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Unreliable German Solar and Wind Forcing New Coal Boom
PJ Media ^ | 1/25/2014 | Stefan Frank

Posted on 01/26/2014 9:31:51 AM PST by rktman

Not surprisingly, a wind farm operator is at the center of Germany’s latest major financial swindle.

With 1,300 employees, Prokon is a relatively small company. Yet its advertisements were well-known to Germans. They always had three parts: pictures of a wind farm; a vague message that “something” had to be “changed”; and a request to make a loan to Prokon. In return, one was promised nothing less than “a future worth living,” and 8 percent interest per annum.

One of these propositions must have been alluring to many Germans, for the company successfully gathered about 1.3 billion euros (2 billion dollars) in borrowed capital. That’s small money compared to Enron, Lehman Brothers, or Greece, but in the case of Prokon, no banks or equity funds were involved. All of the capital came from retail investors, some of whom gave a big chunk of their lifetime savings, according to media reports.

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society; Weather
KEYWORDS: coal; economicbenefits; germancoal; greenfail; greenfraud
Take heart coal miners. Another opportunity to sell "evil" coal to those in need across the pond. That is if the supreme court doesn't declare it a pollutant because of the association with the end results.
1 posted on 01/26/2014 9:31:51 AM PST by rktman
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To: rktman

Ich bin ein Ponzi Scheme.


2 posted on 01/26/2014 9:35:42 AM PST by denydenydeny (Admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt one has for others.-Tocqueville)
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To: rktman

They need to rename Prokon to Pro-Con!


3 posted on 01/26/2014 9:37:45 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
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To: rktman
Another fine mess you've gotten us into.
4 posted on 01/26/2014 9:49:11 AM PST by JPG (Yes We Can morphs into Make It Hurt.)
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To: rktman

Unreliable German solar and wind?

Who’da thunk!

Good thing our American solar and wind is reliable, otherwise all those subsidy dollars would be wasted.


5 posted on 01/26/2014 9:54:42 AM PST by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: rktman
Wind power is a complete disaster

...Denmark, the world’s most wind-intensive nation, with more than 6,000 turbines generating 19% of its electricity, has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant. It requires 50% more coal-generated electricity to cover wind power’s unpredictability, and pollution and carbon dioxide emissions have risen (by 36% in 2006 alone).

6 posted on 01/26/2014 10:02:24 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The only way women can "have it all" is if men aren't allowed to have anything.)
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7 posted on 01/26/2014 10:12:30 AM PST by RedMDer (Happy with this, America? Make your voices heard. 2014 is just around the corner. ~ Sarah Palin)
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To: rktman

time for the German to terminate the plan to close all of their nuke power plants. and go back to that source of low cost energy.


8 posted on 01/26/2014 10:54:31 AM PST by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: GreyFriar

Naw, better to scrap the old uranium reactors and develop new thorium reactors. The current nukes aren’t all that ‘low cost’ per kw/h when you factor in spent-fuel disposal etc.


9 posted on 01/26/2014 11:10:39 AM PST by Moltke (Sapere aude!)
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To: Moltke

But better to keep the old uranium reactors going to produce electricity until new thorium reactors are built. But will the Thorium call the Gods of Asgard upon Germany?


10 posted on 01/26/2014 11:14:09 AM PST by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: GreyFriar

True, since the uranium reactors are still there, and just shutting them down doesn’t solve any of the long-term issues. Better to keep them on-line instead of wasting all that ‘stored’ energy. But the LIVs simply don’t think that far. And when the political top-end caves in to the LIVs you end up with this whole ‘renewable energy’ SNAFU. Sad, really.


11 posted on 01/26/2014 11:48:58 AM PST by Moltke (Sapere aude!)
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To: rktman

It’s funny, the flood of anti- opinions, after so many folks in upscale neighborhoods received their fat tax credits and other government gimmes for having their uber-expensive, grid-tied, SHTF PV solar systems “professionally” installed.

Germany heavily subsidized solar energy—even for established individuals’ houses, as the U.S.A. did. Small PV Solar and wind plants work great, where there is enough sun or wind and systems are properly designed (excludes many overly expensive, “certified” products). In some places, solar or wind is the only way.

Most of the folks sucking Uncle Samantha’s teat for big bucks for installs aren’t in areas needing such systems. They’re all hooked up in many ways.


12 posted on 01/26/2014 12:52:47 PM PST by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: familyop

My “uphill” neighbor has a large solar array on his south facing roof. Since they are not there much of the time I’m thinkin’ it’s only for essentials in the house when they are gone. On the plus side (not) it makes a great roosting place for about 200 pigeons since there is about a 6-8 inch gap between the panels and the roof. YUCK!!!!!


13 posted on 01/26/2014 1:07:16 PM PST by rktman (Under my plan(scheme), the price of EVERYTHING will necessarily skyrocket! Period.)
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To: rktman

Thanks for the interesting account. Yes, roof mounts can lead to hazards. Heh.

One of my own nearest neighbors (somewhat over 2 miles away) has a PV solar electric system, but their modules are mounted on posts. PV solar systems are good for powering security systems, too (including cameras for those who get efficient enough camera systems and configure them for low energy usage).

Like me, they are several miles from the nearest power company lines and don’t have any reasonable alternative. It’s very windy here much of time, too, but wind turbines need to be homebuilt to withstand the gusts (up to around 110 mph sometimes each winter). Due to NIMBY regulations, though, very expensive engineering fees are required for each wind turbine tower, and NIMBYs are always pushing for more regulations against neighbors.

Another county in the state (CO) restricts wind turbines to commercial ones with a particular certification (won’t last more than a few hours with the winds here) and limits solar heating collectors to those with a Florida certification that makes them outrageously expensive (high elevation with intense sunlight here, making the low-iron glass glazed collectors a stupid choice).

There are commies of all kinds, including those who limit the freedoms of individuals for the purpose of preventing competition, herding people to buy their own products exclusively and preventing the property rights and family rights of others to keep the neighborhoods...well, commie.

All of that said, I’m against subsidies for alternative energy (including tax breaks) and have not received any. A system built well by the person who owns it can be cost-effective. Professionally installed systems usually are not. And for some of us, grid power is not a workable option (too far away).


14 posted on 01/26/2014 1:48:17 PM PST by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: rktman; KingOfVagabonds; Berlin_Freeper; UnRuley1; mlizzy; mc5cents; RichInOC; Prince of Space; ...
+

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Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

15 posted on 01/26/2014 1:49:16 PM PST by narses (Matthew 7:6. He appears to have made up his mind let him live with the consequences.)
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