Posted on 07/07/2022 5:43:14 AM PDT by Red Badger
In 2018, when then-President Donald Trump warned Germany about their reliance on Russian energy during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the German delegation just laughed it off.
It’s no longer a laughing matter now.
Russia announced in June that it will reduce natural gas flows to Germany by roughly 40 percent. The German government recently declared that the country had entered the “alarm stage” of the emergency gas plan, calling on its citizens to reduce consumption.
In London, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that Russia could cut gas supplies to Europe entirely to boost its leverage against the West amid the war in Ukraine.
Russia has already restricted gas flows to Europe, with the Kremlin blaming a “delay” in servicing equipment caused by the European Union (EU) sanctions. The EU, meanwhile, accused the Kremlin of playing geopolitics.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement that Europe needs contingency plans. “Considering this recent behavior, I wouldn’t rule out Russia continuing to find different issues here and there and continuing to find excuses to further reduce gas deliveries to Europe and maybe even cut it off completely.
Gas prices have gotten so high in Germany that wood-burning stoves and firewood have become scarce as citizens are loading up to heat their homes in the next year.
Furnace builders and installers are getting large orders from concerned customers who want to install additional heating options in their houses or apartments.
A spokesman for the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning (ZVSHK) in Sankt Augustin said that demand for wood-burning stoves and firewood exploded when the war broke out.
The Ukraine War and concerns about the energy supply had citizens worried, which is why they are now turning to wood-burning stoves. However, even this cannot guarantee heat if there is a lack of firewood.
As firewood dealers face their own nationwide rush of customers and can no longer meet the increased demand, Gerd Muller, head of the office of the Federal Firewood Association in Kamen, said that the market is now empty.
With the skyrocketing gas and oil prices, as well as the concern that heating problems could remain next winter, people are unsettled or even scared – and at least some customers will not be getting their stoves before the end of next winter. According to the ZVSHK, the waiting time is a year in some cases, despite having over 2,000 furnace construction companies nationwide.
Heating problems affecting much of Europe
In the U.K., families are also forced to limit and find alternative ways of heating their homes, with many fearing how they can afford basic everyday essentials.
Farm owner Daniel Skinner, for instance, said that the rise in fuel costs is causing major concern as the increased prices for agricultural operations threaten to push food prices even higher.
He also said that the locals have now been buying lots of firewood with the intention of using single-room heating, rather than turning the central heating on. (Related: European gas prices shoot up as Russia reduces supply to top buyers across the EU.)
Moreover, two of Northern Ireland’s biggest food companies also warned consumers to expect further price rises over the year. Food production inputs such as fuel, fertilizer and animal feed have also been impacted by the rapid inflation over the last year.
Dale Farm Chief Executive Nick Whelan also warned people of the future implications of the increased gas prices. “The inflation that is coming right through the supply chain hasn’t probably hit the retail shelves in full yet,” he said.
European leaders are now scrambling to find more sustainable alternatives to Russian gas. Analysts say that Europe will struggle to find an alternative within the next few months as a cold winter could exacerbate the crisis.
Visit PowerGrid.news for more updates about heating and energy costs.
Watch the video below to learn how to build a smokeless fire in a wood-burning stove.
Do they have the carbon credits to do this?
I don’t think so since they may be starting up more coal fired plants. We can sell them wood pellets made in Maine. The ships can load them up in Eastport, ME.
Jawohl!....................
Green EuroWeenies; time traveling back to the 19th century
Do they have the carbon credits to do this?
^^This^^
Invited to attend a Meeting about the Carbon Market. WTH?
German winters are cold - wood burning stoves make sense.
Yes, I’ve been there..................
If properly vented and managed a fire can be used inside a large tent to keep everyone warm. The Indians used Teepees that were heated by fires inside......
I think we had a shortage a couple years back. So we’re going to cut more trees? LOL
idiots getting what they voted for....
Wood burning stoves, the ultimate Green energy.
Wood....stored solar energy
All 40 million of them......................(they voted twice)
Wood (biomass) is considered renewable green energy by the EU because well you can grow more trees. Really. One of UK’s biggest power plants (Drax) is fueled by wood pellets imported from the US. I guess CO2 from wood is not as harmful. Or something.
Burning wood(cellulose) is considered carbon neutral because trees sequester CO2 their whole lives.
Burning wood pellets is not something new in European Continent. Neither are wood burning stoves. Some of the most efficient wood burning stoves are made in Scandinavia. Jutul is an example of these type of wood stoves. I had one in each of my two previous NH houses. Jutul stoves have been made in Norway since 1853.
I now have a Harman Pellet stove insert. IMHO it is the best pellet stove available in North America(made in PA). However, there are several Swiss and Italian manufactures of pellet stoves too.
Most of those pellet stoves are made to heat smaller square footage than the typical US house. That is because generally houses in Europe are smaller than the US/Canada.
There are also large industrial companies that burn wood pellets in Europe. They buy pellets by the literal BOAT load. About 20 years ago there was a big push for Torrification of wood pellets to be shipped from US/Canada to Europe. Torrification is a process where there char the pellets. Kind of like charcoal. This makes them more stable for bulk shipments by vessels because they do not absorb moisture as regular wood pellets. It also increases their BTU/ton. The idea was that these pellets could be burned in existing coal fired electric generation plants with some modifications. It would then make these existing plants “carbon neutral” without having to build new electrical generation plants.
This process never really took off big because Natural Gas became the low cost energy producer in the last 15 years. Now, gas is up so much in price people are going to find alternatives.
Now they’ll have a thick fog of wood smoke
1. Why does Europe, especially Germany, believe they are Entitled to the natural resources of another sovereign nation??
2. With out of control man made Global Warming threatening the Planet with spontaneous combustion from the burning of “fossil” fuels, Why are they worried about Heating their Homes??
Most pellets are by products of trees that are already cut. Meaning, the logs go to the sawmill. The sawmill produces shavings/sawdust as a by product of cutting lumber. That sawdust can be burned in house at a co gen plant like Seneca sawmills has in Eugene, OR. That sawdust can be balled and sold for animal bedding. That sawdust can be made into pellets like Frank Lumber or Blue Mountain Lumber in OR.
Most sawmills sell their shavings/paper to paper mills. However, the higher the demand for wood pellets becomes the more will end up as that. Pellets have become much more readily available in the northern part of the US. Every Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply and several others sell them.
They are also used for animal bedding.
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