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Wind installation and Wind gear are completely different things. On the former, it's not a competition. On the later, Chinese state massively subsidized the i

Wind installation and Wind gear are completely different things. On the former, it's not a competition. On the later, Chinese state massively subsidized the industry with the objective of wiping out foreign competition. That said, few saw a war with Russia coming. The Greens are the #1 culprit, for their social destruction of Nuclear over the last 50 years. If we were to have expanded Nuclear at the pace of 1980 we'd be within striking distance of getting away from fossil fuels. It might be too late now. It's going to be a crappy winter and I have no faith that politicians will be able to do the big pie in the sky strategy things necessary. A Nuclear rewnewal, alongside doubling down on renewables is in order on 'Marshall Project' scale. The stakes are high now.

martijnvds 4y ago
The "green" parties around Europe also tried to get people to switch to solar/wind and other renewables. But the parties in charge (with their oil company lobbyists) didn't want that. And now those parties are blaming the greens because "you told us to get rid of nuclear".
- Swenrekcah 4y ago
  The technology is only just getting to the point a solar/wind grid is remotely feasible. Relying on it 40 years ago would have been laughable. Nuclear and hydropower are the only reliable options to be the backbone of the grid.
mdp2021 4y ago
> That said, few saw a war with Russia coming It was public doctrine in textbooks, taught at university. The warnings about moves at the chessboard (which in diplomacy often are issued in advance, contrary to chess) have been stated for decades, publicly and face to face. The products of the propaganda machine were quite reachable, and not really ambiguous. Really, that «few saw» is farcical. Edit: and it is quite worrisome to think that said "doctrine" is now implemented only up to a small fraction, and those expressions suggest blindness not just about the current actions, but the openly planned, stated future ones.
- sofixa 4y ago
  > Really, that «few saw» is farcical. War is always unthinkable. Yes, there were warning signs that, in retrospect, were obvious, but Russia invading Ukraine was so profoundly dumb it was difficult to expect for Putin to really go through with it. He did, his country is suffering in result, and he wants to make it mutual, WWI style. You can't really blame Germany for doing their best on making a war unthinkable through economic interdependence.
  - mdp2021 4y ago
    > warning signs that, in retrospect, were obvious An intention spelt out in textbooks?! Quite an understatement. Q: "So the part had been expressing an explicit, literal intention, public, codified, written, divulgated, explained et cetera?" // A: "...Heart, Hope, Daily routine, Expectation, Being alike..." You are defending a perspective of intentional removal of reality, and the principle of reality constraint, from conscience. > You can't really blame... for doing their best on making a war unthinkable through In that '«unthinkable»' you show the whole point. It was very much duly thinkable. Surely those who overrode reality, and in favour of illusion, and clinging unprepared in a cage of "que será", are to blame, and to blame, and to blame.
    - jollybean 4y ago
      The onus on you to show is this supposed 'doctrine' in 'textbooks' or we should assume you're wrong. I don't even agree in 'hindsight' this situation was obvious. It's a hugely risky and crazy manoeuvre by Putin that may very well be his undoing. The Russian economy is starting to crack, vast elements of key industrial sectors are collapsing. There are no good cars being made in Russia, and even their garbage Lada's, which nobody wants, might not get made due to sanctions. Car sales have dropped 80%, there's a vicious black market for spare parts. Most Russians drive foreign cars. What happens when the all need parts? Russian airline fleets cannot get maintenance or parts. They are being grounded. Nothing about this invasion is obvious or doctrinal. Entirely a surprise? Maybe not - but certainly not expected by anyone, even those paying attention.
jimmydef 4y ago
Why didn't the German government massively subsidize Green energy? How on earth is it right to criticize a government for subsidizing green energy in the face of climate change? The reason why solar panels are so cheap today was because Chinese companies achieved economies of scale due to governmental support. This is a GOOD thing. European countries were way ahead of the curve 10 years ago in terms of these green technologies but chose to do nothing. Their solar companies could have been world leaders as long as governmental policies supported them too. They would have been wiping others out. How can anyone blame China for investing/subsidizing in green energies? The way I view it, it's their just rewards for at least taking this aspect of green technology seriously while others did next to nothing in terms of subsidies.
- jollybean 4y ago
  You are again confusing production with installations. Europeans were never going to be the 'leaders' - and even without massive Chinese subsidies, it's unlikely that Europe would beat China in industry. Europe has been rolling out renewables at a good clip. The Greens of Europe and 'Greepeace' NA have been scaremongering about 'Nuclear' for decades. Fukishima was the last straw. We should have been investing in Nuclear for the last 30 years.
- Mlller 4y ago
  > Why didn't the German government massively subsidize Green energy? But they did? (Sorry if Iʼve misunderstood you.) “According to a 2016 study commissioned by a neoliberal think tank, €150 billion have been spent so far, and the bill is estimated to reach half a trillion euros by 2025.”[1] That was started by the Schröder government (1998–2005) and rather half-heartedly continued by the Merkel government (2005–2021), decreasing the subsidies. China has even benefitted from German subsidies. “Germany long aimed to be a front runner in the solar energy industry, but waning subsidies and rising competition from China have clouded its outlook. To add insult to injury, the Chinese boom has been generously supported by German financial aid.” … “According to KfW officials, it was precisely the subsidy policy's goal to help Chinese solar producers achieve a breakthrough, in order to promote the environmentally friendly technology internationally.”[2] [1] https://www.dw.com/en/german-issues-in-a-nutshell-energiewende/a-38869543 https://www.dw.com/en/german-issues-in-a-nutshell-energiewen... [2] https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-capital-error-germany-created-own-threat-with-chinese-solar-aid-a-817781.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-capital-error...
kjellsbells 4y ago
> few saw a war with Russia coming. Wilful blindness is a thing in international relations. Churchill plowed a lonely furrow in the 1930s. We were sure the bad old days were over in 1992. Etc. Policymakers and the public /wanted/ to believe that the era of aggression was over (or perhaps, more cynically, that the only permissible aggressor would remain the US).

martijnvds 4y ago

The "green" parties around Europe also tried to get people to switch to solar/wind and other renewables. But the parties in charge (with their oil company lobbyists) didn't want that. And now those parties are blaming the greens because "you told us to get rid of nuclear".

