Unlike the United Kingdom, where political sensibility can quash the most logical enactment of energy policy, plans for progress voiced so tentatively you can bearly feel a ripple, or hear it over the whispering swoosh of a new wind turbine blade, over in Deutschland, what they say, they intend to happen, and they’re making serious proposals about how that’s going to be done :-

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,716221,00.html

“09/07/2010 : Green Visions : Merkel’s Masterplan for a German Energy Revolution : By Stefan Schultz : Giant windparks, insulated buildings, electric cars and a European supergrid: the German government on Monday unveiled an ambitious but vague blueprint to launch a new era of green energy for Europe’s largest economy. SPIEGEL ONLINE has analyzed the plans…”

It appears to be time to wave bye-bye to German coal, incidentally, even as a strong commitment to renewable, sustainable energy is put on the table.

I wish the British Government could take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror of the future and realise what a bunch of dithering duffers they appear to be.

What we need is a proper Energy Policy, chaps, and since you’re in the hot seat you better come up with it. Elected or not, our ministers and officials need to get up out of their deep leather chairs, extinguish their pipes, don their working breeches and get digging for Britain, and I don’t mean Shale Gas or Old Coal.

Matt Phillips of the Claverton Energy Research Forum, had this to note :-

“Last week the German government released its major conclusions of a review of energy policy in its Energiekonzept. If your German is up to scratch, here it is: http://www.bmu.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/entw_energiekonzept_kf.pdf”

“Some major highlights of interest in the UK are:”

“1 CO2 targets affirmed: Germany firmly commits to a 40% by 2020 CO2 reduction target.”

“2 Grid and 80% RES: Germany now commits to very high levels of RES and much greater integration of Germany into the European grid. Germany’s RE electricity targets are now: 35% by 2020, 50% by 2030, 65% by 2040, 80% by 2050. It also has a very substantial set of plans around grid expansion and integration in Europe. This would have implications for the rest of the European grid – as if Germany looks for greater integration this would have a major impact on grid across Northern Europe. Germany sees offshore wind as a major growth area with a substantial investment/incentives plan to make it so. The Energiekonzept proposes a €5bn loan scheme for the first ten German offshore wind projects, guarantees to cover losses, support to build specialist vessels, special offshore FIT design and improvements in permitting arrangements. The loan scheme will be financed by KfW – the government bank (equivalent of the Green Investment Bank proposed in the UK – but with major question marks at the moment over the extent of its capitalisation).”

“3 Financing: Germany has committed to recycling its €2bn ETS auction revenues for energy efficiency, renewable innovation and climate adaptation. In addition, the proposed life extension of existing nuclear will be accompanied by a windfall tax on the utilities that will benefit as a result. This €2.3bn tax will also be used explicitly for advancing renewables.”

(Note : none of the ETS auction revenues are proposed for Carbon Capture and Storage, unlike European-level statements on ambition that have been made previously).

“4 Energy Efficiency It calls for halving Germany’s primary energy consumption until 2050 (base year 2008), for doubling the yearly rate of modernisation of buildings (1% to 2%) and for an emissions standard for ALL buildings. And it proposes some instruments in order to reach these targets: An efficiency fund (€500m per year), tax exemptions, monetary incentives for energy management systems for industry, a pilot programme on white certificates, investment incentives for house owners, etc”

“Much of the media and political focus in Germany is the row over nuclear life-extension which has overwhelmed the rest of the content. But it is worth noting that in terms of the reaction, many on the renewable industry side fear nuclear life extension will chill new investment in RES. However it is also important to note the situation with new coal projects in Germany. Ten projects were given permissions more than three years ago and most of those are now under construction. There were 25 other projects in planning. In the last two years 15 of those have been abandoned. It is quite likely that the 10 in the planning pipeline would be affected by nuclear life extension. All of these are anyway are facing substantial public opposition.”

“On coal/CCS the Energiekonzept suggests there will be three commercial scale CCS projects by 2020 – two on coal plants and one on industrial emissions. It is worth noting that progress on this has proved very hard in Germany and the obstacles may not have been overcome just through this declaration of intent. In addition there is a proposal for a regulation to phase out inefficient coal. On the whole the ECF analysis is that the Energiekonzept has not delivered a coal/CCS policy that is sustainable as it does not grapple with the challenges of having a firm pathway for CCS on the plants being built now and nor does it remove the risk of unabated-coal-lock-in. But it is a helpful policy direction to open up the timetable for phasing out ‘old’ coal. As a footnote to this issue, you may not have seen recent comments by RWE that it is pulling out of all new coal projects as coal is uneconomic. While this was only announced in Germany, last week RWE pulled out of a new coal project in Poland.”

