I have two major stories out of Germany to report, one on the rise of Climate Skepticism into the mainstream, as Germany’s Top Environmentalist Turns Climate Sceptic, saying
“I couldn’t take it any more. I had to write this book.”
Doubt came two years ago when he was an expert reviewer of an IPCC report on renewable energy. “I discovered numerous errors and asked myself if the other IPCC reports on climate were similarly sloppy.”
….and the other major story is on the failure of solar and wind power in Germany. First, the mainstream skepticism:
Body Blow To German Global Warming Movement! Major Media Outlets Unload On “CO2 Lies!”
Excerpts reposted from NoTricksZone by Pierre Gosselin
Today Germany’s national tabloid Bild (which has a whopping circulation of 16 million) devoted half of page 2 on an article called:.
“THE CO2 LIES … pure fear-mongering … should we blindly trust the experts?”
That’s what Germany’s leading daily Bild (see photo) wrote in its print and online editions today, on the very day that renowned publisher Hoffmann & Campe officially released a skeptic book – one written by a prominent socialist and environmental figure.
This is huge. More than I ever could have possibly imagined. And more is coming in the days ahead! The Bild piece was just the first of a series.
Mark this as the date that Germany’s global warming movement took a massive body blow.
Today, not one, but two of Germany’s most widely read news media published comprehensive skeptical climate science articles in their print and online editions, coinciding with the release of a major climate skeptical book, Die kalte Sonne (The Cold Sun).
Germany has now plunged into raucous discord on the heated topic of climate change
What has set it all off? One of the fathers of Germany’s modern green movement, Professor Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, a social democrat and green activist, decided to author a climate science skeptical book together with geologist/paleontologist Dr. Sebastian Lüning. Vahrenholt’s skepticism started when he was asked to review an IPCC report on renewable energy. He found hundreds of errors. When he pointed them out, IPCC officials simply brushed them aside. Stunned, he asked himself, “Is this the way they approached the climate assessment reports?”
Vahrenholt decided to do some digging. His colleague Dr. Lüning also gave him a copy of Andrew Montford’s The Hockey Stick Illusion. He was horrified by the sloppiness and deception he found. Well-connected to Hoffmann & Campe, he and Lüning decided to write the book. Die kalte Sonne cites 800 sources and has over 80 charts and figures. It examines and summarizes the latest science.
Conclusion: climate catastrophe is called off
The science was hyped. The book started hitting the bookshops today and has already hit no. 1 on the Amazon.de list for environment books. Indications show that it will climb very high in the overall bestseller charts. It’s published by a renowned publishing house and is now sending shock waves through the German climate science establishment. The first printing will produce 20,000 copies. I expect they will sell out rather quickly.
Read it all here.
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While all that is happening, the wind is going out of the sails in the highly subsidized solar and windfarm business in Germany. Michael Limburg writes from Germany that:
We published this very comprehensive study from our author Dr. Günter Keil titled “ Germany´s Green Energy Supply Transformation Has Already Failed”. (http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/news-cache/germanys-green-energy-supply-transformation-has-already-failed/)
German version here: http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/climategate-anzeige/die-energiewende-ist-schon-gescheitert-mit-update-4112/
It has won a lot of attention and was published in all german speaking sceptic blogs and is as well most regarded by our politicians.
Since a lot of green zealots in all countries praise Germany as the wonderland of manageable green miracles it might be helpful to show them the reality
I am therefore proud and happy to tell you that we managed to translate this very valuable piece of information which reveals the blindness and fanaticism of our present politicians which destroys willingly the backbone of our economy. Please make best use of it. I am sure you will welcome this information. The full report and the press release are attached.
Here is the English version:
Germany’s Green Energy Supply Transformation Has Already Failed!
Energy expert Dr. Guenter Keil has closely examined Germany’s energy policy of shifting away from nuclear and fossil fuels and over to renewables. What he finds is a bleak picture. Years ago Germany ambitiously embarked on transforming its energy supply system, and hopes to supply at least 80% of its energy needs through renewable energies by 2050, and thus become a moral leader on environmental responsibility for the rest of the world.
To do this, the former Socialist-Green coalition government, led by Gerhard Schröder, enacted the so-called Renewable Energy Feed-In Act (EEG) in 2000. This Feed-In Act requires electric utilities to buy all renewable energies, such as solar and wind power, from all producers at fixed, exorbitant rates and to feed it into the power grid for a period of 20 years. This has led to a boom as thousands of homeowners, businesses, and investors have installed thousands of megawatts of solar and wind power capacity over the years. The current Conservative-Liberal government, not to be outdone by its predecessor, is also gleefully pushing the Feed-In Act to the limit.
