Max Planck Institute Economist: Germany’s Energiewende “Bordering On Suicide”…”Unimaginably Expensive Folly”

Richard Tol tweeted here a link to an article appearing at the Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (German Business News) about the country’s much ballyhooed Energiewende, in English: transition to renewable energies. The title:

Max Planck economist: ‘Transition To Renewable Energy Borders On Suicide’

Leading economic experts are firing harsh criticism at the energy policy of federal super minister Sigmar Gabriel. Germany as a friendly location for business is not only being weakened, the transition to renewable energy even borders on suicide and is an unimaginably expensive folly.”

Recently Angela Merkel’s grand coalition government just decided they would water down the scale-back in renewable energy subsidies. The Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten quotes Max Planck Institute researcher Axel Börsch-Supan, who has fired harsh words at Federal Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel:

With their policy, the grand coalition is weakening Germany’s location as a place to do business. This is especially true when it comes to the Energiewende, which is bordering on suicide.”

According to the Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, other experts are also slamming Germany’s “Energiewende”. For example Ifo Institute director Hans-Werner Sinn calls it an “unimaginably expensive folly“. Marc Tüngler director of a German financial association, calls it “a planned economy without a plan” that makes the Energiewende “unbearably expensive“.

The Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten concludes:

According to experts, the big losers are the consumers, who will have to expect continued increasing electricity prices.

 

5 responses to “Max Planck Institute Economist: Germany’s Energiewende “Bordering On Suicide”…”Unimaginably Expensive Folly””

  1. Stephen Richards

    The big losers will not be the consumers it will be Germany. BMW and Volkswagen are already creeping their way to USA and soon Daimler and steelmaking will follow. You will be back to mud houses within 20 years because cement will become too expensive for a poor non-manufacturing nation.

    But, Germany will not be alone. The whole of europe will be right with them.

    1. Jimbo

      Maybe this is the only thing that will end the global warming scare – winter freezing to death reality.

  2. DirkH

    Politcal haggling / pretend controverys between Berlin and Brussels over electricity rebates for German industry basically resolved. To the chagrin of everyone else, Germany is about to stay the 800 pound industrial gorilla it always was. (surprise surprise)
    http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/oekostrom-reform-beschlossen-einigung-ueber-industrie-rabatte-12885412.html

  3. How the IPCC Learned To Love The Apocalypse Touting Solutions They Concede Won’t Work In The Real World And Are Detrimental To The Environment | Power To The People

    […] dollars into these efforts as illustrated by the real world experience of Germany for example. https://notrickszone.com/2014/04/06/max-planck-institute-economist-germanys-energiewende-bordering-on… 2. Many IPCC References Show that Climate Mitigation, Adaptation and Sustainability Solutions […]

  4. Dirkse

    We have to realize that the increase of the pupulation and wealth was made possible by the abundance of cheap energy supplied by fossile fuels. Sun and wind energy (and some biofuels) are unable to continue our society. So, the current road of energy policy is heading middle ages, were there will be no place for 7 out of 8 people. Environmentalists call this “sustainable” and indeed: living in a sustainable fashion is easy for the poor and primitive. We are not living in a sustainable way (not for the last 1000’s of years) otherwise the steam engine would not have been invented. To continue a non-sustainable way of (prosperous) life requires constant innovations (what has historically happened).
    Energy transition = storage transition. Where are the new energy supplies? Nowhere. To survive in the long run, there is no other choice then to embrace nuclear energy in whatever form. Failing to invest in nuclear research is putting our society at risk.

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