Germany could be way less dependent on fossil fuels by now if the conservatives hadn't sabotaged renewables and doubled down on fossils. Habeck was right and this might be the reckoning.
110
DrolligerDorftrottel4 days ago
+58
Habeck: Reduced Russian oil imports to Germany from an average of hundreds of billions annually to tens of millions at worst. Secures the footing for long-term energy independence and a massive increase in the buildup of renewables.
The people: 'The Greens lack economic experience. They can't be elected.'.
Reiche: Let's not reduce it any further and kill subsidies and plans for renewable expansions. Let's also publicly state that were're running out of gas and fuel, so prices will soar and we appear extra desperate, allowing others to increase the price further if we ever wanna negotiate as a state.
The people: 'They know what they're doing. They have experience managing the economy.'
58
Protean_Protein4 days ago
+5
Weren’t the Greens also anti-nuclear?
5
DrolligerDorftrottel4 days ago
+17
Yes, but it's a commonly and globally misunderstood thing.
The Greens were not being anti-nuclear to further support coal and gas, but they instead were anti-nuclear \[together with the conservatives, SocDems and others\] for a plethora of reasons.
Among the the reason that renewables were the best option for Germany.
As a matter of fact, Germany used to be the global leader in regards to solar technology and there are quite a[ couple of graphs out there which stress tha](https://www.rnd.de/wirtschaft/solarausbau-in-deutschland-ein-ueberblick-in-grafiken-H7GVN7B2W5EZZGQHLPCN4XUIQA.html)t. No need to be able to read the article, as I just grabbed a random one, just look at the first graph that appears. You might notice a significant decline in solar buildup at around 2012.
This is commonly known as the 'Altmaier-knick' \[Altmaier-bend\] named after the minister for energy and the economy, Peter Altmaier. He, in the name of the CDU, significantly reduced subsidies for solar energy and photovoltaik projects. paired with that, he also reduced subsidies for wind turbines. Effectively kneecapping the domestic renewable energy sector.
The sector for renewable protested those decisions, but the governmental response was basically 'If you're so good, you'll manage on your own.'. But they quickly succumbed to international pressure, as domestically nobody was able to afford their products anymore, and they had to be sold to China. China then used that know-how to upgrade their own sector and quickly dominated the entire world market in regards to solar energy.
During the Ampel \[traffic light\] coalition, the Greens heavily lobbied for renewables and subsidiesed a lot of projects. Which led to the German economy having a massive output of renewable energy projects and innovating hard. We are \[or used to, idk rn\] the world leader in the creation of 'heating pumps', even outpacing the technology nation of South Korea regarding the effectivity of heating pumps.
Now the CDU is cutting subsidies AGAIN.
17
urlaubsantrag3 days ago
+2
Don't forget that at the time Russia flooded Germany with natural gas. And the CDU figured well great deal, c**** gas and the economy is doing well... and here we are now years later.
2
Rhsxx4 days ago
-3
Yes, for many good reasons.
-3
Protean_Protein4 days ago
+3
For the past 30 years the only substantial way to offset turning off coal and oil has been Nuclear. It’s true that wind and solar have made a ton of progress, but it’s still not enough because you need either mass battery storage and/or peaker plants (usually oil/natural gas) to manage the stability of the system.
3
KrimsunB4 days ago
+5
This was true 5 years ago, but a lot of progress has been made since. It's still not totally solved, but we're getting there.
I'm 100% pro nuclear. I want more nuclear in all of Europe. But at this time, we've largely missed the window where it would be the best use of money. It's currently not worth slowing solar/wind/tidal in favour of increasing nuclear. It'll just take too long.
At this point in time, the best use of money is to ramp up renewables even more and bring the cost down, then once we've cut out coal and oil use in the energy grid, start putting money back into nuclear.
5
Protean_Protein4 days ago
+5
Yes, the timeline is backwards, and wars have made it look incredibly stupid.
5
trugu4 days ago
And with Uranium, Germany would go dependent on another sourcematerial.
