Yet again, renewables prove the naysayers wrong. This time last year people worried Germany couldn’t cope without Russian gas. Vladimir Putin lost that bet. Instead, efficiency measures and renewables mean Germany will never need Russian gas again.
Some people lament German decisions on nuclear power. Even France, Europe’s nuclear leader, can’t build new nuclear on time, or on budget. Their flagship new nuclear project, Hinkley Point C in England, is years late and has doubled in cost. Meanwhile, Germany is just over ten years away from being 100% renewables powered, and never needing nuclear again either. I still see plenty of people arguing that 100% renewable powered grids are impossible - yet here it is happening, right in front of our eyes.
Yet again, renewables prove the naysayers wrong. This time last year people worried Germany couldn’t cope without Russian gas.
And this isn’t entirly wrong. Germany is in one of the biggest economic crises into a livetime. Maybe even bigger than 2008 worldwide. And one big issue with this are the hight energy prizes.
Instead, efficiency measures and renewables mean Germany will never need Russian gas again.
Germany, like the United States for that matter, still imported gas! There are even claims that Germany in fact still imports Russian gas with a middleman.
The renewables have big yet unsolved issues with the problem of timing. Renewables produces energy if the wind blows and the sun shines, not when people actually demand energy.
I still see plenty of people arguing that 100% renewable powered grids are impossible - yet here it is happening, right in front of our eyes.
Seriously, I would not bet on the casestudy of Germany for that. I could be backfire horrific.
Renewables produces energy if the wind blows and the sun shines, not when people actually demand energy.
Can you explain this? Do transitional winds not cover mornings (the most energy heavy time of the day) rather well?
Can you explain this? Do transitional winds not cover mornings (the most energy heavy time of the day) rather well?
There are times in the year, which are called “Dunkelflaute” in German and in this time you have both: No solar energy and no wind energy. This mean, in this time you have a greater demand than produce.
Another problem is that the main demand of energy (privat households) is between 5 pm O’clock and 10 pm o’clock. At this time frame, you have usually lesser solar energy, while the peak of solar energy is during the noon, when the main part of people worked.
The problem is: How to store the energy for later use?
In 2017, 51% of the electricity produced in Germany was low carbon.
What sources are catagorized as “low carbon” vs “renewable” vs “fossil fuels”?
Renewable energy production is based on renewable energy sources such as wind and water flow, sunshine, and geothermal energy. Low-carbon energy production means that the production involves a very low level of greenhouse gas emissions, such as in nuclear power production.
