From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
When green policies see the cold light of day!
BERLIN — Germans want to save the climate. They’re just reluctant to take the potentially painful steps this would require.
A growing backlash over climate-friendly policies is now hitting the German Greens, putting wobbles into the country’s three-party ruling coalition.
Not only has Germany been causing a ruckus at the EU level in recent weeks by mounting a last-minute blockade to a proposed ban on combustion engines, but the country is also facing a domestic political fight over phasing out gas and oil heating systems, as well as pushing forward the coal exit.
ll those disputes are linked to fundamental disagreements between the Greens and their two coalition partners, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), over how the EU’s climate-protection targets should be implemented and what consequences and costs this will have for industry and citizens.
The conflict is not only affecting the Greens’ popularity — is also seems to be threatening a wider crisis for the coalition. And that crisis seems to be escalating.
EU partners are looking with growing unease at the ruptures emerging in the German ruling coalition.
They’re particularly worried about Berlin’s blockade of an EU ban on sales of polluting cars and vehicles from 2035, which the German government previously agreed to, and was specifically promoted by the Greens. However, at the very last stage of the legislative approval process, the FDP of Porsche-driving Finance Minister Christian Lindner threw a spanner at the works, demanding that the European Commission create a loophole for cars operating with synthetic fuels, or e-fuels.
The FDP sees such e-fuels as a chance to save Germany’s industrial crown jewel: the piston-driven internal combustion engine. Without e-fuels, the EU law would force the car-making industry to shift entirely to electronic vehicles.
The FDP sees itself emboldened by a growing public backlash against the green goals for cars, with 67 percent of Germans recently saying they’re against banning the traditional combustion-engine car as of 2035. Germans are concerned about the hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on its automotive industry.
For the Greens, however, which had long cheered the EU car legislation, the affair is hugely embarrassing — not to mention a threat to Germany’s reputation at EU level. However, per coalition politics, they are hamstrung, as Scholz has sided with the FDP on the issue.
Green policies are always popular, at least until people find out they have got to pay for them.
The row over the ban on proper cars by 2035 has been brewing for a few weeks now, and Germany has been joined by Italy and five other countries in blocking the EU’s proposed ban. Instead they want the EU to allow cars operating with synthetic e-fuels. But what is e-fuel?
In simple terms, it is hydrogen combined with carbon dioxide. As the latter is captured from the air, its release back into the air after combustion is carbon neutral. The hydrogen of course also has to be carbon neutral, made by electrolysis from renewable electricity.
Sounds good? Well this video explains why it is not really a solution at all:
In short, e-fuel is horribly energy inefficient, with e-fuel containing as little as 7% of the energy used to produce it. As a consequence it is also cripplingly expensive, maybe around $35/gallon.
As the video notes, if you have a Lamborghini, you don’t worry about how much it costs to fill up. But for ordinary passenger cars, it is a non-starter. And you would need so much wind power to produce the hydrogen that it could never work at scale.
So why is Germany so keen to promote it?
I suspect that the real reason is that by keeping combustion engine technology going, they will also be able to keep petrol/diesel going for at least a few more years too. After all, will Germany’s politicians be any keener to ban ICEs in 2035 than they are now? By then, they are likely to simply kick the can down the road again. That is if the whole absurdity of Net Zero has not already been consigned to the rubbish bin.
Hydrogen and CO2. In certain ratios I could have methanol, ethanol, etc, etc, etc.
All of these sound great as a petrol replacement, even if some are lower energy density. At least you could fill up in a few minutes.
The only problem now is the cost. And of course the energy required to make them. And maybe the creation out of thin air of a new catalyst that can strip CO2 from the air, strip H from water and do it all at room temperature using unicorn farts for power.
We all know that energy out is never going to be close to energy in. And we all know who is going to pay for this. Somethings are just obvious.
So, when will the lefties declare this the new path to zero?
“So, when will the lefties declare this the new path to zero?”
It’s not a political Left versus Right thing; it’s an Ignorance versus Knowledge thing.
“It’s not a political Left versus Right thing; it’s an DENIAL AND/OR WILLFUL Ignorance versus Knowledge thing.