Weather-dependent supply wreaking havoc on the power grid
The problem is that these energy sources are weather-dependent and thus their sporadic supply is starting to wreak havoc on Germany’s power grid and is even now threatening to destabilize power grids all across Europe. The other problem: the power grid needed to distribute the decentrally produced green power is simply not there yet. They forgot to build it! So far, after tens of billions of euros spent on renewable energy systems and higher prices for consumers, not a single coal or gas-fired power plant has been taken offline. To the contrary, old inefficient plants have been brought back into service in an effort to stabilize the grid.
In a panic reaction, Germany shut down 8 nuclear power plants
To make matters worse, in a fit of panic and hysteria, the German government shut down 8 of its older 18 nuclear reactors in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, thus removing a very cheap and stable supply of power and further pushing the grid to the limits. Before the shutdown of the nuclear reactors, Germany had been a net power exporter; today it is a net power importer and is at times severely straining neighboring power grids. To compensate for the missing nuclear power, the government is now heavily promoting even more weather-dependent wind power, which is further destabilizing the German and European power grids. A solution to the problem of storing electricity is still at least a generation away.
The question of course is how could such absurd decisions have been made to begin with? Were there no experts involved in the planning of the new power generation infrastructure? The answer obviously is no. Power executives are viewed as evil, dirty and greedy polluters, and thus were never really consulted. They could not be counted on to give the politically correct solutions. Therefore the decision to shut down the German nuclear power plants and to massively support renewables was done unilaterally by the government, without consulting the power executives or even neighboring countries.
Offshore wind parks, but no transmission lines to industrial regions!
Now that the damage is spreading, Germany’s utilities are now struggling to keep the grid stable and to fill in the power gap left by the shut-down of nuclear reactors. To do this the German government has ordered the installation of large-scale wind parks in the North and Baltic seas, in addition to the re-commissioning of mothballed, inefficient coal-fired plants. This overall energy production transition from nuclear and fossils over to “renewables” is dubbed by German officials as the Energy Supply Transformation. Construction of the offshore wind parks is now progressing rapidly. But there’s just one problem: the huge high voltage power transmission lines needed to bring their power to Germany’s industrial heartland to the south are missing! More than 3000 km of these lines are needed, but are nowhere near in sight. The government forgot about those too!
Activists groups blocking grid expansion
Building the power transmission lines quickly across the landscape will be a virtually impossible task. Activist groups have long since organized and are effectively blocking their approval and construction. So far only a measly 214 km have been built. As a result, surplus wind power cannot be delivered to the markets, and thus either has to be destroyed, dumped on the market at “negative prices”, or wind park owners are simply ordered to stop generating. No problem though – paragraph 12 of Germany’s Energy Feed-In Act requires electric utilities to pay for the electricity that they ask not to have produced! Technically, there is an incentive for wind parks to destabilize the grid.
Eventually all these costs add up and in the end they get passed along to the consumer. Under the bottom line, consumers have to pay more and more, and for a lower and lower quality supply. German industry is getting nervous and surveys show that many are leaving Germany, or are planning to do so. They no longer view Germany’s power supply as reliable.
In a death spiral…”will fail spectacularly”
Dr. Guenter Keil’s report focusses in detail on the amazing absurdities of Germany’s Renewable Energy Feed-In Act and the country’s utopian Energy Transformation. The government, through intrusive meddling and ballooning bureaucracy, has maneuvered Germany’s energy supply system into a vicious death spiral: the more the government intervenes, the greater the mess becomes. And the greater the mess becomes, the more the government intervenes! Dr. Keil concludes:
“Germany’s energy transformation has already failed. For Germans, the outlook is bleak. …the planned mismanagement is heavily damaging the economy and will fail spectacularly some years later because its economic and social costs will have become unbearable. The question remaining open is how many billions of euros will have to be destroyed before a new energy policy (a new energy transformation?) picks up the shattered pieces.”
So it’s no wonder that according to a survey of experts from 21 national committees by the World Energy Council, 0% said they could imagine their own country completely taking over the German political approach. An equal number believe Germany will reach its stated targets.
Germany’s model will serve as a classic lesson on how not to handle energy production and management.
