Zero the Hero

Our Green superhero.

Only Kryptonite (also green) can stop him – otherwise known as the real world.

Germany set to miss net zero by 2045 target as climate efforts falter – German goals to cut greenhouse emissions by 65% by 2030 are likely to be missed, meaning a longer-term net zero by a 2045 target is also in doubt, reports by government climate advisers and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) show.

The European Union has sought to be a climate leader and Germany has set itself more ambitious targets than the bloc as a whole, but in many countries politics and the economic crisis have pushed the climate crisis down the agenda.

It’s much too dry, dry, dry!

Was yesterday (or the past few years).

Now it’s much too wet, wet, wet! All it does is rain in Germany these days. But don’t worry, because you’re still allowed to worry. Ask any climate activist. In both cases “the Climate Crisis” is to blame. It’s science. I mean, pseudoscience.

Rhine river levels in Germany back to normal after rain – Heavy rain has raised water on the river Rhine in Germany to levels allowing cargo vessels to sail fully loaded, data from German inland waterways agency WSA said on Wednesday.

Data from the WSA’s website Pegelonline showed that the last shallow sectors of the river around Cologne had now reached levels generally permitting full vessel loads.

Dry weather in June meant the river became too shallow for vessels to sail fully loaded and ship operators imposed surcharges on freight rates to compensate for vessels sailing partly empty, increasing costs for cargo owners.

The best we can offer you is five

Although originally shooting for at least ten, Germany’s Greens must now sheepishly admit that the best they can offer the country is five tough years of economic stagnation.

Germany faces 5 tough years, economy minister warns – Berlin should borrow money to subsidize energy for companies or risk losing its industry, Robert Habeck.

Germany faces five difficult years of green industrial transition that “will put a burden” on people, Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned — while urging his government to approve fresh subsidies to safeguard the country’s industrial base.

Green Hydrogen?

Do you mean green like in pink unicorns or like in red herrings?

I see. As in both.

How Germany’s Hydrogen Boom Stalled – Green hydrogen has the potential to heat millions of homes and keep German industry humming. So far, though, a lack of the environmentally friendly gas and the infrastructure needed to transport it have prevented its wide-scale use.

Welcome to the sobering hydrogen reality. While Germany hopes that it will soon be able to run basement gas heating systems on hydrogen, steel manufacturers are converting their production to the green gas at a cost of billions and energy companies are planning new power plants that will generate electricity from hydrogen, almost everything needed to make the climate-neutral dreams a reality in the near future is still lacking. The environmentally friendly hydrogen is missing, as are the pipeline networks to carry it across the country, not to mention reliable business models.

Germans Finally Ready For That Third Try

To save the world.

I mean, planet. To save the planet, of course.

Most Germans ready to make sacrifices for planet — survey – Germans said they were prepared to cut their heat use and fly less to help tackle climate change. But most are reluctant to give up meat and their cars, according to a YouGov poll.

Two-thirds of Germans are willing to make a personal sacrifice to protect the planet against climate change, a new survey published Sunday suggested.

The YouGov survey on behalf of Welt am Sonntag newspaper also found 43% were willing to fly less often, while 40% were prepared to use less heat.

The participants, however, said they were reluctant to accept curbs on what they could eat. Less than a third (27%) said they were prepared to change their diet.

German Of The Day: Volksentscheid

That means referendum.

You know, like the one Berliners are voting on today; to make Berlin “climate-neutral” by 2030? I think they should hold one on free beer and ponies for everybody too. That’s more realistic.

Berlin votes on climate neutrality by 2030 – Berliners will go to the polls yet again on Sunday to vote in a referendum to make the German capital climate neutral 15 years earlier than planned. Critics deride the proposal as too costly and completely unrealistic.

We Not Only Supply You With Nuclear-Generated Electricity Already

(just like the Czech Republic). We’ll supply you with gas now too.

France starts sending natural gas directly to Germany – Technical adjustments were necessary as the single pipeline between the two countries was originally intended only to deliver gas (from Russia) from Germany to France.

If you haven’t noticed, Germany’s Green doesn’t stink.

Fun fact for you CO2 fans out there: The Germans generate 10 tons of CO2 per capita per year (some call it the “Carbon Footprint”), the nuclear-friendly French only do 6.

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.

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.

German Of The Day: Verbot

That means ban. The only thing the German Green party does well. And they do it with vehemence. And constantly.

Germany to support EU plans for 2035 ban on new fossil-fuel cars, says environment minister – Germany plans to vote in support of a European Union package that would effectively ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035, said the environment minister on Tuesday.

“If the package includes what the Commission suggested, banning cars that emit carbon dioxide from 2035, then we will vote in support,” Environment Minister Steffi Lemke told broadcaster ZDF.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said at an event hosted by Germany’s BDI industry association last week that the German government would not agree to the plan.