From Forbes:

But, I want to focus on Germany’s energy situation here, a predicament of its own making. It was all supposed to be so different. Backed by its ambitious Energiewende “energy transition” plan and the Kyoto Protocol, the country has invested heavily for decades now to not just “get off” Russian energy but to get away from fossil fuels altogether. The reality is that this isn’t coming close to happening. For example, wind and solar still supply just 3% of Germany’s energy, compared to to a whopping 79% for fossil fuel (see Figure). As for power, which accounts for less than half of all energy consumed but is the only energy market that wind and solar compete in, even though “Germany has spent $200 billion over the past two decades to promote cleaner sources of electricity,” wind and solar supply just 18% of electricity, compared to 43% for coal – mind-blowing because we were told that coal would “go away the fastest.”

Germany is still overwhelmingly fossil fuel-based.Data source: IEA

Source: IEA

Germany’s need for even more Russian energy – which the Trump administration isn’t alone in calling a threat to the NATO alliance – is indicative of the country’s energy failures.  The blind obsession with renewable energy explains why Germany has been paying over $26 billion per year for electricity that has a wholesale market value of just $5 billion. The results for families are devastating. Home electricity rates in Germany average around 40 cents per KWh, compared to 13 cents in the U.S. The upside appears non-existent: “Germany to miss 2020 greenhouse gas emissions target.” The phase-out of non-carbon nuclear will make Germany’s climate ambitious far tougher.

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