CCS process. (Public domain graphic)
The German media today are reporting on the decision by Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, to reject a proposal to capture and sequester carbon dioxide emitted by power plants by pumping it into the ground, read here in English.
This rejection is a major setback for climate hero Angela Merkel and her silly plans to control GHG emissions.
Merkel’s government was hoping to compress, liquefy and store millions of tons of CO2 underground in a bid “to rescue the planet from “dangerous climate change” at a cost of billions to consumers (CCS is estimated to cost about ($30/ton). Indeed many of Germany’s politicians view the dumping of billions of euros into the ground to lower the global temperature by a few ten thousandths of a degree as a wise investment.
The truth is that many are involved in sweetheart deals with special interests and stand to make a killing. Unfortunately the Bundesrat, stirred by activists, thought the scheme was technically “too dangerous”. Just call it one stupidity killing another. But we’ll take a good decision any way we can – even if it is based on the wrong reasons.
Another reason the draft law was slapped down was because of a clause allowing individual German states to prevent CCS facilities from being built, thus enabling them to shirk their responsibilities.
As bad as nuclear energy!
Environmental kook groups like Greenpeace have been leading the protest against the CCS process, claiming dangerous CO2 “poison gas” poses “incalculable risks” and could explode or contaminate groundwater. Germany’s English-language The Local writes there are “fears of possible explosion-like uncontrolled emissions of the gas” and that “pressurised carbon dioxide storage underground was like nuclear power in that it was uncontrollable and not possible to secure.”
So what is left in Germany? Wind parks are facing mounting protests, burning fossil fuels face growing hurdles, nuclear power is being shut down, bio-fuels such as sun-diesel and ethanol are sinking further into controversy. Germany is boxing itself into a darkroom. Thank God the Eastern European countries are not rushing down the same path of folly. Soon Germany is going to need them to supply power.
“Just call it one stupidity killing another.”
Great line PG!!
Says it all really, no need for further comment from me:-))!!
Six weeks to save what can’t be saved.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2041201/George-Osbornes-eurozone-crisis-warning-6-weeks-save-euro.html
We soon worry about total different problems.
Obama during his UN speech steered up his old AGW mantra again.
In the mean time in Uganda the same mantra is used to commit genocide.
Armed Troops Burn Down Homes, Kill Children To Evict Ugandans In Name Of Global Warming
http://www.prisonplanet.com/armed-troops-burn-down-homes-kill-children-to-evict-ugandans-in-name-of-global-warming.html
And we’re discussing carbon sequestration?
I have said this many many times.
The UN has become our enemy, the AGW proponents have become our enemy and if you like it or not, we are at war.
It’s them or us. Period.
“one stupidity killing another”
Berlin is a madhouse. It must be something in the water.
Looks like it could be lead. This map explains why I have recognized the same symptoms in Hamburg.
http://www.allum.de/noxe/blei-im-trinkwasser.html
From CNN world.
Have a look at this cr*p:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/09/21/road-durban-berlin-green-projects.cnn
Or these ‘enlightened’ volk? – http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/21/world/europe/ursula-sladek-green-energy/index.html
The ‘Road to Durban’ [CNN propaganda campaign] and – a road to ‘economic perdition’.
There are, [imo] some shady vested interests behind this type of flowery rubbish reportage – never, is a real question asked, like, what is the cost of all this ‘green lunacy’?
And, no one [in CNN] ever questions the premise behind all this green lunacy – ie, AGW – is the greatest lie.
Contradicting the report of CNN, Ursula Sladek’s electricity is rather expensive.
Her tariffs:
http://www.ews-schoenau.de/sauberer-strom/preis.html
My provider:
http://www.toptarif.de/stromweb/;sid=931cd459-3253-409f-a3dd-d9469fc1c42d.uuid,162216a5-66e5-429e-8b33-a486a8e51b46.electricity,ele001?wicket:interface=:3::::&qaywsx=
Her cheapest kWh is 1.5 cent more expensive than mine. The high fixed taxes and levies are the same (with the exception of VAT which is a percentage); so that works to reduce the end prize difference. A kWh costs a minimum of about 7 cent in production so hers costs 8.5 before all the taxes are slapped on; so her production cost is 20% higher.
Most of her energy will come from hydropower, so if all citizens would want that the prize for hydropower would go to infinite.
Lousy reporting by CNN.
Thanks Dirk, good stuff as usual.
CNN? Dear God, I cannot make up my mind, if, they are as bad or even worse than the BBC.
As the Germans say, “You can throw them all in one bag, hit it with a stick, and always be sure you’ll hit the right one.”
What a delicious thought!