Wind and solar power are often considered unreliable, especially by their detractors. But Craig Morris recently realized he needed to change his terminology – after learning how intermittent conventional power plants are.
All posts tagged: Coal
MWs are not MWhs – Monitoring Report Part 2
Today, Craig Morris returns to the Monitoring Report published in December by Germany’s Network Agency to discuss what the organization expects over the next five years.
German energy consumption up
The AGEB (Working Group on Energy Balances), which tallies official energy statistics for Germany, expects consumption to increase by just over two percent this year. Craig Morris takes a look at the organization’s overview for the first three quarters.
2.5% of German power is coal for export – and counting
But because of the way we count carbon emissions, German coal power exports to its neighbors (including France, which is a major net importer of German electricity) will make Germany’s carbon balance look a bit worse than it is in reality. Craig Morris explains.
Energy subsidies: more honesty, please
Every October, a public outcry over financial support for renewables occurs in Germany. What is mostly forgotten: Fossil fuels and nuclear still receive much higher subsidies, as Matthias Ruchser explains.
German Exports of Coal Power Way Up
New figures out show a huge increase in German electricity exports for the first half of 2013. Green power being sold across borders? No, sadly not. It’s ugly power – brown coal itself, as Paul Hockenos explains.
Separating Fact from Fiction in Accounts of Germany’s Renewables Revolution
In recent months, much misinformation has been spread about the German Energiewende. Amory Lovins from Rocky Mountain Institute debunks some of the most pressing myths about the German Energiewende – from grid stability to the role of coal.
Renewables co-op fights Vattenfall for control of Berlin grid
A Berlin citizens’ group wants to wrest control of the city’s electricity grid in order to promote renewable energy. They accuse current operator Vattenfall of failing to seek alternatives to fossil fuels. Louise Osborne met the activists.
Coal power causes roughly 3,000 deaths per year in Germany
The campaign against coal power continues in Germany. Two new studies come to relatively similar estimates of the number of people who die every year from coal emissions in Germany alone – and one organization says some EU standards are more lax than those in China and the US. Craig Morris wonders whether the various numbers from different studies will convince skeptics.
Germany builds minus six coal plants after nuclear phaseout
In a recent paper about Germany’s energy transition, Craig Morris found one particular claim that he wanted to investigate: have the Germans built any coal plants to make up for lost nuclear power since 2011?