The energy geopolitical risk premium has returned. Russia is surrounding vital Ukrainian cities and launching “devastating grid attacks.” Ukraine has terminated Russian gas into Europe causing European power prices to skyrocket. [emphasis, links added]
Further strain was exemplified by European trading firm Guvnor mothballing its 75,000 b/d Rotterdam refinery over high operational costs; lifting oil prices.
We also discovered the energy transition concept is flawed and dangerous, emphasizing the world’s increasing need for fossil fuels.
However, the “absolutely sh-t situation,” according to Norway’s energy minister, Terje Aasland is the European grid.
Critics of exporting electricity between countries were ignored – in this case – Norway to the UK, Germany, Denmark and others were more concerned about climate change than reliable electricity, affordable power prices, and economic growth.
The health and stability of European and Western power grids are being forcibly strained by disastrous net-zero policies, leading to deindustrialization.
The UK’s economy contracted for the 4th quarter of 2024 along with Germany’s over unwise energy policies.
The economic hardship caused by illogical, imposed climate change policies and a “manufactured consensus” is absurd—especially as “King Coal” thrives in China, India, and other nations, driving up global emissions.
Factor in the U.S. economy in “shambles” over monetary lies from the Biden administration, and affordable energy emerges as the critical hope for averting a recession—highlighting the essential role of energy in our lives.
Things are challenging for the incoming President, but don’t ever underestimate Germany’s ability to make things even worse with its “green delusions.”
Germany is putting its plans to build new gas-fired power plants on hold as their wind energy production is collapsing.
Known as Dunkelflaute, this common occurrence is the latest wind drought providing more evidence of the foolishness of Germany’s $746 billion Energiewende, “which is Germany’s effort designed to force the country off hydrocarbons and onto alt-energy.”
During each wind lull, the shortfall was made up by gas-fired generation.
Seemingly, Europe is disintegrating “over trace elements of human-caused CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere.” Meanwhile, these energy policies driven by global warming and climate change initiatives have failed to alter the reality that:
“Wood provided almost twice as much energy in 2023 as in either 1900 or 1800.”
But it’s data center growth where Trump will require every molecule of fossil fuel and uranium available.
According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, “peak US electricity demand is projected to increase by 132 gigawatts (GW) over the next 10 years in the summer and 149 GW in the winter, a 15 percent and 18 percent increase, respectively.”
This growth dwarfs the capacity of new reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia and more than the entire nuclear reactor fleet in the U.S., which is approximately 95 GW.
Goldman Sachs similarly “finds that US power demand, driven by AI, electrification, and industrial reshoring, will spike, with data centers projected to consume 8% by 2030, up from just 3% in 2022.”
Notably, since 2022, the “5-year load growth forecast has surged more than fivefold, from 23 GW to 128 GW,” according to Grid Strategies.
Read rest at Townhall
Why should America be forced to return to the Dark Ages all over a totally false threat of Global Warming/Climate Change
A real indication that in Germany (as elsewhere) that the issue wasn’t CO2 releases from burning fossil fuels when the first things they did was shut down all the nuclear plants that produce ZERO CO2 for significant base-load electricity. That’s when it was clear their policies had nothing to do with CO2 emissions but to reduce Germany’s economy to shambles.
Maybe the title should say, “self-imposed power crisis.”
This didn’t have to happen, except for well-meaning (you hope) but hapless response to address Global Warming and appease a small but vocal minority.