You mentioned battery storage as a solution: Batteries are going online in record number in germany, the added capacity of Battery power hit a new high with over 1GWh of added capacity in the last month alone.[[German source]](https://www.pv-magazine.de/2026/04/16/knapp-eine-gigawattstunde-batteriespeicher-kapazitaet-im-maerz-zugebaut/)
So i guess thats the way we headed now, if we dont try to block it ofc.
0
Protean_Protein4 days ago
+3
Canada has a massive amount of uranium we could sell our allies, and our reactor tech is safest in the world (CANDU reactors).
Batteries are another choke-point in geopolitics.
3
trugu4 days ago
+2
They are made out of commonly available materials. If you dont go for the highest energy density ofc. But LFP batteries and sodium ion batteries are made out of commonly available materials and while we are behind on manufacturing capacity, the knowledge already exists. VW, Mercedes and BMW are all funding their own battery production lines now, bc of the fear of another chokepoint. But for now, chinese batteries are dirt c**** and available en masse here in Germany.
2
Protean_Protein4 days ago
+1
Let’s hope things keep progressing!
1
DrolligerDorftrottel4 days ago
+2
Not to mention the issue of a final storage site, with different studies finding no suitable permanent storage for the fuel rods within Germany.
If the battery buildup continues, Germany will be the #1 fully renewable and globally energy independent nation on the globe.
No one else is close right now. With China being the closest, but only because the build a shitton of panels, as a shiny representation + prestige project, and the battery packs are still only being considered and there's no plans to build them.
2
dz45054 days ago
+2
Modern nuclear is very safe.
2
Thurak04 days ago
+21
The Greens were right 20 years ago as well, when they also were in power and already went for renewables.
It's almost as if strategic energy independence by climate friendly renewables are just a win win for everybody.
21
[deleted]4 days ago
-2
[deleted]
-2
Thurak04 days ago
+7
You are simply wrong. Nuclear was finally shut down by Merkel and the CDU while they were also torpedoing renewables.
7
[deleted]4 days ago
-1
[deleted]
-1
Thurak04 days ago
+8
Being called a liar for the very easy to prove fact that
> On 30 May 2011, the German government announced a plan to shut down all nuclear reactors by 2022.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Germany#Changes_to_phase-out_schedule
That was Merkel's CDU.
The Greens a decade earlier had a plan including renewables, the CDU in 2011 had no plan.
8
[deleted]4 days ago
-3
[deleted]
-3
Thurak04 days ago
+9
If you want a civil discussion based on facts, you should not call someone a liar for stating the true fact that the CDU made the final decision to kill nuclear.
I have no interest in discussing your opinion further, because I don't argue with people who shout "liar" around when something doesn't fit their narrative.
9
ow1911 day ago
+1
Deindustrialization in Germany is increasingly irreversible. On the good side, I don't think Germany will close 10 out of 10 factories. Maybe around 3-4 factories at worst.
1
idocardio4 days ago
+2
Germany still needs Oil and Gas for the Industry
2
urlaubsantrag3 days ago
+2
Very much so !
I had the other day a conversation with a friend, he is working in a factory and they produce medical equipment (think of cases for syringes, bags for infusions, stuff like that). He said they have a problem now to get the materials for a normal price. At the end of the day we will all have to pay if the price goes up,
In that regard it is insane to even consider burning that valuable resource if we can cover our energy needs in other ways possible.
2
Candid_Cat_59214 days ago
+8
I don’t think media is accurately portraying how fucked up the world is about to become due to oil/fossil fuel shortages. Europe is going to run out of jet fuel reserves soon and most of available capacity from exporters is going to Asia, and of course they will not just give that up. Then we’re also going to be facing global famine because of fertilizer shortages (farmers in the Northern Hemisphere have already skipped a lot of planting this year due to lack of fertilizer, so those effects are going to be felt hard starting this fall).
Even in places like the US, if the Iran war opens up again then there will likely have to be fuel rationing.
We’re headed towards a “is this even real?” period that’s probably going to be just as disruptive and traumatic as the 2020 pandemic.