Except that the leftista harbour more than its fair share of ignorance.
In my experience, ignorance is shared equally !!
To be expected (though not relished) when education has abandoned all exposure to Critical Thinking.
Seems strange to me that EU folks don’t realize that no heavy manufacturing will remain there in 10 or so years. Energy will be too expensive for them to compete. Their media must be even worse than ours. The level of delusion is mind boggling.
Forget the media, they are all on the same drug.
Volkswagen just announced they are building a new plant in Canada.
The bidding was between a U.S. State and Canada, and Canada got the nod.
Stupid German politicians, and their insane energy policies, are running German jobs off to other nations that don’t have insane energy policies.
But Canada does have insane energy policies, perhaps not for exported good though?
Canada has lots of hydro, their greeny/concerned thoughts don’t prevent them from saying that electricity is abundant so they can use heat to melt snow.
But the environMENTALists don’t like hydro either. How long can Canadia stand up to continued pushes towards the stone age?
Ontario is 50% nuclear, probably only Quebec and BC are hydro majority
Is St. Thomas far enough away from Ottawa?
When it becomes blatantly obvious push will come to shove and these freaks will be destroyed. That is my hope.
The EU elite and the Leftists are the only ones who want to ban oil and gas and they are a small minority. The average person thinks it’s a bad idea according to the polls. But when did the wisdom of the proletariat every stop their leaders from doing crazy things?
The Germans were ruined financially after WW1 They were psychologically messed up after WW2 The fourth reich is a strange beast
Still, the French have found a new use for e-scooters…
“”French protesters have thrown e-scooters onto piles of burning rubbish during violent demonstrations against President Macron’s pension reforms.””
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/24/france-protests-why-setting-fire-e-scooters/
Didn’t see that coming
Next thing we know, they will be rolling e-cars into the bonfire.
Wait a minute! Can one push an e-car without the key, by hand? Will the wheels turn if the e-car is shut off? I don’t know. I’m an internal combusion kind of guy.
No and… no. It’s a flat bed truck to move it.
But, they will burn. And burn bright and hot.
This highlights just another advantage of an ICE vehicle. If it breaks down or runs out of gas you can just give it a push and get it out of the roadway. An e-car runs out of charge or quits working, that part of the road will remain blocked until a tow truck is available. Around here on freeways you still see signs that tell motorists to remove broken down vehicles from drive lanes as soon as possible.
Was it just a joke, then, when that pic of some guys from a coal plant pushing an e-car that had lost power was going around the internet?
Life expectancy in Western countries has been reduced by about 2 years in the last 3 and there seems to be no let up. French people, and indeed all, have reason to be upset at the WEF’ers.
The last 3 years you say….
Attenborough and Population Matters will see this as progress. Everything is below pre-pandemic levels.
Life might have been numerically reduced by 2 years, but under socialist governments it seems less liveable by 10 years.
Tough all around. France wanting to raise the retirement age… folks dying sooner… shorter payouts from the gov. pensions.
“I have difficulty in understanding and accepting this sort of vandalism,” the mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, told RTL radio on Friday.
To which protest leaders politely responded: “What sort of vandalism would you understand and accept?”
They seem like a very reasonable lot to me…
Story tip ULEZ pushback
Shopping bags and cardboard boxes have started to appear over the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras set up by Transport for London (TfL) across the capital.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-11889677/Revenge-drivers-ULEZ-cameras-covered-bags-guerilla-war-against-hated-scheme.html?ico=mol_desktop_home
And it’s ‘green’ !!!
Proper re-cycling of cardboard boxes.
Excellent idea!
Love that sign!
The prisoners are getting antsy.
Story tip follow up in case it’s not linked when you read the first article:
Some of the people suffering from the “ultra low emissions zone” scheme
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-11802741/Victims-ULEZ-Woman-facing-650-year-costs-visit-sick-relative-tradesman-facing-3k-bill.html
We have cameras watching the cameras watching the cameras watching the cameras watching the speed cameras.
Without e-fuels, the EU law would force the car-making industry to shift entirely to electronic vehicles.
