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I think this is partially due to non-stable political leadership. The gas crisis could be eased by opening the valves for Russian gas - this was the plan of Mer

I think this is partially due to non-stable political leadership. The gas crisis could be eased by opening the valves for Russian gas - this was the plan of Merkel's CDU party. The new government has a strong green touch. For some reason, the Greens ended up in the foreign affairs ministry (instead of in the transportation ministry, which would have been an excellent fit but is just not as "fancy"). Now we have green foreign politics which lead to further tensions with Russia, no North Stream 2 gas, hence, the gas crisis will likely continue. Instead, "dirtier" LNG gas is imported from the US, but the Green Party made its point.

julienfr112 5y ago
Non stable political leadership ? Wait, Germany, right ? Do you know Angela ?
belorn 5y ago
The German plan was to invest and heavily subsidize the construction of renewables, wind and solar, since that was declared the cheapest way to generate power. Are you saying the actually plan by the CDU was all along to build a dependency on Russian gas, and only use renewables when the weather allowed it? That seems like a terrible plan and quite expensive. Why was that the plan?
- cinntaile 5y ago
  Gas is a temporary measure until renewables can stand on its own. Maybe some plants will stick around forever because peakers are nice to have, but the dependency should reduce over time.
  - melling 5y ago
    We’ve been waiting decades for renewables Coal for electricity globally is at record highs. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/12/20/coal-fired-power-generation-set-to-hit-all-time-high-in-2021-iea.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/12/20/coal-fired-power-generat... it really appears that we aren’t going about this in an effective manner
    - cinntaile 5y ago
      That's not so surprising, total energy usage keeps increasing. Renewable energy only supplies a small part of that, but it's rapidly increasing.
  - belorn 5y ago
    Waiting for a technology to be viable is risky and potentially very costly, and using Russia as your temporary measure without any alternatives seems like a irresponsible decision that should require public support. Did Germans actually want this, or was renewable presented to the public as something that already could stand on its own?
    - cinntaile 5y ago
      They're aware. Merkel didn't want to close the nuclear power plants but was forced to shift policy after Fukushima due to public pressure. Germany's policies basically made solar and wind a viable option for everyone from a cost perspective, it wasn't when they started and took the leap. All in all, they knew.
inglor_cz 5y ago
Few major Western parties are as ossified as the CDU. The fact that they have been pushed out of goverment after spending 16 years under a single leader there(!) does not mean that German politics suffers from instability.
- tharkun__ 5y ago
  Not just that. Before Merkel, sure there was a brief period of an SPD chancellor (Gerhard Schröder), who after that went to work for Gazprom! Before that Germany had 16 years of Helmut Kohl, who was Angela Merkel's "political father". Helmut Kohl (1982–1998) Gerhard Schröder (1998–2005) Angela Merkel (2005–2021)

julienfr112 5y ago

Non stable political leadership ? Wait, Germany, right ? Do you know Angela ?

belorn 5y ago

The German plan was to invest and heavily subsidize the construction of renewables, wind and solar, since that was declared the cheapest way to generate power. Are you saying the actually plan by the CDU was all along to build a dependency on Russian gas, and only use renewables when the weather allowed it? That seems like a terrible plan and quite expensive. Why was that the plan?

cinntaile 5y ago
Gas is a temporary measure until renewables can stand on its own. Maybe some plants will stick around forever because peakers are nice to have, but the dependency should reduce over time.
- melling 5y ago
  We’ve been waiting decades for renewables Coal for electricity globally is at record highs. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/12/20/coal-fired-power-generation-set-to-hit-all-time-high-in-2021-iea.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/12/20/coal-fired-power-generat... it really appears that we aren’t going about this in an effective manner
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    That's not so surprising, total energy usage keeps increasing. Renewable energy only supplies a small part of that, but it's rapidly increasing.
- belorn 5y ago
  Waiting for a technology to be viable is risky and potentially very costly, and using Russia as your temporary measure without any alternatives seems like a irresponsible decision that should require public support. Did Germans actually want this, or was renewable presented to the public as something that already could stand on its own?
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    They're aware. Merkel didn't want to close the nuclear power plants but was forced to shift policy after Fukushima due to public pressure. Germany's policies basically made solar and wind a viable option for everyone from a cost perspective, it wasn't when they started and took the leap. All in all, they knew.

inglor_cz 5y ago

Few major Western parties are as ossified as the CDU. The fact that they have been pushed out of goverment after spending 16 years under a single leader there(!) does not mean that German politics suffers from instability.

tharkun__ 5y ago
Not just that. Before Merkel, sure there was a brief period of an SPD chancellor (Gerhard Schröder), who after that went to work for Gazprom! Before that Germany had 16 years of Helmut Kohl, who was Angela Merkel's "political father". Helmut Kohl (1982–1998) Gerhard Schröder (1998–2005) Angela Merkel (2005–2021)