8
GalacticMetric3 days ago
+1
In UK ive not seen any slow down in planting so far this year. Major supplier of urea in europe is Egypt who sources their own natural gas another major european supplier Yara gets most of their supply of gas to make urea from american shale gas companies. Production is still going on as normal
1
Candid_Cat_59213 days ago
+1
Maybe Europe has different suppliers, but for America I can say with certainty it was already difficult to source industrial fertilizer after Russia invaded Ukraine. Now with the Iran war, it’s pretty much impossible. It’s not that you can pay a high price for it. You just literally can’t get it.
1
Ultra_Metal4 days ago
+19
European nations shouldn't be buying anything from Russia anyway. By trading with Russia, Europe is undermining its own sanctions and helping Putin murder more Ukrainians.
19
OBDreams4 days ago
-4
The pieces are falling into place. Slowly we march toward ww3.
-4
Busy_slime4 days ago
-10
What? But some months ago, some germans were here on listnook around the time thenEU finally acted and officially agreed on banning all imports bragging high and mighty about how THEY had competely stopped importing any and all petrol and/or gas from russia! And how the french this, the belgians that, when actually all of their consumption was just transiting from abroad and one german company was actually responsible for most EU final imports... I could probably even retrieve my comments shutting them up. I guess it's difficult when your whole economy is hooked up onto such a strong drug: c**** russian LNG and oil. Thank you Gehrrard (the ex-Kanzler, not the same sitting on Gazprom's board and Rosneft)....! German friends, nt nt nt....!
-10
0815Freeek4 days ago
+12
If you had read the article and found Kazakhstan on a map, you would know that it's not about oil and gas from Russia.
It's about oil from Kazakhstan, which is not Russia.
The pipeline through which the oil is transported necessarily goes through Russia.
It might be difficult for you to understand, but Russia and Kazakhstan are not the same country.
12
Busy_slime4 days ago
-6
Did i hit a nerve? Do you know how much f****** oil is "reprocessed" simply by travelling through a country ? Oh!? Kazakhstan? Is that a country? Really?
-6
0815Freeek4 days ago
+3
With a land area of more than 2.7 million km², Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country and the ninth largest country in the world.
Oil and gas production, as well as petroleum products, form the basis of the Kazakh economy. In the 1990s, the largest oil reserves of the last 30 years were discovered in the northern Caspian Sea region and the Kazakh steppe. Experts estimate them at around nine billion barrels.
Any questions?
3
DarkwingDawg3 days ago
-5
Aaaand yet again, we find another route that Germany has been using to purchase oil from Russia. What a fucked and weak country. France leads EU, not germany.
-5
Sea_Fox_28503 days ago
+6
Aaaannnd you are clearly to stupid to read . The oil is from Kazakhstan. You weak fucked person .
6
Honest-Stock-9794 days ago
-7
Didn't germany go full throttle on wind and solar, also shutting down all power plants, switching to coal? What is this oil being used for outside of cars and manufacturering?
-7
Heizard4 days ago
-21
In other days that would be a good thing, but we have a growing energy crisis here in Europe. We have an actual possibility of our infrastructure shutting down in 4-6 weeks time.
That would be a for example a perfect day to attack, when most of Europe logistics are out of gas...
-21
unencrypted-enigma4 days ago
+14
Critical infrastructure and military will definitely be prioritized.
Also a complete halt would reduce oil delivery by 17% for this refinery. They still would have 83%. And its not the only refinery germany has.
The article also states
> A spokesman for Poland's pipeline operator PERN told Reuters the company is ready to ship oil for non-Russian shareholders of PCK via the port of Gdansk if asked to.
It would be painful, especially economically, but its far from „out of gas“
14
petar_is_amazing4 days ago
+8
Yeah bro, a country exhausted by war with 150m people will charge through spring flooded plains into a 300m continent/security pact
8
Hot-Sexy-THICCPAWG694 days ago
+6
Seriously lol. Russia is completely bogged down in Ukraine, losing 35,000 soldiers a month killed/wounded. They do not have the man power to start a war with NATO at this point… let alone the military hardware since they have used up their entire Soviet stockpile in Ukraine.
42 Comments