[y66]

From Sun and wind alter global landscape, leaving utilities behind:

Of all the developed nations, few have pushed harder than Germany to find a solution to global warming.

The word the Germans use for their plan is starting to make its way into conversations elsewhere: energiewende, the energy transition. Worldwide, Germany is being held up as a model, cited by environmental activists as proof that a transformation of the global energy system is possible.

“It’s pretty amazing what’s happening, really,” said Gerard Reid, an Irish financier working in Berlin on German energy projects. “The Germans call it a transformation, but to me it’s a revolution.”

[kenberg]

An extraordinary article with plenty of material to think about. I really like this and I will pass it around to interested others.

[Aberlour10]

y66, on 2014-September-14, 10:20, said:

"It's pretty amazing what's happening, really," said Gerard Reid, an Irish financier working in Berlin on German energy projects. "The Germans call it a transformation, but to me it's a revolution."

The common german customer like me, does not think so. The prices for energy exploded, especially in last 2 years. I suppose, if the common citizien in the USA would get the same bills for energy like we here, he would burn Washington down for such a Energiewende.

[kenberg]

Aberlour10, on 2014-September-14, 16:03, said:

The common german customer like me, does not think so. The prices for energy exploded, especially in last 2 years. I suppose, if the common citizien in the USA would get the same bills for energy like we here, he would burn Washington down for such a Energiewende.

It is true that my skepticism meter clanged a bit when I read

Quote

"It's so simple when we tell a customer, 'You're guaranteed to save money,' " said David J. Kaiserman, president of Lennar Ventures, the division overseeing the solar plan.

Nonetheless, I was largely unaware of all of this and it looks to me like being unaware is a mistake. I hope for the best for it, and I think we could pay some serious attention. I make no assertion that Germany is doing it right or that Germany is doing it wrong, but it does appear that they are doing.

As for burning Washington, that was 200 years ago. Let sleeping dogs lie.

[Aberlour10]

kenberg, on 2014-September-15, 07:41, said:

It is true that my skepticism meter clanged a bit when I read

Nonetheless, I was largely unaware of all of this and it looks to me like being unaware is a mistake. I hope for the best for it, and I think we could pay some serious attention. I make no assertion that Germany is doing it right or that Germany is doing it wrong, but it does appear that they are doing.

As for burning Washington, that was 200 years ago. Let sleeping dogs lie.

Sure, in the theory all these methods and innovations introduceed in Germany sound good. But this whole system is still unroofed, unsophisticated, they got in panic after Fukushima and decided things without think about it to the end. Who pays for it? The common customer. He subsidizes with his electric power bill the german industrie, because they have to be able to compete with countries with "traditional" energy poliicy. He pays also for all the house owners with solar systems on their roofs, subsidizing this costs and the eletric power these owners sell to the market. The goverment does not act in this matter, somebody have to pay all these dreams. These experiments are senseless so long most our neigbours like France, Poland etc set the future with nuclear power.

[Vampyr]

Germany is increasing its burning of lignite, which emits much more CO₂ than other kinds of coal.

[Vampyr]

Aberlour10, on 2014-September-15, 08:00, said:

These experiments are senseless so long most our neigbours like France, Poland etc set the future with nuclear power.

Apparently Germany has ruled out the use of nuclear energy and is in the process of shutting down existing plants. So Germany will have to find other ways, many of which will be expensive.

[blackshoe]

kenberg, on 2014-September-15, 07:41, said:

As for burning Washington, that was 200 years ago. Let sleeping dogs lie.

And again in 1968. Some of it, anyway.

[y66]

From a thoughtful opinion piece in today's paper by my favorite talking head outside the watercooler:

Quote

This just in: Saving the planet would be cheap; it might even be free. But will anyone believe the good news?

I’ve just been reading two new reports on the economics of fighting climate change: a big study by a blue-ribbon international group, the New Climate Economy Project, and a working paper from the International Monetary Fund. Both claim that strong measures to limit carbon emissions would have hardly any negative effect on economic growth, and might actually lead to faster growth. This may sound too good to be true, but it isn’t. These are serious, careful analyses.

Maybe he also saw this chart on the energiewende site: