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The German government says the Middle East War has caused it to accelerate its plans to go 100% renewable, and phase out all fossil fuel use. All fossil fuel use to be eliminated within 20 years. (www.dw.com)
submitted 1 week ago* by [M] to c/futurology@futurology.today
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"German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the plan "combines independence, affordability and climate protection.........It is not just extreme weather events around the world that demonstrate how urgently we need to do more to protect the climate," he said. "If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz determines whether people can still afford their daily commute to work, that is not a good state of affairs."

If there's been an upside to the Middle East War, it's that it's been a giant advertisement for renewable energy. Not just cheaper, cleaner, & better, crucially it means energy-independence, too.

Smart move by Germany. Their industrial and manufacturing base is getting clobbered by China because they stuck with the dying fossil fuel paradigm for too long. Every other EU nation has committed to ending fossil fuel use, hopefully this further accelerates their efforts, too.

Germany sets out plan to phase out fossil fuels by 2045

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[–] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 child)

Yes we do. I think it's EU regulation. There is a "base company" responsible for the network in a region and they are often also a producer/supplier to consumers themselves. But then there are many (dozens per region) other suppliers you can buy your power from. And they both sell power to consumers and they build power plants. My supplier (and a few others in the region) only invest in solar, wind, water, and only in the own region. At times when they need to sell more electricity to consumers than they produce with their own plants, they of course are actually selling dirty electricity, but they will still only invest in clean renewables themselves for production so it's still the better choice.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    In the US, most people have one option, a legal monopoly whose rates are set by the municipal government, and customers treat the energy company as one entity even if there is a grid operator and many electricity producers. There are exceptions (as with anything in the US) but that's the general rule.

    In other news, I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on a pallet of PV panels and DIY that install, but then I remember the inverter doubles the cost.

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