Hard for the sane and rational to comprehend what it is the climate cult want nowadays-
Anti-Giga Berlin Protesters Vandalize Tesla Store In Germany (msn.com)
Stupid leftists have succeeded in creating an equally stupid but angry generation of Gretaheads and eco-nutzis they can’t command or control any longer-
Schools ‘doubling down’ on ‘climate fearmongering’ (msn.com)
BERLIN — Germans want to save the climate. They’re just reluctant to take the potentially painful steps this would require.
____________________________________________________________
And that requirement would be exactly what?
Nice article except that whoever wrote it seems to believe that the climate needs saving and net zero would be the way to do it.
100% what I garnered from that statement.
It was Politico. Therefore it’s to be expected.
Isn’t it just so lovely how the guy in the video clearly elucidates, exemplifies and quantifies The 2nd Law and Entropy.
i.e. How once you’ve used some/any energy, you can not use it again.
OK, yes he is saying you use *can* it again BUT, that you need to expend immense amounts of energy to do so = the root cause of the shameful efficiency figures.
i.e. You can force energy up a thermal gradient but it takes even more energy to do so.
(And is what Heat Pumps do – they consume electricity so as to move low-temperature heat up a thermal gradient to make high-temperature heat)
And everyone nods their heads and sees what he says and agrees with him.
Yet when it comes to the GHGE, all that goes out the window.
The GHGE says that Earth’s surface heats the atmosphere (spends energy) but that that energy can then come back (the atmosphere spends that energy) to the surface and replenish what was originally spent. ##
Earth surface will then radiate ever more energy because of its increased temperaure to the GreenHouseGases and so on ad-nauseam
iow: The GHGE describes a perpetual motion machine
No. As the guy repeats repeats repeats, once the energy is spent it is possible to recycle it but is insanely ‘expensive’
OK, we can use money but Ma Nature and Thermodynamics don’t have ‘money’.
They only have energy and once it’s spent, it is spent.
i.e. Ma Nature does not have the luxury of an energy equivalent to the Federal Reserve orthe Bank of England = things that creates something out of nothing,
Nobody can ‘print energy’ = what the guy is saying all the way through.
## A nice example was when England and Scotland had a ‘financial disagreement’
(In the good old days when England and Scotland could and did print their own designs/pictures onto the paper notes/currencies)
It was that instead of the currency (the £ GBP) being equal in each country, the Scots declared that an English Pound Note (EPN) was worth only 90pence when you visited Scotland and spent it
The English retaliated and declared that a Scottish Pound Note (SPN) was only worth 90pence when spent in England.
(It nearly did happen, many places wouldn’t even accept them. Talk about petty/stupid or what)
OK. Picture a tourist from England, visiting Scotland and taking with them an SPN they acquired from a previous trip
When they get there they buy a bar of chocolate costing 10pence, tender the SPN and are given an EPN as change.
Makes sense doesn’t it
They return to England, munching the chocolate en-route and on arrival back in England, fancy another bar of chocolate just the same, costing just the same 10 pence
So they hand over their EPN and are given an SPN as change.
Isn’t that fantastic. They started with an SPN (in England), bought 2 bars of chocolate (via a trip to Scotland) and finished up with that same SPN on return to England
Where did the two bars of chocolate come from at Net Zero Cost. Where is The Fatal flaw? Somebody was robbed – but who?
Now consider:
Instead of chocolate and pound notes, use energy to buy temperature
Now consider:
Instead of chocolate and pound notes, use energy to buy temperature
_________________________________________________________
As analogies go, that’s pretty good, now if I can only wrap my head around it I’ll be doing great.
Peta – I’m full of admiration! It’s a sort of “get rich slowly” scheme. Only problem is, how do I lay my hands on Scottish pound notes south of the border? And, yes, I realise that the exchange rate disparity never happened but it might just have worked if it had…
“how do I lay my hands on Scottish pound notes south of the border?
Easy. Just do some shopping in an English border town. Since Sturgeon brought in minimum pricing for alcohol, those who can bulk buy in England.
Scottish banknotes are ultimately backed by the Bank of England, who issue Titans which have a face value of £100million apiece for the purpose.
…except, of course, that the cost of travel hasn’t been factored in. Ah, well, no such thing as a free chocolate bar, I suppose.
