Tag Archives: Germany

German Wind

Coal Renaissance Risks Tarnishing the EU’s Green-Energy Credentials

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Activists protest against the expansion of open-pit coal mines in Germany’s Lausitz region on Aug. 23.Getty Images

 

By Vanessa Mock Wall Street Journal,  Sept. 3 2013

 

The European Union prides itself as the being the world’s green crusader. It is fighting climate change with a set of ambitious targets to reduce future carbon-dioxide emissions and boost the use of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, by setting an example to the rest of the world.

But a revival of coal as an energy source across Europe is leaving a dark spot on the EU’s green credentials, according to a new report by several environmental pressure groups. Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels in terms of CO2 emissions. EU countries are under pressure to phase out coal as part of EU-wide goals to cut emissions and boost the development of renewable energy sources.

At the center of Europe’s coal renaissance is the region around the German-Polish border, already home to five of Europe’s most polluting coal plants, says the report, which was compiled by CAN Europe, WWF, the European Environmental Bureau, the Health and Environment Alliance and Climate Alliance Germany. Swedish power firm Vattenfall GmbH is now planning to expand the number of open-cast mines in the Lausitz area to exploit its deposits of  lignite, a particularly polluting type of coal.

Read the real story on the German Energiewende or Energy Transformation.   The  Cinderella story is really about……coal and not wind and solar.

German Wind

Germany’s Expensive Gamble on Renewable Energy

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And we just keep rolling those dice here in Ontario

P1-BR137_ENERGI_G_20140826215700WILSTER, Germany—In a sandy marsh on the outskirts of this medieval hamlet, Germany’s next autobahn will soon take shape.

The Stromautobahn, as locals call it, won’t carry Audis and BMW’s BMW.XE -1.11% , but high-voltage electricity over hundreds of miles of aluminum and steel cables stretching from the North Sea to Germany’s industrial corridor in the south.

The project is the linchpin of Germany’s Energiewende, or energy revolution, a mammoth, trillion-euro plan to wean the country off nuclear and fossil fuels by midcentury and the top domestic priority of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But many companies, economists and even Germany’s neighbors worry that the enormous cost to replace a currently working system will undermine the country’s industrial base and weigh on the entire European economy. Germany’s second-quarter GDP decline of 0.6%, reported earlier this month, put a damper on overall euro-zone growth, leaving it flat for the quarter.

Average electricity prices for companies have jumped 60% over the past five years because of costs passed along as part of government subsidies of renewable energy producers. Prices are now more than double those in the U.S.

read more: Wall Street Journal, Aug 26 2014

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As Investments Turn Sour, Wind Energy Sector in Germany Begins to Crumble in Wake of Solar Industry Collapse

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By P Gosselin on 4. Februar 2014

German alarmist site klimaretter.de here reports on the latest negative developments now hitting Germany’s wind power industry. The latest to be hit is wind-turbine transmission manufacturer Bosch Rexroth AG, which announced it will slash 210 jobs and give up a production plant in Nuremberg.

Wind turbine burning

Image cropped from: www.youtube.com/kGXoE3RFZ8

Klimaretter writes that the reason behind the move is “the changing wind market“, which according to Bosch-Rexroth spokesperson has seen immense fluctuations.

Because 2013 saw 10 gigawatts less wind energy power installed than a year earlier, ‘capacities have to be scaled back’.”

The layoffs come on the heels of Bavaria’s move to restrict the installation of wind parks in its idyllic countryside. However, the company claims that Bavaria’s policy had no impact on the decision.

Bosch Rexroth is just the latest in a series of setbacks the wind energy industry has seen over the last months. Germany’s solar industry has already collapsed and wind energy is just the latest victim in Germany’s rollback of renewable energies. Spiegel here writes that Germany’s solar industry has shedded half its jobs in the last two years alone!

– See more at: http://notrickszone.com/2014/02/04/as-investments-turn-sour-wind-energy-sector-in-german-begins-to-crumble-in-wake-of-solar-industry-collapse/#sthash.cjhhcC2W.dpuf

German Wind, Health, Health effects from wind turbines

Bavaria, Germany Will Set New Distance Rule For Wind Turbines 10xH

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28.01.2014 11:59 Uhr 28/01/2014 11:59 clock

Distance control for wind turbines: Stage win for Seehofer

Von Moritz Kircher From Moritz Kircher

Munich. Prime Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has reached an important stage victory in the battle for wind power in Bavaria. He had long been advocating that the distances between establishments and residential areas are enlarged. Until the 9th April,  the federal government wants to present a bill that makes this possible.  A further expansion in Bavaria is thus considerably more difficult.

Ministerprdent Bavaria Horst Seehofer (CSU) has prevailed with the distance control for wind turbines. Photo: AP + +

 Ministerprdent Bavaria Horst Seehofer (CSU) has prevailed with the distance control for wind turbines. Foto: dpa Photo: AP

With the so-called countries in the Building Code clause the provinces should be given the opportunity to decide their own distance control for wind turbines. If it goes to Seehofer, the distance between the wind turbine and residential building is to be set at ten times the height of the plant. That would be about two kilometres in modern wind turbines.

Critics of the height-related distance usually seen in the end for the expansion of wind power in Bavaria.  In the past three years, regional plans have been developed in which priority areas for wind turbines are reported.  After courier information from the 18 regional planning organizations Bavaria remain from these surfaces almost nothing left, should the distance rule actually happen as planned by the prime minister.

It is still unclear whether exceptions to the distance control will be possible. Seehofer had repeatedly indicated to make this possible if all citizens are agreed locally, plans to build wind turbines.

Article from Germany here.

Environment, German Wind, Government Misrepresentation

Germany’s Energy Poverty: How Electricity Became a Luxury Good

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By SPIEGEL Staff September 04, 2013 – 07:15 PM

Germany’s agressive and reckless expansion of wind and solar power has come with a hefty pricetag for consumers, and the costs often fall disproportionately on the poor. Government advisors are calling for a completely new start.
If you want to do something big, you have to start small. That’s something German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier knows all too well. The politician, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has put together a manual of practical tips on how everyone can make small, everyday contributions to the shift away from nuclear power and toward green energy. The so-called Energiewende, or energy revolution, is Chancellor Angela Merkel’s project of the century.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/high-costs-and-errors-of-german-transition-to-renewable-energy-a-920288.html

and here a few extra articles from the archives regarding the Energiewende in Germany.

http://www.thegwpf.org/poland-czech-republic-ban-germanys-green-energy/

http://www.dw.de/brown-coal-makes-a-comeback-amid-protests/a-16136728-1

Click to access 2012_01_09_EIKE_Germa_energy_turnaround_english.pdf

And a recent article that has Germany’s energy figures from 2012. Fossil fuel plants achieve a capacity factor of 80% or more, nuclear at 94%, solar at 11% and wind at 17%. And still its full steam ahead for Germany and the green enviro nuts.
http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/germanys-green-energy-bust/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+thebreakthrough+%28The+Breakthrough+Institute+Full+Site+RSS%29