We won’t break it up until it’s broken

April 29, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, Germany, Greens, Monopolies, Renewables, Solar energy, Spain, Wind Energy Leave a comment

Really broken. Even more broken than it already is (see Spain’s Green energy adventure yesterday).

Berlin faces EU test over German electricity market break-up – Sweden, Belgium and Czech Republic argue country’s market restructuring could drive prices down.

Germany’s new government faces an early test of its sway in Brussels as it defies pressure from neighbouring countries to break up the German electricity market.

Sweden, Belgium and the Czech Republic are among countries to have argued that splitting the large German market into several zones could lower prices for their consumers, as electricity flows to the region of highest priced demand.

You blew it, Germany

April 27, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, Germany, Greens, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Wind Energy Leave a comment

Because your wind energy blows.

When the Wind Didn’t Blow in Germany – A years-long renewables push leaves the economy hostage to the weather.

Germany has invested so many hundreds of billions of euros in its green energy transition over the years that no one can tally the precise amount. Yet the share of wind and solar power in the country’s energy mix in the first quarter of this year managed to fall—by a lot. There’s a lesson for the U.S. here.

“1.5 million Germans” can’t be wrong?

December 19, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hideology Tags: Balconies, Germany, Renewables, Solar energy 1 Comment

You’re right. The number of Germans being wrong is vastly higher.

When it comes to renewable energy, I mean.

‘If 1.5m Germans have them there must be something in it’: how balcony solar is taking off – Balcony solar panels can save 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill and, with vertical surface area in cities larger than roof space, the appeal is clear.

German of the day: Dunkelflaute

December 12, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Climate, Electricity, Energy, German, Germany, Greens, Language, Renewables, Solar energy, Weather, Wind Energy Leave a comment

That means the “dark duldrums.”

It’s dark here all the time these days, in other words. And there’s not much wind either. “Renewables” don’t seem to like that for some reason.

A weather phenomenon dubbed ‘Dunkelflaute’ is causing havoc in Germany and pushing energy prices to 2-decade highs – A weather phenomenon dubbed “Dunkelflaute” that causes chilly, low-wind conditions is sweeping across Europe and causing fresh havoc to Germany’s embattled economy, where energy prices have risen to a two-decade high.

A Dunkelflaute, translated as “dark doldrums” or “dark wind lull,” is the bain of renewables companies, with an extended period of low wind and cloudy weather hurting their ability to generate electricity from either wind or solar.

Green energy is fun!

July 30, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Energy, Germany, Greens, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Subsidies, Wind Energy Leave a comment

In Green Unicornland, maybe.

But in real countries like Germany where you have to pay real subsidies you can’t afford to pay anymore, that’s where the fun must eventually stop.

Germany’s Ballooning Subsidy Costs Show Challenge of Going Green – Subsidies are draining budget as green power appeal surges Shift may set tone for others contemplating cost of transition.

Germany is buckling under the weight of ballooning renewable energy subsidies, raising questions for governments across the world about how long they can afford to prop up green investments.

Just Say No

July 5, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Coal, Coal-Fired Power Plants, Energy, German, Germans, Germany, Government Waste, Industry, Nuclear energy, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Taxation, Wind Energy Leave a comment

No, not no to drugs. Just say no to energy. Electricity was yesterday.

No nuclear energy, no coal energy. Not much sun either for solar energy. There’s lots of wind in Germany, though. Hot air mostly but still.

Germany is first major economy to phase out coal and nuclear – German lawmakers have finalized the country’s long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source, backing a plan that environmental groups say isn’t ambitious enough and free marketeers criticize as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Bills approved by both houses of parliament Friday envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 and spending some 40 billion euros ($45 billion) to help affected regions cope with the transition.

The plan is part of Germany’s ‘energy transition’ – an effort to wean Europe’s biggest economy off planet-warming fossil fuels and generate all of the country’s considerable energy needs from renewable sources. Achieving that goal is made harder than in comparable countries such as France and Britain because of Germany’s existing commitment to also phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022.