For a short amount of time we had this in the states. When bottle deposit started some states were dime some nickel per bottle. You could buy beer in nickel state go drink the beer and return to empty to dime state. Soon outlawed.
Instead of chocolate and pound notes, use energy to buy temperature
I use chocolate in other ways – some oils are off the radar. I had pounds that I used to buy energy (coal and wood) they will buy me temperature.
Modern heat pumps are claimed to be 300 to 400 % efficient, which is to say they require only 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of electricity as resistive heaters to produce any given temperature building temperature. However I don’t believe that is “high-temperature heat”. Raising the temperature any given amount requires considerably more time than resistive heaters do, which is at least one reason high quality weatherproof and insulation are required with heat pumps. Otherwise the building may lose heat as fast as, or faster than, it is being pumped in.
“OK, yes he is saying you use *can* it again”
Please lay off the double glazed donuts.
From the article: “After all, will Germany’s politicians be any keener to ban ICEs in 2035 than they are now? By then, they are likely to simply kick the can down the road again. That is if the whole absurdity of Net Zero has not already been consigned to the rubbish bin.”
I think by 2035 people will be looking around and asking, “Where did the climate emergency go?”
They could start at least today to look around, why wait to 2035 ? 😀
I think he was referring to the EU Greenies persons.
the people will also be asking why the hell do i have electricity only three days a week?
When I read about this Porsche invented process, I did a little research. The have a plant in Chile where the “strip” the O from water and combine it with carbon dioxide using wind energy and there they magically produce C8H18. Which is…..wait for it……gasoline. Now the long term plan is to upscale production in Saudi Arabia…lots of solar energy. I am sure the eFuel plants will be conveniently located next to existing refineries….duel use of of existing resources is so environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, somehow I don’t think they will be able to differentiate between the good eFuel and the bad gasoline when it goes to market….so they will just slap an eFuel sticker on everything…yeah we saved the planet…. Isn’t progress wonderful. As the A team uses to say, ” I love it when a plan comes together”
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Interesting. I only found press releases, no detailed description of the process. The best sentence is “The hydrogen from that process is then mixed with CO2 extracted from the air to create a form of methanol.”
It sounds like they are not serious at all.
Methanol is not as fully reduced as methane, and so takes less energy and less hydrogen to “reverse combust” it. It therefore doesn’t yield as much energy per kg when you burn it, though, and is quite a serious poison. I can’t see methanol being a serious fuel for large-scale use.
According to wikipedia, “Its combustion energy density is 15.6 MJ/L (LHV), whereas that of ethanol is 24 and gasoline is 33 MJ/L.”.
It used to be used as racing fuel, where the much richer mixture provides the dual advantages of cooler running and higher power output than petrol (gasoline). That comes at the expense of fuel consumption/range.
I think all liquid fuels are poisonous to a greater or lesser extent, so that may not be a major consideration.
That is a “reason”. Will not be considered. Critical Thinking ignored again.
Aren’t serial numbers being put on everything these days?
Just on Cereals.
At the recent China Russia mtg. I’m sure Xi &Putin we’re getting quite a chuckle at the self imposed destruction of western countries
I am reading this and the news about NY state and city. I am an old man and I was giving up on this whole debate. These latest events make me want to stick around to see all these greenies with egg on their faces and “nooses on their neckies” when the general population figures out what they have done.
I agree Mason. But when this whole global warming thing finally dies the greenies will claim it was all Donald Trump’s fault.
Never underestimate the radical leftists determination to keep these destructive policies going. Remember your dealing with people in government now that are suffering from a type of mental illness, (plus pure corruption)supported by a brainwashed part of the population that votes for certain political parties regardless without thought or research.
Here in the US we have a large number of aging democrat baby boomers that are stuck in 1972. They are nothing but mindless drones that have ironically become what they protested against in the late 60s. Water gate was a gift to the American left whos policies were decisively rejected just prior to that. That’s when the grand scheme of leftist MSM false narrative really took hold.
I went to the Watergate Coverup Trial. Was passing through DC and read that the trial was on so I went to it. I saw all the relevant big wigs but Nixon.
