How competitive is Germany going to be in the world market with such high electricity prices?
The same chemical/mechanical process which converts coal to electricity converts biomass to electricity. Germany has coal, why don't they use that?
I see this as a form of enviro chemical racism. Coming from the Germans that is no suprise. The former Nazis prefer light colored fresh smelling "wood chips" to "dark black" dusky coal.
What is not factored in to those numbers is that several energy intensive industries in Germany have been dying. Auto manufacturing is next. So yes, wind and solar make up a larger share of the market...after spending vast amounts of money....but its a market that has been significantly reducing its demand due to high prices.
Thank you for that. I certainly enjoy reading Francis Menton, especially about energy.
I would argue, however, that wood chips are probably the ONLY renewable energy in the list. You CAN plant new trees. It is, therefore a SMALL but dependable and renewable source of energy.
I would further argue that solar and wind are, in no way, renewable. The manufacturing and the ultimate disposal may well consume more energy than they will ever produce. That is data I would really like to see exposed.
There is deliberate conflation of the goals of all this, from the Left, also. The insane drive to keep coal and oil in the ground, (presumably for the children of the Elites), is combined with attacks on various atmospheric gasses. The smoke and mirrors appear deliberate. People are being directed to give up First World ways, and the Neanderthals are being imported to insure the process.
Anything that requires a subsidy is not sustainable.
Observations:
There is only about 38 US states on the list. So 12 more have even lower prices of electricity.
Most EU states have a pretty high electricity prices. The more Green, the worse.
Even the poor, post communist EU countries have pretty high electricity prices. People in those countries really cannot afford those prices.
The huge difference in electricity prices are not sustainable. Something has to give.
Either going out of business or give up on Green!
Some articles suggest that in Germany, the PV cannot even return the energy put in, becoming net sinks of energy. Germany is located far north of 31 latitude, which is considered a beak even for solar cells.
Huge areas of Germany, areas of formerly productive farmland, are covered by solar cells.
Than has the potential of famine!
Germany massive overcapacity in green energy does not project itself to enough real capacity. The reason: Wind and Sun work only part time. So sometimes there is too much energy, sometimes hardly any.
It is actually expensive to somehow get rid of this energy during the optimal production conditions.