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The dark side of Europe's energy devolution
American Thinker ^ | 21 Jan, 2024 | Vijay Jayaraj

Posted on 01/21/2025 4:08:40 AM PST by MtnClimber

The mistakes of the U.K. and Germany this winter serve as a wakeup call for policymakers worldwide as they consider their own energy policies.

The winter of 2025 has been brutal for Europe, exposing the severe flaws of its over-reliance on wind and solar energy. As temperatures plummeted, countries grappled with electricity shortages, soaring energy prices, and the grim specter of blackouts.

In the United Kingdom and Germany, two countries that have positioned themselves as global leaders in the adoption of “renewable” energy, the dangerous gamble of prioritizing wind and solar power over reliable energy sources is leaving millions vulnerable in the dead of winter.

When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, backup energy sources -- usually fossil fuels or nuclear power -- must fill the gap. This winter is bringing reality into sharp focus.

Britain’s Brush with Blackouts

The U.K. narrowly avoided catastrophic blackouts this January, coming "within a whisker" of widespread outages, according to the National Grid. On multiple occasions, Britain’s grid operators scrambled to stabilize the system as freezing temperatures coincided with a prolonged drop in wind power generation.

Wind turbines, which typically supply nearly half of Britain’s electricity, failed to deliver as winds died down during critical periods. This left the country teetering on the edge of disaster, relying on last-minute imports and emergency measures to keep the lights on.

Adding insult to injury, the U.K.’s gas storage capacity proved woefully inadequate. Despite warnings about low reserves, the country remains ill-prepared to meet sudden spikes in heating demand. With gas prices spiking and domestic production insufficient, Britain has now turned to expensive imports, driving energy bills to astronomical levels.

The U.K. now holds the dubious title of having the highest electricity prices in the world -- a burden that is crushing households and businesses

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


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: energy; europe; greenenergy; savedaerf; savedaerft; savetheerf; savetheerft; solar; wind

1 posted on 01/21/2025 4:08:40 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

But the leftist politicians can claim that they saved the Erft.


2 posted on 01/21/2025 4:08:55 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Odds are that China paid environmentalists to run interference, so China could get ahead. Once we recover from our madness, it will take generations to bridge the gap that was created.


3 posted on 01/21/2025 4:13:10 AM PST by Jonty30 (If you ate your twin in the womb, your pronouns should be we/us.)
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To: MtnClimber

They used to say “Global Warming”.
But there wasn’t a lot of evidence for that, so they started saying “Climate Change”.

But the big worry still seems to be that the Polar ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, and islands will be inundated.

Given the cold weather phenomenon, I’d say these fears are overblown. If there’s “climate change” at all, I’d say the coastlines will be expanding.


4 posted on 01/21/2025 4:14:37 AM PST by ClearCase_guy
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To: ClearCase_guy
We are probably close to returning to the glacial period of our current ice age. We will need nuclear power when that happens. Certainly the ice sheets will grow and sea levels will drop. There will be efforts to blame it on some innocent party. It is just too convenient for tricksters not to exploit it.
5 posted on 01/21/2025 4:30:08 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Leftism is a mental illness. It may start out as adherence to ideology but it eventually drifts into insanity.


6 posted on 01/21/2025 4:38:45 AM PST by RoosterRedux ("There's nothing so inert as a closed mind" )
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To: ClearCase_guy
***But the big worry still seems to be that the Polar ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, and islands will be inundated***

Like Obama's multi million dollar 💰 beach side mansion on the island of Martha's Vineyard? Boy did he screw himself with that white elephant!

7 posted on 01/21/2025 4:46:15 AM PST by Bob Ireland (The Democrap Party is the enemy of freedom.They use all the seductions and deceits of the Bolshevics)
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To: MtnClimber

“gas storage capacity proved woefully inadequate”

Power plants could be made run on liquid fuels.

Jets use turbines powered by what is kerosene I believe.


8 posted on 01/21/2025 4:51:41 AM PST by Brian Griffin
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To: MtnClimber

More nukes, less kooks.


9 posted on 01/21/2025 4:54:35 AM PST by HereInTheHeartland (Have you seen Joe Biden's picture on a milk carton?)
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To: RoosterRedux

Leftists never let reality get in the way of their agenda.


10 posted on 01/21/2025 5:08:04 AM PST by nhbob1
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To: MtnClimber

Germany’s Merkel and her band of fanatics should be well into their dirt nap for what they did to Germany’s nuclear electrical generation capability.


11 posted on 01/21/2025 5:08:34 AM PST by ByteMercenary (Liberalism is a mental disorder.)
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To: MtnClimber

The long term effects of Germany’s Gaia Worship have not yet played out fully. Germany is rapidly deindustrializing. Its large chemical and manufacturing sectors simply cannot compete now. There is no quick fix. Germany is like a man who marched out into the middle of the desert with no water based on the belief that there would be water if he just wanted it badly enough. Now he’s starting to get thirsty.........


12 posted on 01/21/2025 5:23:19 AM PST by FLT-bird
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To: Jonty30

“Odds are that China paid environmentalists to run interference”

I don’t think China needed to, the people pushing this crap are flat-out Communists on their own, and they control the Democrat Party. And don’t forget the Globalist money and especially Soros. China is probably trying to figure out how the country that was on the top of the world just a few decades ago could be so damn stupid.


13 posted on 01/21/2025 5:28:26 AM PST by BobL
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To: MtnClimber

One thing for sure, if we hadn’t BLOWN UP Europe’s pipelines from Russia, they’d still have very cheap natural gas. Eventually their people will understand where they stand relative to us, at least in the eyes of the Neocons.


14 posted on 01/21/2025 5:33:19 AM PST by BobL
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To: nhbob1

When your opponent is reality, you always eventually lose.


15 posted on 01/21/2025 5:47:48 AM PST by RoosterRedux ("There's nothing so inert as a closed mind" )
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To: BobL

The Soviets have noted that, if they can plant the seeds then the plants will self-maintain themselves. So, China, and the other oil nations that isn’t named Alberta, funded the environmental movement and it’s maintaining itself without further having to do anything.


16 posted on 01/21/2025 6:38:49 AM PST by Jonty30 (If you ate your twin in the womb, your pronouns should be we/us.)
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To: RoosterRedux

“When your opponent is reality, you always eventually lose.”

Good one, Rooster!


17 posted on 01/21/2025 7:21:19 AM PST by FrozenAssets (You don't have to be crazy to live here, but it helps)
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To: Jonty30

“The Soviets have noted that, if they can plant the seeds then the plants will self-maintain themselves. So, China, and the other oil nations that isn’t named Alberta, funded the environmental movement and it’s maintaining itself without further having to do anything.”

I agree, it was proven that the Soviets did “plant the seeds” by financing environmental groups, with the intention of crippling the West economically. Seems to have worked PERFECTLY in Europe, but not so much in the US, given that we have Trump.
Today China may be funding this, but given Soros and the Democrats, all they have to do is sit back and enjoy the popcorn.


18 posted on 01/21/2025 7:27:10 AM PST by BobL
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