Swenrekcah 4y ago
The technology is only just getting to the point a solar/wind grid is remotely feasible. Relying on it 40 years ago would have been laughable. Nuclear and hydropower are the only reliable options to be the backbone of the grid.

mdp2021 4y ago

> That said, few saw a war with Russia coming It was public doctrine in textbooks, taught at university. The warnings about moves at the chessboard (which in diplomacy often are issued in advance, contrary to chess) have been stated for decades, publicly and face to face. The products of the propaganda machine were quite reachable, and not really ambiguous. Really, that «few saw» is farcical. Edit: and it is quite worrisome to think that said "doctrine" is now implemented only up to a small fraction, and those expressions suggest blindness not just about the current actions, but the openly planned, stated future ones.

sofixa 4y ago
> Really, that «few saw» is farcical. War is always unthinkable. Yes, there were warning signs that, in retrospect, were obvious, but Russia invading Ukraine was so profoundly dumb it was difficult to expect for Putin to really go through with it. He did, his country is suffering in result, and he wants to make it mutual, WWI style. You can't really blame Germany for doing their best on making a war unthinkable through economic interdependence.
- mdp2021 4y ago
  > warning signs that, in retrospect, were obvious An intention spelt out in textbooks?! Quite an understatement. Q: "So the part had been expressing an explicit, literal intention, public, codified, written, divulgated, explained et cetera?" // A: "...Heart, Hope, Daily routine, Expectation, Being alike..." You are defending a perspective of intentional removal of reality, and the principle of reality constraint, from conscience. > You can't really blame... for doing their best on making a war unthinkable through In that '«unthinkable»' you show the whole point. It was very much duly thinkable. Surely those who overrode reality, and in favour of illusion, and clinging unprepared in a cage of "que será", are to blame, and to blame, and to blame.
  - jollybean 4y ago
    The onus on you to show is this supposed 'doctrine' in 'textbooks' or we should assume you're wrong. I don't even agree in 'hindsight' this situation was obvious. It's a hugely risky and crazy manoeuvre by Putin that may very well be his undoing. The Russian economy is starting to crack, vast elements of key industrial sectors are collapsing. There are no good cars being made in Russia, and even their garbage Lada's, which nobody wants, might not get made due to sanctions. Car sales have dropped 80%, there's a vicious black market for spare parts. Most Russians drive foreign cars. What happens when the all need parts? Russian airline fleets cannot get maintenance or parts. They are being grounded. Nothing about this invasion is obvious or doctrinal. Entirely a surprise? Maybe not - but certainly not expected by anyone, even those paying attention.

jimmydef 4y ago

Why didn't the German government massively subsidize Green energy? How on earth is it right to criticize a government for subsidizing green energy in the face of climate change? The reason why solar panels are so cheap today was because Chinese companies achieved economies of scale due to governmental support. This is a GOOD thing. European countries were way ahead of the curve 10 years ago in terms of these green technologies but chose to do nothing. Their solar companies could have been world leaders as long as governmental policies supported them too. They would have been wiping others out. How can anyone blame China for investing/subsidizing in green energies? The way I view it, it's their just rewards for at least taking this aspect of green technology seriously while others did next to nothing in terms of subsidies.

jollybean 4y ago
You are again confusing production with installations. Europeans were never going to be the 'leaders' - and even without massive Chinese subsidies, it's unlikely that Europe would beat China in industry. Europe has been rolling out renewables at a good clip. The Greens of Europe and 'Greepeace' NA have been scaremongering about 'Nuclear' for decades. Fukishima was the last straw. We should have been investing in Nuclear for the last 30 years.
Mlller 4y ago
> Why didn't the German government massively subsidize Green energy? But they did? (Sorry if Iʼve misunderstood you.) “According to a 2016 study commissioned by a neoliberal think tank, €150 billion have been spent so far, and the bill is estimated to reach half a trillion euros by 2025.”[1] That was started by the Schröder government (1998–2005) and rather half-heartedly continued by the Merkel government (2005–2021), decreasing the subsidies. China has even benefitted from German subsidies. “Germany long aimed to be a front runner in the solar energy industry, but waning subsidies and rising competition from China have clouded its outlook. To add insult to injury, the Chinese boom has been generously supported by German financial aid.” … “According to KfW officials, it was precisely the subsidy policy's goal to help Chinese solar producers achieve a breakthrough, in order to promote the environmentally friendly technology internationally.”[2] [1] https://www.dw.com/en/german-issues-in-a-nutshell-energiewende/a-38869543 https://www.dw.com/en/german-issues-in-a-nutshell-energiewen... [2] https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-capital-error-germany-created-own-threat-with-chinese-solar-aid-a-817781.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-capital-error...

kjellsbells 4y ago

> few saw a war with Russia coming. Wilful blindness is a thing in international relations. Churchill plowed a lonely furrow in the 1930s. We were sure the bad old days were over in 1992. Etc. Policymakers and the public /wanted/ to believe that the era of aggression was over (or perhaps, more cynically, that the only permissible aggressor would remain the US).