Michael Limburg; with thanks to Pierre Gosselin from notrickszone for excellent translation support
Dr. Guenter Keil was a scientific employee at the Technical University of Munich / Fraunhofer Society, as well as Project Support at the Federal Research Ministry.
For downloading full 
report & 
press release here or see files attached (remark: Downloads of .doc pressrelease with SAFARI seems not to work, FIRFOX workfs fine)
It looks like Europe will now just about survive the current economic crisis caused by fiscally irresponsible politicians throughout the continent, but especialy those in the PIIGS countries..
Now, Europe’s next internally generated crisis (pun intended) is imminent, mostly caused by the same politicians fanatic to impose flawed environmental policies, on their electorates. So called ‘green energy’ would be great if it was economic and reliable, but unfortunately it is not and never will be, unless mankind can find a way of storing electrical energy on a huge scale.
The new crisis for Europe will be one of ensuring reliable, affordable, energy supplies. In this regard, Germany is in the process of committing energy hari-kari, but the UK is not much better having stalled on nuclear power (mostly thanks to the efforts of discredited minister Chris Huhne) in favour of unreliable expensive wind farms and a grid (like Germany’s) which cannot handle the vagaries of renewable energy supplies.
This news from Germany makes Winston Churchill’s famous statement seem doubly appropriate: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/energy/
Solar Energy Row Is an ‘Undignified Spectacle’
SPIEGEL ONLINE – January 20, 2012
Solar Subsidy ‘Insanity’ Will Cost Consumers
SPIEGEL ONLINE – January 18, 2012
Re-Evaluating Germany’s Blind Faith in the Sun
SPIEGEL ONLINE – January 18, 2012
While there is an endless list of self serving and often well meaning useful idiots providing the energy and infrastructure for the CAGW myth, at the core you will find a cadre of remarkably evil people whose raison d’être seems to be the destruction of western democracy.
Kevin J Klees , German jet engines??
Ever heard of Frank Whittle?
I do remember some time ago, maybe half a century or so, that it was the dawning of the age of aquarius, and peace and love would rule the planet. I am some what disappointed as we have had war, hatred,shifty politics and AGW.
This is a good step to rid us of AGW, that would rid us of some shifty politics. This may lead to the removal of shifty politicians, and that would be a major step forward.
In a paper – edited by Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Potsdam, and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany – one can read:
The ‘‘temperature tracking’’ was implemented through a simple proportional control equation, of the form
E(t) = pk(deltaT^DATA(t) – delta T(t))
where E(t) are CO₂ emissions, and deltaT^DATA (t) – delta T(t) is the error between prescribed and simulated temperature change at a specific time, t.
The proportionality constant pk includes factors converting temperature to CO₂ concentrations (CO₂ concentration divided by climate sensitivity) and CO₂ concentrations to emissions.
This fallacy is also known as: Non causa pro causa.
“The fallacy of Non Causa Pro Causa occurs when something is identified as the cause of an event, but it has not actually been shown to be the cause.
For example: “I took an aspirin and prayed to God, and my headache disappeared. So God cured me of the headache.”
For the brave scientists, who like more than fallacies, study coherence in the solar system, the last UAH global temp. update fits well with the cold sun dancing pattern of some few balls.
It’s not a trick, it’s simple geometry.
V.
Driving from Chemnitz , Germany to Hamburg Germany on Sunday night ( 2200 – 0230 hours ) the outside temp. shown in my car was -13 c in Chemnitz a low of -23 c on the trip and a – 12 c in Hamburg, a trip across northern Germany of approx. 450 km
DirkH says:
February 6, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Anyone saying that does not understand the far greater pressures inside a diesel engine. IIRC it is greater than twice that of a petrol engine, possibly more. The only cause of the explosion IS the pressure (no electric spark). The can withstand ether as well, although it is not recommended. I used to use it a lot with my failing engine, but it makes it worse in time.
In the UK it was called ‘Easy Start’. Apparently in Oz it is called ‘Start you bastard!’, which is far more appropriate!
cedarhill says:‘…with rolling brown-black outs rolliing along throughout the day and night.’
I guess this will be as a result of ‘Ein Volt’ (Poor attempt at German pun)
While power executives are viewed as evil, dirty and greedy polluters, it seems that green power executives should be viewed as evil and greedy. — John M Reynolds
I hestitate to rank comments but this for me [see quoted comment] is what it is all about, I just wish someone was listening in the braindead and insensate world of UK politics, boy we sure ‘got the AGW thing’ bad in Britain.
