A paywalled article in The Times today
Ben Webster Environment Editor, Warsaw
Last updated at 12:01AM, November 22 2013Germany is seeking to force Britain and other European countries to commit themselves to building many more wind and solar farms under a new European Union target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Berlin is demanding that the 2030 emissions target, which the EU is negotiating as its contribution to a global deal on emissions, should include a minimum level of renewable energy.
Britain opposes this and says that countries should be allowed to meet their share of the target by whatever means they choose. This would give Britain the flexibility to focus on cutting carbon dioxide emissions by building more
For whatever use it is http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article3928640.ece
Very interesting though was physically to the right
All 405 offshore turbines installed around the coast of Britain in the year to June 2013 were supplied by Siemens
Getty Images
Oh dear dear, Siemens are a German organisation and that stinks. Perhaps the snippet was trying to say what a journo dare not write directly.
Post by Tim
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
Evidently the german economic wonder based on not having a minimum wage and people working for peanuts is starting to creak
Germany is attempting to even the cost of energy by raising the cost for everyone, not reduce its own costs. It is the same with eco-greens everywhere: don’t make solar, wind or tidal cheaper, make all fossil-fuel and nuclear more expensive.
You can make iron as costly as gold by either reducing the price of gold or raising the price of iron. The eco-green anti-capitalists see profit as a sickness in the body politic; remove the profit motive, and the “good” naturally comes to the top (why wouldn’t you be very green if no other factor were being considered?).
At the same time as this move to force green energy, Germany is going ahead with more coal-powered plants and (they hope) shale-gas fracking.
BTW, in Germany in the energy business, you don’t use the term “fracking”, you use the term “hydraulic stimulation”. There is a lot of hydraulic stimulation going on, but no fracking, because fracking is bad.
Go figure.
Berlin (if and when they ever come to a new coalition) wants that solar and wind power stations buy the difference to their inexistent storage capacity from regular utilities like RWE (how about a lull for 4 days), instead of “forcing” the present guarantee for green power parks in form of a flat rate and regardless of the park’s productive hours.
This would of course increase demand and secure investments in existing and new fossil fuel power plants.
From the coalition negations, title translates to “CDU/CSU and SPD bury the Energiewende”.
I don’t think the Germans are going to have much success in getting Poland to build more wind farms.
Germany are the 8th largest coal producer. Whether they cut back on fossil fuels for electricity is, in a way, irrelevant.
The real question is whether they keep mining 197 mt pa. Whether they burn it or someone else does does not matter a jot to the planet.
So will the Germans be prepared to shut down their coal industry in the next decade or so? Methinks the Good Frau owes us some answers!
The Good Frau is lost, with no way home, having nuked every bridge she crossed to get here.
Is this a genuine proposition from the German government, or just their equivalent of Ed Davey/T-Yeo flying a kite for the benefit of a corporate sponsor? Unfortunately the link doesn’t give any helpful info, and I’m not enjoying what seems to be the anti-Germanic tone of it. Germans have suffered as much as other Europeans from foolish energy policies.
My opinion is that, since reliable effective 24×7 nuclear power is a politically unacceptable option for Germany, they want to make sure no-one else reaps the benefit of this proven , safe technology by insisting on wind / solar.
The fact that Siemens builds large numbers of these wind turbines is just cherry on the cake.
Tallbloke AO decreases rapidly. This will blizzards in the Northeast U.S. and cold in Europe.
The Germans are re-routing three autobahns to release more land for lignite surface mining. Whole villages and small towns may be relocated as well. So much for the shiny green image.
http://nohotair.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3074%3Aa-peek-behind-the-german-energy-transformation-curtain&catid=196&Itemid=417
You will determine the effect of magnetic field on cosmic rays.
Will the data be available?
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/11/rockot-launch-swarm-esa/
Germany is going to introduce a minimum wage. The plot thickens
Digging up the 200 kg of rare earth minerals needed to create just 1 wind generator, typically creates 200 kg of radioactive waste and about 15 cubic meters of very toxic waste water containing lead, arsenic, cadmium and othe goodies. So, this is all about keeping the planet clean, right?
http://phys.org/news/2012-09-rare-earth-metals.html