We’ll Always Have Paris

November 17, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Costs, German, Germans, Germany, Paris Climate Agreement, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Subsidies, Wind Energy 1 Comment

Sometimes relationships just don’t make sense anymore.

People and renewable forms of energy grow apart and become, you know, different people. Then it’s time to move on. It’s tragic, I know. It’s heartbreaking. But that’s the way the German wind turbine crumbles.

German campaigners fall out of love with wind power – Growing opposition and lack of land spark collapse in construction of new turbines.

Der Ausbau der Windenergie ist ins Stocken geraten. Droht der Branche das gleiche Schicksal wie der Solarindustrie?

Our Energy Doesn’t Stink

February 22, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Coal, German, Germans, Germany, Green energy, Nuclear energy, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Wind Energy Leave a comment

But we need yours anyway, OK? Your nuclear and coal burning energy…

Merkel’s Government Looks Abroad to Keep Germany’s Lights On – Germany will rely heavily on neighboring nations in Europe to avert blackouts as it weans itself off coal over the next two decades, a senior government official said.

Europe’s biggest consumer of electricity is working to shut power plants fueled by both coal and nuclear energy that account for half of the nation’s generation capacity. Thomas Bareiss, a deputy economy and energy minister, acknowledged that retiring all those plants poses a challenge that may leave Germany reliant on imported electricity.

“It means thinking ahead and acting in concert in an already active cross-border market.”

German Of The Day: Aktionskunst

June 26, 2018 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Habitudes, Hideology, High Art, Home Cooking, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Activists, Berlin, Coal-Burning Power Plants, Coal-Firing Power Plants, Demonstrations, Green energy, Greenpeace, Performance Art, Protests, Renewable energy, Solar energy 2 Comments

That means performance art. And in one of the stupidist performances seen to date in Berlin, Greenpeace activists painted the streets around the Siegessäule (Victory Column) yellow. Greenpeace went yellow, in other words.

They stole this idea from the ancient Egyptions, I believe, as they also worshipped the sun (it kind of looks like the sun, see?). The yellow paint, I think, representing, uh, sunlight or something and thus symbolizing, well, how the hell am I supposed to know what this symbolizes? Wait, I’ve got it now. It symbolizes just how awful coal-firng power plants can be for sun-worshiping Greenpeace Germans (yellow or not) and the rest of humanity for that matter and that they need to be shut down immediately or something. Big medicine, folks. Why didn’t somebody think of doing this before?

Die Berliner Polizei ermittelt gegen Aktivisten der Umweltorganisation Greenpeace – zum einen wegen gefährlichen Eingriffs in den Straßenverkehr, zum anderen wegen eines Verstoßes gegen das Versammlungsgesetz. Greenpeace hatte am Dienstagmorgen um 7.30 Uhr auf dem Großen Stern in Tiergarten gelbe Farbe ausgekippt, insgesamt 3500 Liter.

German Brains Tick Differently

August 11, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helections, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Polls, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Surveys, Wind Energy 2 Comments

So let’s tock about it. “Germans Just Love Paying Sky-High Prices for Green Energy.”

Huh? I don’t get it, either. It’s kind of like Angela Merkel’s popularity ratings. How could she still be in office after that refugee number of hers? Yet her popularity ratings are still very high. It makes no sense.

So even though… The cost of the Energiewende is largely borne by German consumers, who pay a surcharge of around €20 ($23.61) on their energy bills. German households pay more for their electricity than in any other European country except for Denmark, where power costs €0.308 per kilowatt hour to Germany’s €0.298.

However, as the latest survey – conducted by Kantar Emnid on the AEE’s behalf – shows, enthusiasm for renewables is increasing if anything. “The survey results show the breadth of the societal consensus supporting the Energiewende in Germany,” said AEE deputy managing director Nils Boenigk.

The AEE’s survey that 95 percent saw the expansion of renewables as important or extremely important. That’s up from 93% in a similar survey last year.

95 Prozent der Deutschen für Ausbau von Ökostromanlagen.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Solar energy