Tag Archives: Nuclear

Was He At Least Wearing A “OneLove” Armband?

November 30, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

When he signed the 15 year LNG deal with Qatar? They were a big deal here for a few minutes last week.

Don’t the Greens normally love making empty gestures and sending symbolic symbols (Zeichen setzen)? Germany’s Green Economy Minister set two symbols with the deal: 1) We don’t give a damn about the human rights blah blah we claim to give a damn about and 2) Nasty LNG gas may not be green enough for our standards but it’s just green enough to “save the planet,” as long as it saves Germany first – from the catastrophic energy policy the Greens got Germany into in the first place.

German minister satisfied with 15-year Qatar LNG deal – German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday he was happy with the length of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal struck with Qatar, as Berlin pursues new energy partnerships after a plunge in gas from Russia.

Social Unrest?

August 8, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In Germany? Uh, the same Germany in which the Germans always do precisely whatever the Media Brain Police tell them to do?

Germany braces for social unrest over energy prices – German officials have expressed fears that a worst-case winter of energy problems could prompt an extremist backlash. How bad things get may depend on how well they manage the crisis – in policy and perception.

German Of The Day: “Wir kriegen nichts mehr auf die Straße”

August 7, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means “we can’t get anybody out in the streets to protest anymore…” Said the puzzled anti-nuclear protester.

My, this certainly is mysterious. Somebody call Sherlock or Columbo or somebody to figure this out.

Are we having the phase-out of the phase-out yet?

Germany’s Nuclear Phase-Out Has Been a Disaster – The main justification for Germany’s nuclear shutdown is the risks associated with using nuclear energy. But these risks are exaggerated beyond measure.

German scientists are warning that the national energy transition has pushed Germany into an energy shortage. “We demand an immediate stop to the nuclear phase-out,” wrote twenty renowned technological and economic scientists in the “Stuttgart Declaration,” which is being widely discussed in Germany. The continued operation of Germany’s nuclear power plants, they said, should be guaranteed “as the third climate protection pillar” alongside solar and wind power to secure Germany’s power supply and prosperity.

Germany Also Wants Unicorns, Candy Hearts And Free Beer For All

July 22, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

What’s A Little White Lie Here And There?

July 18, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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…

I Wood If I Could

July 14, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

Can It Last?

July 9, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Sure it can. Until that four-letter word comes around the corner: Cold.

Germans’ support for Russia sanctions remains steady — but can it last?

Russia is supplying less and less gas and prices are rising. What will happen to solidarity with Ukraine when life gets tougher in Germany?

As Russia cuts gas deliveries, Germany’s energy supply is under threat and prices are rising. Now coal power plants, which are particularly harmful to the climate, are making a comeback.

Can’t wait for the debate about nuclear power plants to begin.

Reality Can Be An Ugly Thing

June 20, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

When you’re greener than Green.

Which is a pretty hard thing to be. Unless you live in Germany. It goes like this: Turn off your nuclear energy plants and never mention that ugly n-word again (think Voldemort). Demand all coal-burning power plants be shut down ASAP too. Actually BELIEVE (not think, just believing is enough) that wind turbines and solor panels can actually power a country like Germany. While doing that, let yourself become 50% energy dependent on Russian gas and oil despite repeated warnings from your European neighbors and that awful evil US-Amerika that’s always saying mean things (or at least it used to). Then something like Ukraine comes along, get it? What’s not to like? We’re here from the German Green government and we’re here to help. We created the problem in the first place but now we’re the ones who are going to fix it. You can thank us later, voters. They’ll get re-elected, of course. You can’t make this stuff up, people. And even if you could no one would believe you.

Germany to Bring Back Old Coal Plants as Russia Cuts Gas Supply – Government to offer financing to ensure storage is increased.

Country to rely more on coal-fired power plants, minister says.

Back To The Future

April 7, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Or is it more like escape to the future? Because your plans aren’t panning out now?

Germany unveils plans to accelerate green energy expansion – The package envisages green energy accounting for 80% of the power mix in Europe’s biggest economy by 2030, up from about 40% now and a previous target of 65%.

Sure. It’s easy to set future deadlines for things you haven’t been able to do yet. The tricky part is setting these deadlines for things you’ll never be able to do. Like creating a Renewable German Green Utopia. Here just a few fun facts that nobody here wants to look at:

  • Renewables in Germany contributed to electricity prices rising 50 percent since 2007. Electricity prices here are 45 percent higher than the European average and the highest in Europe. Now. And in that Brave New Future?
  • Wind and solar renewables are unreliable, requiring 100% backup (you need two expensive energy systems, coal and gas in this case because nuclear is still verboten). They are also energy-dilute, that is, not -dense, meaning they require huge tracts of land, transmission lines, mining, etc.
  • An example: If the U.S. was to generate all the energy it uses with renewables, 25% to 50% of all land in the U.S. would be needed. Today’s energy system needs just 0.5 percent of land in the U.S. (Smil, Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses).

In other words, running Germany on renewable energy ain’t never gonna happen.

Talk The Talk Until You Drop

September 16, 2021 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But walk the walk? How?

Renewables can’t generate enough energy. In Germany or elsewhere. The German “transition to renewables” isn’t doomed because it’s being done wrong. It’s doomed because our civilization can’t return to pre-modern life. Now, nuclear energy, on the other hand…

Can Germany – Europe’s biggest carbon polluter – clean up its act?

That climate change has figured prominently in the national election campaign now underway in Germany is hardly surprising.

Devastating flash floods that killed almost 200 people there this summer have focused even more attention on the issue in a country already reputed to be one of the most climate-conscious in the world. Around 50% of electricity in Germany comes from renewable energy sources, and the government in Berlin has signed up to some of the most ambitious decarbonization targets, including net-zero emissions by 2045 — five years earlier than most other developed economies…

Twenty percent of German power is generated by burning coal — about the same as in the U.S. — but a large amount of the German coal is of the most carbon polluting type, lignite…

Germany has committed to phasing out coal by 2038, but Laumanns would like to see a much quicker exit and hopes the government will be shamed into action at COP26.

“I hope that it’s going to be an international humiliation for Germany, so that this green image of Germany is corrected,” he said.