German of the day: Märchenwald

May 11, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, Forests, German, Germany, Greens, Language, Renewable energy, Renewables, Trees, Wind Energy, Wind Turbines Leave a comment

That means fairytale forest.

You know, the German Brothers Grimm kind. The kind Germans these days level for wind parks.

Plan for windfarm in German ‘fairytale forest’ stokes green energy culture war – Far right accused of misinformation over turbines at Reinhardswald, which has left local people divided.

Deep in the woods that inspired the Brothers Grimm, past the tower from which Rapunzel threw down her hair and the castle in which Sleeping Beauty slumbered, lies a construction site that the far right has declared a crime against national soil and identity.

In this quiet corner of Germany’s “fairytale forest”, workers are clearing land and building access roads to erect 18 wind turbines.

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.

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.

German of the day: Luftschloss

July 20, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Budgets, Energy, German, Germany, Government, Language, Renewables, Subsidies, Wind Energy Leave a comment

That means a castle in the air.

You know, a pipe dream. Like Germany’s renewable “energy turnaround” pipe dream. Only now the money has stopped coming down the pipe. Reality always sticks up its ugly little head sooner or later.

Germany Plans to Cut Renewable Subsidies as State Costs Soar – Nation to cut all payments next year when prices turn negative.

Payments will also be based on investment rather than output.

“When the government makes loans or subsidies to business, what it does is to tax successful private business in order to support unsuccessful private business.”

– Henry Hazlitt

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.

These Wind Turbines Don’t Work

January 28, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humility, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy Costs, Energy Turnaround, German, Germans, Germany, Renewable energy, Subsidies, Wind Energy Leave a comment

German wind energy is in a crisis – “Five times the amount of wind turbines are needed.”

Like these wind turbines up there, Germany’s energy turnaround just isn’t turning around the way the smart people who planned it planned it. To turn around. Unless turning around and around in circles counts.

A mere 1078 megawatts worth of wind turbines were built last year – nearly 80 percent lower than the 2017 level.

Eine Windkraft-Leistung von gerade mal 1078 Megawatt wird im vergangenen Jahr installiert – fast 80 Prozent weniger als noch 2017.

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?

Ever Had A Windmill Shoved Down Your Throat?

October 31, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, German, Germans, Germany, Greens, Regulation, Renewable energy, Wind Energy, Wind Turbines 2 Comments

How about thousands of them? And then you’re allowed to subsidize them all?

You’d hat them too.

Germany’s Giant Windmills Are Wildly Unpopular – Local politics are a bigger problem for renewable energy growth than competition from fossil fuels.

Despite their surging popularity in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, the Greens did badly in last Sunday’s election in the German state of Thuringia, and the nationalists from the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD) did very well. An important reason is that the Greens support wind energy and the AfD militates against wind turbines. The giant windmills have grown so unpopular in neighboring communities that their construction in Germany has all but ground to a halt.

There are nearly 30,000 wind turbines in Germany, more than anywhere else in Europe. Only China and the U.S., both much bigger countries, have more. Germany gets 23.5% of its energy from wind this year; it’s the biggest source of renewable energy for the country. But in the first half of 2019, only 35 wind turbines were added — an 82% drop compared with the first six months of 2018. Last year was bad, too: Just 743 turbines were added, compared with 1,792 in 2017.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Wind Energy