Germany's energy switch near collapse -Verbund CEO

VIENNA, Jan 30 (Reuters)  Germany's switch to renewable energy is bound to fail with consumer prices at a 15-year high while wholesale prices are languishing, the chief executive of Austrian energy group Verbund said.   Germany's market, due to its retreat from nuclear power after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster, was 'about to collapse', Wolfgang Anzengruber said, citing a lack of necessary investment that is compounding a broken pricing model.

'A very quick correction is needed,' he said at an industry event late on Tuesday, the Austria Press Agency reported.   Germany's strong support for renewable energy had broken its electricity market, analysts at investment bank Macquarie said last week.

They said there was a lack of incentives to build back-up power plants while cheap coal prices were discouraging the use of cleaner gas plants.   The issue is a hot topic ahead of elections in Germany this year as consumers grapple with soaring electricity prices. …To Read More…..

My Take – What fascinates me as I read this stuff each week is the “next” reason for going green.  Let’s try to remember that initially going green was “absolutely” needed because we were running out of traditional energy sources.  Those of us who have been following this for years realized this wasn’t true.  Time has shown that we have enormous amounts of traditional sources of energy; coal, oil and natural gas worldwide.  We don’t’ even need nuclear, which is why many European countries went so strongly into nuclear, lack of natural resources.  Now…..that is over with fracking….. and make no mistake about it – they will frack! 

And why?  Because reality isn’t easy to ignore…..well actually it is…..look at the Occupy Wall Street crowd.  Oblivious….except it turns out that they can ignore reality, which was kind of a summer camp for upper white middle class kids, communists, anarchists, dummies, bums and the insane, who never saw a spot that didn’t look like a toilet.  What is impossible to ignore are the consequences of ignoring reality.

The second reason was the CO2 emissions that was causing unprecedented warming which was going to devastate the Earth.  Both of those reasons have been shown to be blatant hogwash.  

So, let’s try and stay focused and dig for coal, drill for oil and frack for natural gas, and ignore everything the irrational, misanthropic and morally defective green movement says in order to keep energy prices low; can we do that?  Once again, the number one thing needed in order to maintain a modern industrialized society is cheap energy.  Oh…by the way….those  upper white middle class kids, communists, anarchists, dummies, bums and the insane, who never saw a spot that didn’t look like a toilet….they many or may not understand that….but their handlers do.