The True Cost Of The Green Energy Boom Is Now Being Realized

[Ptarmigan]

The True Cost Of The Green Energy Boom Is Now Being Realized
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-True-Cost-Of-The-Green-Energy-Boom-Is-Now-Being-Realized.html

In 2018, a pair of us on the MetalMiner team attended the “premier aluminum conference in Europe” — Aluminum 2018 Dusseldorf. Although Dusseldorf felt like a charming Ohio blue collar town with good beer, one of us left the event with a deep cough (obviously pre-Covid). Oddly enough, the weather alert app kept displaying daily ozone levels in the “high” or “extremely high” range. As a puzzled American, one of us appeared confused and the other, thankfully knowledgeable. The cough comes down to the type of energy now used in Germany, coal. MetalMiner’s European colleague quickly explained that after the Japanese Fukushima nuclear disaster, Germany implemented a plan to shut down its entire nuclear operations no later than 2022.  In hindsight, that decision by Germany appears both foolish and ironic. Foolish because Germany has lost its negotiating power (pun intended) with Russia for which it relies.  It’s ironic because the country already had “clean energy” but now must turn back to dirty energy to avoid blackouts.

In the meantime, while the world watches the Russian invasion and also the impact of sanctions, (we’ll venture a guess that they will have minimal impact), the MetalMiner analyst team discussed Europe’s energy situation and the impact on various metals markets.

Germany went green. They stop nuclear after Fukushima disaster in 2011. They went to coal as a result. How did that work out?

[3rd-try]

In hindsight, that decision by Germany appears both foolish and ironic.

The "benefit of hindsight" wasn't needed for anyone with even a trace amount of common sense. The proposal should have been laughed out of the building when first introduced.