“The Energiekonzept is a proposal. It is perceived in Germany as a ‘centre right’ positioning on the issues. But it is important to understand that the mainstream consensus in Germany is now that the future is large scale RES. There is no political constituency in Germany calling for new nuclear plants. The Energiekonzept will almost certainly be subject to legal challenge and the proposals underneath it will be introduced in legislation or policy and so controversial measures will face political challenge.”

Those considered the most appropriate people were appointed to positions in the central Cabinet, people from both political parties, with the aim and ambition of working together closely and fraternally.

Back room agreements were painstakingly forged, deals were clearly made, and explained publicly in a transparent fashion. In the day-to-day operation of Government, it is made clear who is speaking on behalf of themselves, their party or the Coalition.

This is probably the best example of cooperative, progressive politics since…I don’t know when. But all Christopher Booker seems to want to do is snipe, moan and smear, and appears to throw in as many factually incorrect allegations and fake statistics about wind power as he possibly can.

I certainly wouldn’t pay him to write such divisive, unreferenced, unverified stuff. What’s he trying to do ? Split public opinion ? :-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1298176/Chris-Huhne-Has-minister-history-unfit-job.html

“Has any minister in history seemed more hopelessly unfit to do his job? : By CHRISTOPHER BOOKER : 28th July 2010 : The penny is fast dropping that by far the most disastrous appointment made by David Cameron to his Coalition Cabinet was that of the ultra-green, Lib Dem millionaire Chris Huhne as our Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Yesterday, after Mr Huhne issued his first annual statement on Britain’s energy future, it was clear that we should all be very, very concerned about the future of Britain. As was only too predictable, the overall theme of Mr Huhne’s message was that ‘climate change is the greatest global challenge we face’. We must do everything we can and more to cut down very drastically on our ‘carbon emissions’, as we are now legally committed to do by the Climate Change Act – at a cost of £18 billion a year. But in the real world, the £100 billion-plus energy question that confronts us all in Britain today is how we are going to fill that massive, fast-looming gap in our electricity supplies when the antiquated power stations which currently supply us with two-fifths of the power needed to keep our economy running are forced to close…Like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before him, he dreams we can somehow fill that gap by erecting 6,000 wind turbines in the seas around Britain’s shores, and thousands more across many of the most beautiful parts of our countryside. What is truly terrifying about Mr Huhne as our energy minister is that he seems so astonishingly ignorant about even the most basic principles of how electricity is produced…The Huhne solution to producing Britain’s energy is naivete verging on madness. But, most disturbingly of all, Mr Huhne is so infatuated with wind power that he seems to have convinced himself that, in cash terms, it is ‘intensely competitive’ with other means of making electricity. To make such a claim makes me believe that he’s never done a moment’s homework on the actual cost of wind power…If it wasn’t for the 100 per cent subsidy we all unwittingly pay to the developers of wind turbines – through a xompulsory levy in our electricity bills – no one would dream of building these ludicrously inefficient machines at all. Yet Mr Huhne tries to kid us into thinking that they are ‘intensely competitive’…”

I don’t know what Christopher Booker thinks he can achieve by apparently attempting to smear Chris Huhne. Huhne seems to be rather Teflon-covered, so Booker would need to do better that this, anyway.

Plus, you would have thought that Christopher Booker would be happy to have a more “libertarian” “conservative”, “right-wing” party, at least partially in power at last after 13 years. He probably believes in less taxes for the wealthy and businesses, less red tape in terms of regulatory control over business and financial activities; and he probably believes that a “small government” anti-Nanny State party like the Conservative Party can deliver that for him.

To his chagrin, he might find that more regulation and State intervention are necessary in the next decade or so – to compensate for the very lack of investment in energy infrastructure and plant he is fundamentally complaining about.

If you want more energy to meet the looming 2015 or 2017 “Energy Gap”, you are going to need more governance, because the private sector have been putting profit before investment ever since Our Dearly Beloved Margaret Thatcher The Chemist, Daughter Of A Most Grantham Grocer went down the route of the privatisation (selling off cheaply) of all public assets.

Keeping the Lights On now requires bold, central moves, and involves large amounts of tax revenue to be circulated through job creation and new energy projects, stimulating the Holy Economy like no other sector possibly can.

