Author Archives: Hermann Observer
Germany Also Wants Unicorns, Candy Hearts And Free Beer For All
Germany wants clean, reliable energy. But first, to survive winter…
Germany is largely dependent on Russian energy, with half its natural gas and a third of its oil coming from that country. There’s currently no other way to quickly secure Europe’s supply of energy for heating, transportation, and industry, says the German government. But they’re trying. Leaders have decided to build liquefied natural gas terminals, which opens up new energy supplies but also raises a bevy of questions about Germany’s energy security.
Nuclear energy has been phased out, and renewables such as wind aren’t yet ready to pick up the slack, so lawmakers have decided that LNG is the answer to Germany’s energy crisis. They’ve announced plans to build two domestic LNG terminals, which re-gasify the supercooled form of natural gas that arrives on ships. Leasing floating terminals and securing supply via terminals elsewhere in Europe is also in the works. Essentially, Germany is trying to buy whatever it can, from wherever it can.
German Media Clearly Pissed Off By The Good News
This Putin guy really is a jerk.
Talk about being totally unreliable. The Russians did exactly what they said they were going to do. What’s he got up his sleeve this time?
Nord Stream 1 operator started gas deliveries after maintenance – German media reports.
Gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have resumed on Thursday and gas was flowing again, Spiegel and daily FAZ reported, citing a report by German newswire dpa.
Electric Cars Emitting Too Much CO2 In Germany
And spying on Germans. Or something.
Tesla Hit by German Suit Over Car Surveillance, Carbon Footprint – German Consumer Group VZBV files action in Berlin court. Case argues drives using device may violate data rules
Tesla Inc. was hit by a lawsuit in Germany over potential privacy concerns linked to its car surveillance cameras and claims that buying its vehicles helps cut CO2 emissions.
German Of The Day: Knirschen
That means crunch.
And crunch here it soon will.
Implications of a German Energy Crunch (with added Supply-Chain Problems).
On Monday, utility Uniper SE, Germany’s biggest buyer of Russian gas, said it had received a letter from Russia’s state-owned Gazprom PJSC that claims force majeure—a legal declaration that exempts the company from fulfilling contractual obligations due to circumstances outside its control—to justify past and current shortfalls in gas deliveries.
What’s A Little White Lie Here And There?
I meant Green lie, of course.
And over there. And over there too. Damn. Little Green lies all over the place. Actually, they’re not all that little either.
German Government Lied About Nuclear – Germany’s Economy and Climate Minister, a Green Party leader, lied about nuclear fuel rods.
The German government is moving forward with plans to close its last three nuclear plants this December despite Europe being gripped by the worst energy crisis in 50 years. Robert Habeck, Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said there is no point in operating them because Germany lacks natural gas, not electricity.
“Nuclear power doesn’t help us there at all,” Habeck said on Tuesday. “We have a heating problem or an industry problem, but not an electricity problem — at least not generally throughout the country.”
Besides, Habeck said, only Russia could provide Germany with the uranium fuel rods required to keep the nuclear plants operating, and there was no way to make sure the plants would be able to operate safely.
But none of what Habeck said was true. Coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy all generate electricity. Less nuclear means using more of coal or natural gas, which is why the German Cabinet, led by Habeck, just approved burning more coal…
Sniffing Glue To Save The Planet
Or at least I assume that’s what these people have been doing.
Otherwise they wouldn’t have glued themselves to the road with it. Am I right or am I right?
“It’s absolutely crazy to stick yourself to the road with superglue,” admits Lina Schinkoethe.
So that’s precisely what she then proceeds to do. Stay away from this stuff, kids.
German Climate Activists Aim to Stir Friction with Blockades – Schinkoethe is part of a group called Uprising of the Last Generation that claims the world has only a few years left to turn the wheel around and avoid catastrophic levels of global warming.
Lina L.
German Of The Day: Fremdschämen
That means being embarrassed – for someone else.
And this particular embarrassment has less to do with a stupid song and its stupid song lyrics than it does with the fact that authorities feel the need to censor it.
Schlager louts? Row erupts over ‘sexist’ pop hit in Germany – Town festival authorities refuse to play chart-topping Layla by DJ Robin & Schürze, prompting complaints of censorship.
“People are being prescribed how they should talk, how to write, and now how to party. This prudish nannying of the politically correct bregade must stop. We are heading for an anti-fun society.”
And here you thought Germany was an anti-fun society already.
I Wood If I Could
There’s tons of trees in that park down the street. But I don’t have a fireplace.
Germans could switch to wood this winter to heat their homes as Russia withholds natural gas, Deutsche Bank says – German households could turn to wood as a heating source this winter as gas supplies remain tight while Russia restricts flows to Europe, Deutsche Bank wrote in a note Tuesday.
The bank said it expects gas consumption in Germany to be 10% below 2021 levels thanks to private households saving and high gas prices. It also noted that coal and lignite could emerge as replacements for natural gas in the industrial power sector.
Observing Hermann 