This war is revealing all sorts of interesting things. I had no idea Germany was so dependent on Russian oil, coal and gas. I thought Germany had at least phased out coal power plants but here they are reactivating them to preserve precious gas supplies. Germany has presented itself at the forefront of the green revolution. It turns out they are hardly better than Poland or Slovakia, notorious coal reliant states, and lag behind the EU average when it comes to renewable energy. Little Lithuania, which was slow to adopt sustainable energy, fairs much better than Germany per capita, drawing nearly 27% of its energy needs from renewable sources. Germany a pathetic 19 per cent.
You would think that Germany would have spent those milliards of euros on wind turbines and solar panels rather than the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Now they are stuck with a decommissioned pipeline under the Baltic Sea that is of absolutely no value to them. Yet, they send one of their massive turbines to Canada for repairs to jump start Nord Steam 1, as they fall short of their energy needs. This was another shock to me as I thought they could repair their own turbines. Turns out this particular Siemens branch is located in Ottawa. Needless to say, Ukraine was none too happy about this as it flies in the face of the EU sanctions against Russia, but what is poor Germany to do when it can't meet its energy needs.
The sad reality is that most EU countries can't meet their energy needs without importing oil, coal and gas from Russia. Spain and Italy are countries with a limitless supply of sunshine, yet they similarly lag behind the EU average when it comes to sustainable energy. Netherlands is one of the worst, a measly 15 per cent of energy needs come from renewables, despite boasting a public transportation system that runs exclusively on wind energy. These countries have had years to make the switch but chose not to. Instead, they tout their cosmetic efforts, while still importing massive amounts of non-renewable energy from Russia.
The worst part about it is that these countries love to scold their Eastern European neighbors for not doing enough when it comes to sustainable energy. Yet, seven Eastern European countries exceed the EU average with Latvia drawing a whopping 42% of its energy needs form renewables. It is third to Sweden and Finland. Romania and Bulgaria are two of the poorest countries in Europe, yet they both draw more than 23 per cent of their energy needs from renewables. Go figure?
None of these countries can compare to Norway and Iceland, which draw a whopping 80% of their energy needs from renewables. Norway doesn't have to, as it has massive oil and gas reserves, more than enough to supply its laggard EU neighbors, but Germany would rather spend milliards on Gazprom pipelines, thinking it would be cheaper in the end. This kind of pathetic shortsightedness is dragging down the EU at a time it needs to come together and find a way to meet its energy needs without being reliant on despotic foreign governments.
Unfortunately, it will take years for Germany to achieve any kind of energy self-sufficiency. Both the Social and Christian Democrats chose the easy path, working out deals with the Kremlin that they thought would buy them time. Now, they find themselves literally caught over a barrel with Putin squeezing them on gas, which they cannot phase out any time soon.
My son was recently in Bavaria and said he was shocked by the huge amount of trucks he saw. It seems that Germany relies heavily on truck transport for its goods, and is only now seeking "green solutions" to this crisis as it doesn't have enough oil or drivers to meet its insatiable demand for goods. You would think with their extensive rails and waterways that they would have long ago made the switch to these modes of freight transport. Nope.
You come to realize that Germany is a deeply conservative state. Green thinking remains on the fringe, despite recent gains by the Green Party in parliament. My friends in Germany all tend to side with the Green Party when it comes to politics but they find themselves frustrated by the slow motion nature of their government. I can empathize coming from the United States. For every step forward, it seems like we take two backwards. One hopes that this latest crisis will finally give the Social and Christian Democrats the incentive they need to move beyond Russia oil, coal and gas. They claim they will phase out coal and oil this year, but that remains to be seen. Count Olaf has gone back on any number of promises the past four months.
The EU had to know that when it started leveling economic sanctions on Russia that Putin would strike back. The leadership in Brussels didn't seem to take into account how far behind its biggest countries were when it came to sustainable energy. Germany could get its gas from other sources if it had sufficient liquid natural gas terminals, but here too it lags behind. So much for that great German engineering.
This is a pretty big disappointment as everyone was counting on Germany to take the lead when it came to exerting pressure on Russia. Instead, it is Germany who feels the crunch, worried that they might have to cut back on hot water supply. How sad is that?
We all went through this in Lithuania. When I first came to Vilnius in 1997, hot water would periodically be shut down as there wasn't enough energy to supply it 24/7. I took a few cold showers. Now, it is an actual movement. It is being promoted throughout Europe and has become the rage here. Come on, Germany, get with it!
Life is too short to allow your energy needs be dictated by Gazprom. This is a golden opportunity to say f@ck you to Putin and other despotic world leaders who think they can manipulate foreign policy with their oil and gas reserves. If Germany ended its reliance on Russian oil and gas that would pretty much bring the war in Ukraine to an end, as they are literally funding Putin's war effort. No wonder Zelenskyy is questioning ties with Germany. It is hard for Ukraine to see the leadership in Berlin as anything other than an enemy for its inability to cut ties with Moscow.
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