I mean, what else is going to give the Economy emergency resuscitation ? Manufacturing is dead. The Property bubble is well and truly burst. Financial Products are down the tube. Agriculture is flat. Technology is Chinese. Toys are Chinese. IKEA is Chinese. Everything we buy is made in China, in fact. Where’s the return on investment in Europe ? Only Energy provides the possibility of an expansion, of a strong, stable Economy.

You can forget Nuclear Power. Too expensive.

Spending money on wind turbines is never wasted. The fuel to drive wind turbines is free – not like the volatile prices we have seen for Fossil Fuels in the recent years.

There is a positive, significant rate of return on investing in wind power – and it has nothing to do with Government subsidies.

Wind Power is glorious, and if the turbulence profile outside my back door weren’t so choppy, I’d like to have a turbine in my back yard. Free power would increase my property value by 200% or so.

The Great Miliband Brothers’ Flying Circus has come to town and told us to look sharp and get active :-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6886363.ece

“From The Times : October 23, 2009 : Foreign Secretary David Miliband accuses public of climate change apathy : Hannah Devlin : The Foreign Secretary accused the public yesterday of lacking a sense of urgency in the face of the potentially devastating consequences of climate change. David Miliband said that people had grown apathetic about the issue when they needed to be galvanised into action before the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. “For a lot of people the penny hasn’t dropped that this climate change challenge is real and is happening now,” he said. “There isn’t yet that feeling of urgency and drive and animation about the Copenhagen conference.” Mr Miliband and his brother, Ed Miliband, the Climate Change Secretary, were opening an exhibition at the Science Museum in South Kensington designed to illustrate the potential impact of world temperatures increasing by 4C. Current models predict that this could happen by 2060 if no action is taken. Mr Miliband warned of water and food shortages, mass migration and conflict. A map unveiled at the exhibition showed temperatures increasing by up to 15C in the Arctic, storm surges hitting the East Coast of Britain and forest fires and droughts in Europe. Ed Miliband said that only 18 per cent of people believed that climate change would affect their children…”

La, la, la, fingers in our ears.

I mean, if you show us a Government-funded TV advertisement with cartoon tearful bunnies and drowning dogs, how exactly are we supposed to take you seriously ?

The percentage of people who actually care about Climate Change has remained pretty static for a decade. There’s no changing that.

The number of people who try to actually do something about Climate Change has remained small. That’s because it’s currently so expensive and a nuisance.

Let’s turn our attention to the suppliers of dirty power, shall we ? If the Energy companies produced clean Renewable power and used Fossil Fuels more efficiently and switched out of dirty Fossil Fuels, then we wouldn’t need to have the Great Milibands taking us to one side and correcting us.

It’s not our fault you haven’t got your Energy Policy up to scratch. We have been trying to tell you we don’t want Coal and we don’t want Nuclear. And you keep trying to sell us expensive “clean” Coal and expensive new Nuclear. At our own expense. No wonder people don’t like it.

If you gave people the Energy technology vote (after you’ve given them the full facts, not the Media propaganda from corporate Press Releases), then would people say yes to Renewables, as well as no to Coal and no to Nuclear ? Maybe, maybe not. But does public opinion count ?

What do the experts and engineers say ? You’ve not even begun to hear the full spectrum.

If the public cannot give you the signs you need, and you make bad choices about which experts you listen to, you need to use stronger, more perceptive leadership skills.

Stop messing about with our heads through the Media and get on with providing clean, safe, affordable, Renewable Energy to the country. And stop blaming the children who forget to turn the lights off.

Everyone has the right to clean, cheap, safe, sustainable Energy. We don’t want to be forced to pay for glow-in-the-dark radioactive Power Waste clean up and costly Carbon Capture through our taxes.

The reason the public have no sense of urgency about Climate Change is because there have been influential voices drowning out the voices of alarm for years. Isn’t it time this was stopped ?

An exhibition in a public museum is great, but will anyone believe it any more than they believe in flying cars or the purported benefits of war or genetically modified food ?

If you want to give the public the message about the serious, urgent, present issues of Climate Change, you need to declare a State of Emergency, in my view. It’s coming. Maybe in Australia first of all. But it’s coming.

Let Gordon Brown address the nation on primetime TV and tell us truthfully we are up a creek with an absent paddle. Let him tell us how our taxes will be used to prevent emissions, not clear them up with Carbon Capture.

Let him tell us how the IPCC reports guide us to switching out of Coal, beefing up Energy Conservation, increasing efficiency by regulation, ramping up Renewables really quickly and so on. Announce policies for a complete change of direction in Energy in the UK.

The apathy and fatigue is evenly spread throughout the nation. Don’t blame the public when you need to get your own house in order.