mike

I'll disagree on the taking the lead part. AFAIK the U.S. has taken the lead in shale gas production methods, which has generated enough of a breakthrough that cheap gas is squeezing out coal at some powerplants (and would be pressuring coal even without the bad attitude currently at the EPA). I agree that innovation often comes out of desperation, but I'm not sure the reservoir of engineering stays very deep if it's not used. It seems like it's been kind of downhill from the V-2 and jet engines to the 5-cylinder Audi. Maybe a lot of capability is still there, but it's not being helped by their energy policies.

Mike

samhill · Post by **samhill** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 9:27 am

I got one of them thar slide things around here someplace. We could have been the energy leader, they knew this was coming for many decades but there was money to be made & payments to be accepted all around. Energy was kept fairly affordable for a long time until the greed factor could no longer be controlled.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 9:29 am

samhill wrote:I can see why they want to get away from the nuke plants but you have to develop something else reliable first. They jumped into the nukes on a large scale, what ever happened to German engineering?

The same thing that happened to American engineering. The politicians have better ideas. The media has better ideas. The environmentalists have better ideas. The thought police have better ideas. Everyone knows much better than an engineer what is required and how to do it economically. Engineering must be the dumbest profession that mankind can undertake. Its just that simple.

Post by **franco b** » Fri. Sep. 20, 2013 9:32 am

It's the triumph of the social engineers.