Angela Merkel and the German government once declared the lofty aim of putting one million electric cars on German streets in a bid on how to show the world how to be environmentally responsible.
One for the history books. Electric cars cannot compete in Germany – even 108 years later.
But today they admit they will not even come close to reaching this target. In fact experts say Germany faces a new challenge: how to ensure a basic supply of electricity to its homes and businesses this winter, forget about powering a million cars with electricity in addition!
Not long ago, Germany’s energy generation and distribution system globally was second to none when it came to reliability, price and stability, making the country an attractive location for energy-intensive, high-tech industry. Germany was even a net exporter of power.
But then the government and media, having succumbed to mass climate and nuclear hysteria, made a rash, blind leap into alternative energies, particularly sun and wind. Electricity prices have been skyrocketing ever since and the supply of power has become unstable and expensive.
Larger companies are now moving out.
Germany’s power generation and distribution infrastructure has taken a massive hit because of the conversion to renewable energies. In just a few short years electricity has become one of the most expensive in the world and experts are now placing even bets that the grid will not be able to avert a blackout this winter. So far and so fast have the mighty fallen.
The Local quotes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung:
The hype is over. The high expectations for electric cars, which have no carbon dioxide emissions, has been replaced by huge disappointment, the paper wrote.”
The German article by FASZ is here:
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/elektromobilitaet-der-hype-ist-vorbei-11908512.html
This is the big chance for the German leftists. By promising subsidies for electric cars (akin to the Obamaphone) they might be able to buy votes! Now they only need to teach Steinbrück to lie like Obama.
I am not looking forward to the reports of death due to cold this Winter…
Is there any way of finding out what the actual cost is for Germany’s electricity?
I can certainly tell our renewable energy supporters here in the US that, “In just a few short years [Germany’s] electricity has become one of the most expensive in the world'”, but the actual cost in $/KwH would have a solid impact.
Thanks!
Customer rates?
Below 60 MWh a year you pay a residential rate which is on average 0.235 EUR/kWh ATM.
Above 60 MWh a year you can get an industrial tariff and pay 0.135 EUR/kWh.
These are averages. You can shop around, there are 500 providers – the big ones like EON and RWE, communal ones who operate a 300 MW plant for a small city, and energy traders, the most expensive one being Greenpeace Energy who sell you hydropower for 0.26 EUR/kWh; preying on the CO2AGW believers.
Tariffs vary concerning fixed administrative fee and price per kWh but that’s the rough price level.
websites like these offer price comparisons :
http://www.stromvergleich.de/
Without the mandated cross subsidy industrial and residential tariff would both be cheaper by 3.56 Eurocents/kWh. This mandated fee rises each year and is expected to reach 5 Eurocent/kWh in 2013.
Cross subsidy total is 16 bn EUR a year ATM and rises exponentially.
Here is a comprehensive report from 2011 about the development. It’s predictions are still valid. Unfortunately I only find it in German.
http://en.rwi-essen.de/publikationen/rwi-positionen/240/
For comparison: German GDP/yr is about 3.1 tn EUR, population about 82 million. Electricity consumption per household between 2 to 4 MWh/yr depending on household size and habits.
1/3 of electricity is consumed by households, 1/3 by commerce, 1/3 by public sector/infrastructure.
Electricty is 1/7 of German primary energy consumption. 3/7 are transportation fuels, 3/7 are for heating/cooling (mostly heating).
I’ll let my father know that he can go back to Germany this winter and practice his trade as “Ofensetzer”.
Might be a bit more difficult cutting a hole through double/triple glazing to put the chimney out the window, but not much has changed.
Kids may be sent to scrounge coals for heating if there’s a power station nearby.
BTW: Haven’t heard much about _that_ anniversary. Already forgotten after 22 years? Or are Merkel, et al. bowing to their overlords in Brussels; to ensure that Germany won’t make it to a 25th anniversary?
It’s a public holiday, tomorrow, October the 3rd, Tag Der Deutschen Einheit, and there’ll be the usual parade of natives from the 17 Bundesländer in their respective Landestrachten through the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.
In my opinion we’ll have a slow slide to oblivion over the next 30 years. Italians devalue currencies steadily but slowly. Germans won’t riot, except for our undernourished Black Bloc.
I thought it was the 3rd yesterday… ahead of my time?
More likely confuddled.
[…] Green News Source- Click to read full article […]
Just found this ADAC report: http://www.adac.de/infotestrat/adac-im-einsatz/motorwelt/Praxistest-eRallye-Suedtirol-2012.aspx
Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that their gasoline-equivalent consumption is based on 100% thermal efficiency. With realistic efficiencies, fuel consumption of the electric vehicles isn’t marvellous. Between about 4.5 and 7 l/100km in gasoline or 3 to 5 l/100km in diesel assuming state-of-the-art combustion technologies.
Of course, ADAC would be more honest if they quoted consumption in kg coal/100km. 😉
To be fair, they did quote one of the participants: “Die Angst liegenzubleiben fährt immer mit.”