Galvanise, thank you, I most whole heartedly concur.
The survival of the Euro, the European currency, is dependent on a productive Germany to help the bankrupt southern states, Portugal, Spain Italy, Greece, to survive. Already Hungary is heading the same way, with France close behind, so Germany with a reliably power supply is a must.
Goodbye Euro.
Right. Green activist, you say? Vahrenholt was a lobbyist for Shell and responsible for “improving their public image”. He now works for one of the biggest energy companies in Germany.
And the Germans want to tell other countries, e.g. Greece, how to run their economies?
A colleague of mine here in Germany printed out this article to read it, and discovered that at the end there is an advert for solar panelling! Clearly, computers don’t do irony.
It will be interesting to see if this gets into the rest of the MSM here. So far, only the AGW party line is being followed, far more rigidly than in the Anglo-Saxon world.
Wayne Job is hoping for… “the removal of shifty politicians”.
Britain’s Global Warming minister has been charged with perverting the course of justice. I’d charge him with perverting the course of my taxes.
When a colleague and I started our climate data web site in 2009 (www.climatedata.info) we felt that in trying to present a balanced viewpoint we were part of the squeezed middle. Now more-and-more it seems as if we are part of an expanding middle.
Thedetroiter~ Then he is moving in the Right direction.
Oh, as an addition: even here in Germany we know not to trust anything the BILD writes. Most of you won’t understand the BILDblog, but its mission is to debunk their bullshit.
Before using a BILD article as a basis for an argument, thing again. Next time maybe just enjoy the naked ladies and move on.
another warmist regime has fallen – Maldives. Now this doesn’t mean I think much of the old dictator who appears to have clawed back power, but it interesting that one of the biggest clowns in the global warming circus, the man who claimed that the “wealthy” countries of the world need to shower money upon him in order to expiate their sins, has now been chased out of his Presidency by his own army.
this is the guy who organized the underwater cabinet meeting stunt for the cameras. Apparently his global warming shtick was a publicity stunt to try and compensate for mismanagement and unrest with his rule. Oops! Times up!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16922570
Excellent news!
There are lies, damned lies and IPCC publications for governments.
It seems as if the message is finally getting home, let’s keep hammering, the CO2 SCAM has to be ended as soon as possible before the climate bandits do anymore damage. I expect to see fraud trials this decade.
thedetroiter says:
February 7, 2012 at 3:25 am
Right. Green activist, you say? Vahrenholt was a lobbyist for Shell and responsible for “improving their public image”. He now works for one of the biggest energy companies in Germany.
And Shell, CNBC, NBC, CNN, Chevron, BP, etc have spent a fortune on “green” conferences, green technology, green fuels and green publicity. You need to get with the real world. Large and small company follow the money, always, as do the “Team”. You have been conned get used to it.
John Marshall says:
February 7, 2012 at 3:15 am
The survival of the Euro, the European currency, is dependent on a productive Germany to help the bankrupt southern states, Portugal, Spain Italy, Greece, to survive. Already Hungary is heading the same way, with France close behind, so Germany with a reliably power supply is a must.
Goodbye Euro.
You could not be more right. What’s worse is that Hollande, candidat for president here in France, has pledged, to the green party, that he will close 18 nuclear power stations in exchange for their support. The end for Germany and Europe is near but not for the commissars in Brussels. They will continue to spend our money through the raising of their own tax regime over and above those of the member countries.
http://www.stern.de/wissen/faellt-klimakatastrophe-aus-vahrenholts-neues-buch-1783083.html
Stern couldn’t help but have a dig at the end :
“Vahrenholt’s employer, RWE, belongs to those energy concerns with the greatest emissions of CO2.”
I really wouldn’t get excited about this. It has not appeared on the TV yet and the “Concensus” is well an truly embedded in the German media. Austria Broadcasting ( ORF) has a themed week “Our Climate” with the usual array of propoganda films all this week.
The story is promently published on WeltOnline today:
Varenholt says that the first crucial experience he describes was an IPCC meeting about renewable energies, which was, according to Varenholt “anything but scientific”. The report was full of mistakes and the final version was edited by a Greenpeace representative. (This report. Here is a statement from ClimateAudit. )
The second key moment was the findings of a study his company RWE Innogy had carrfied out, in which was found, that natural processes are a main driver of climate change.
…Probably one of the biggest issues every religion has to face from time to time is statements of former believers which have fallen from faith…