The future is NOW - and thank God it's in Germany!

Sorry to bang on, I'm beginning to sound like a saloon bar bore - sorry, didn't quite catch that?  However, we can now see the absolute and awful result of 'Greenery' at work - in Germany.  Der Spiegel covers it in a detailed report which should be required reading for all government ministers, and especially, an  ex-minister who might well have time on his hands over the next few months in between 'slopping out'!  The whole sorry mess is summed up by the fate of the ThyssenKrupp steel plant in Krefeld:

Despite the signs, protests and pickets, ThyssenKrupp, Germany's largest steelmaker, sold its Krefeld stainless steel mill to Finnish competitor Outukumpu two weeks ago. The new owner plans to shut down production by the end of next year, leaving more than 400 workers without a job. The economic loss to this stricken city on the lower Rhine will be significant.  

The closing of the Krefeld mill cannot be blamed on low-wage competition from the Far East or mismanagement at ThyssenKrupp's Essen headquarters, but rather on the misguided policies of the German government. That, at least, is the view held by those affected by the closing. Since Chancellor Angela Merkel's government abruptly decided to phase out nuclear energy last spring in the wake of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, the situation for industries that consume a lot of electricity has become much more tenuous.

This is not some local event but reflects a reality that is being felt all over Germany:

In macroeconomic terms, the impending demise of heavy industry is all the more worrying, because the job losses will not be offset elsewhere. There is no sign yet of the green economic miracle that the federal government promised would accompany Germany's new energy strategy. On the contrary, many manufacturers of wind turbines and solar panels complain that business is bad and are cutting jobs. Some solar companies have already gone out of business. The environmental sector faces a number of problems, especially -- and ironically -- those stemming from high energy prices.

And it isn't just the high price of energy that is forcing German manufacturers to relocate but also the increasing risk of power cuts:

It is equally important to stabilize the power grid as quickly as possible to prevent blackouts from occurring. Until now, the reliability of the German electricity supply was seen as a significant advantage for doing business in the country. But the loss of several nuclear power plants, coupled with the unpredictability of electricity from wind and solar sources, has changed the situation.

There have been several instances recently of power cuts resulting from the strain imposed on the German grid.  These cuts, as power is desperately switched from one area to another to meet demand, take place so quickly that domestic consumers are unaware of them but the damage to manufacturing industry is enormous because their sophisticated machinery cannot just be stopped and started again without hefty costs.

In Germany today we can see 'the Green future' - and it stinks!

 

Comments

[dearieme]

Is there a technical term for the case of a whole ruling class taking leave of its senses, as in Global Warmmongering?

By the by, about Homeland. The psychotic blonde CIA agent had served in Iraq: what if she had briefly been a PoW and was the one "turned"? If she's got wind that Brody knows that someone was turned she's got an incentive to finger him.

[David Duff]

DM, in the nicest possible way, will you STFU! I have enough trouble trying to follow the plots of these things as they unfold without trying to unentangle your theories as to what might or might not be. And on top of 'Homeland', the latest Danish police thriller started last night on ITV3 and I only lasted as far the first commercial break because my head started to hurt!

However, I forgive you everything for "warmmongering" - love it!

[dearieme]

Oh well I'll confine myself to conventional criticism: the chap playing the ambitious black boss at the CIA keeps wandering out of his American accent into a Lunnun one.

[David Duff]

I'm going to have to give you 'audience lessons', DM, starting with 'Belief Suspension 101':

"Forsooth, my Lord, here comes the Dauphin of France."
Enter stage left, black woman in armour.

See what I mean?

[dearieme]

Ah, but I can't tell whether he's not a very good actor, or will be revealed to be a "plant" from MI6. My money's on the former.

[David Duff]

The only plants MI6 have are the potted ones on those rather elegant terraces high up on their posh new HQ!

Incidentally, talking of convoluted plots I have just watched (only 15 years late!) "LA Confidential". You can tell how complicated that is by the length of space Wiki needs to explain it. I shall post on it tomorrow.

[Furor Teutonicus]

XX There is no sign yet of the green economic miracle that the federal government promised would accompany Germany's new energy strategy.XX

On the contrary. They are to cut subsidies for solar power. Which, they SAY will mean more job losses. (Except, as most of the bloody panels appear to be made in China, I don't know where they get that from.)

Private consumers are also being charged more for their electric, to keep the supply to large users cheap.

So they say. The story here appears to throw that theory in the shitter as well.

AS to power cuts. Due to the closing of nukes, we are having to buy power from France, where they have had to increase the output of....NUCLEAR power to cover the needs, of Germany who are only in the shit because of.......

Aye. RIGHT!

The sooner we get rid of the FDJ Tussi, the better.

[David Duff]

Hello, 'FT', I might regret this but can you please explain what "FDG Tussi" means.