Where is the test case? Where is the city running on 100% solar, wind and EV’s. Including heavy transport to bring materials in and out? How about air or sea transport?
Finland might be close with abundant hydro, selling fossil fuels to neighbors to pay for everything, but they are a rare exception. Hydro is site dependent and not renewable according to anyone that matters.
In any case, how do you solve air and sea transport and land heavy transport EVs are typically weight and range limited. Diesel is about 50-100 times more energy dense than batteries because you are in effect getting the extra energy of burning the lithium battery.
Fossil fuel has a natural advantage over stored electricity. A Tesla with a steam engine powered by a burning battery would have a greater range than the all electric model
According to the IEA the public are still not buying into the ‘EV revolution’. In a Commentary dated 27th Feb 2023 they said total sales of EVs worldwide in 2022 were estimated at 10.8m cars.
Global sales of ICEVs were at 64m, of which 28.9m were SUVs.
The commentary is titled ‘ As their sales continue to rise SUV’s global CO2 emissions are nearing 1 billion tonnes’ 🙂
Think of all that lovely plant food in the air. 😊
“By then, they are likely to simply kick the can down the road again.”
Kick it into orbit.
This line says it all….there is nothing to save, it is what it is and YOU GERMANS are meaningless in your endeavors as is every other person that believes this sh#t; BERLIN — Germans want to save the climate.
I have to sit thru insidiously inaccurate commercials when watching my NHL hockey team as the stadium’s naming rights are XCEL. The commercial, spoken of course by a women of color (whites need not apply for anything on tv any longer, but I digress) that we are going CARBON free buy 2040 and it will be CHEAPER and reliable. I just about smash my tv everytime this stupid ad comes on…just disgusts me.
EV pickup trucks are unsuitable to anybody who actually needs a truck. People in the construction trades or people who need to tow anything can’t use an EV pickup truck. Those are just toys for pretentious urban cowboys.
And for those of us in rural areas. I can’t imagine the cost of rewiring the countryside for EVs. Imagine an EV tractor or combine.
In the future, we won’t drive anywhere and we will be happy about it. Or just die slowly.
Or just die
slowlyfaster.Here’s a thought use electricity to light your house, wash and dry your clothes, listen to music and watch TV. Use gasoline and diesel to power your vehicles. There problem solved.
Today Berlin failed to support the Berlin Klimaneutral 2030 net zero proposal in a referendum. It needed the support of 25%of the electorate to pass, and although it secured 50.9% of the vote, it fell well short with turnout being just 35.8%.
If as a German you thought that public transport could replace Das Auto, think again: Monday brings a nationwide strike affecting all forms of public transport – trains, metro, buses, airports and seaports.
Electrify everything = unionize everything not already unionized.
What is the point of mixing hydrogen with CO2? Since CO2 is nonflammable, all it does is make the hydrogen burn colder.
The process commonly used to make hydrogen in petroleum refineries is steam-methane reforming, where natural gas is reacted with steam to produce hydrogen and CO2 in a 4:1 ratio (by volume or moles). In order to have hydrogen pure enough to use in other refinery processes, the CO2 is separated from hydrogen by pressure-swing adsorption (PSA), where CO2 is adsorbed at high pressure and desorbed to the atmosphere at low pressure. The PSA process requires energy input for the compressors.
So mixing hydrogen with CO2 basically undoes the PSA process, with no net benefit. Bravo, geniuses!
Getting the Greens into a catfight about e-fuel should enable kicking the conventional gasoline can down the road ad infinitum. The wind generators will love e-fuel; it’s their last gasp chance to extend the proliferation of those monuments to human stupidity. The dumping of excess electricity on neighboring countries has ended as that bucket is already overflowing. The fact that e-fuel is even more economically ruinous than any other alternative shouldn’t be expected to be part of the discussion.
“ That is if the whole absurdity of Net Zero has not already been consigned to the rubbish bin.”
I note (imho) that there are too many millions of NZ proponents (no, not New Zealand, though they are a culprit) to have it find its way to that rubbish bin.
It would be good to be wrong.
Germans have usually been known for their practicality; this is another example.