In Germany, alone among the 27 members of the European Union, unemployment rates for both older and younger workers are now lower than they were when the United States slipped into a recession at the end of 2007.
In the rest of the euro zone, the unemployment rate for workers ages 25 to 74 has more than doubled over that period, to 12.8 percent. The rate for younger workers is more than 30 percent, on average — and above 50 percent in Spain and Greece. In Germany, it is less than 8 percent.
I’m sure having electricity costs 3x ours is what is driving the German economy.
/sarc
Thank you, Dave, for succinctly illustrating that the price of electricity is not directly related to the health of the German economy. If there was a connection, the German economy must have grown because of Energiegewende, the turn to renewable energy sources. An economist might say and economy is much more than the cost of electricity. In a recent climatecrocks video, we were reminded that during the 70s, it was still fashionable to claim that GNP was tied to electricity production. That ended in 1973, for historically obvious reasons. Now we know that conservation is worth more than generation. Likewise, we have learned that fuel savings and price stability have a value. Today we know wind energy is that fastest growing energy source and for good reason. Maybe if we shifted our economy to more renewables, we too could have more growth. The facts show lower energy prices in the Midwest with the introduction of wind energy and higher employment. Let’s deal with facts, not canards.
this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J-ijPcv1VM
important to understand that the Germans are so much more efficient than we are that they achieve a comparable or, some would say, higher, standard of living with much less electricity. It is also important to understand that they do not contemplate going fossil free without becoming even much more efficient than they are today.
Efficiency, of course, is what makes their economy so competitive – something our large companies understand here, but ideologues lower down on the chain have yet to comprehend.
The fact is, we have some growth. But it’s being sucked up by rich people and corporations so it’s less than it could be and it’s not creating jobs. We need renewables; we also need a return to fair taxation and limits on personal and corporate wealth and/or income.
=> Energy Transition – The German Energiewende
http://energytransition.de/
Thanks for this. BTW, non-Germans may wish to know that “Energiewende” = “Energy Revolution”. Take a look at item #1 where GHG (green house gases) go down while GDP (gross domestic product) goes up. Question: does this mean that Western countries, like USA and Canada, will expect to see their respective GDPs continue to drop?
German DW reports: 2012 record-breaking year for wind power
“100 countries worldwide now produce electricity with wind power. So far, it’s a boom that has mainly occurred in Asia, North America and Western Europe. Now, Eastern Europe and Latin America are getting involved.
Last year, more wind turbines were erected than ever before worldwide, according to statistics released today (16 May 2013) by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) in Bonn, Germany.
According to the organization’s World Wind Energy Report 2012, last year wind turbines with a total energy potential of 45 gigawatts (GW) were constructed internationally. That brings global wind power capacity to 282 GW. Stefan Gsänger, the General Secretary of the WWEA, says that wind power now covers three percent of global electricity demand.
In 2012, some 60 billion euros (around $77 billion) was invested in wind farms and turbines worldwide. That year, China and the USA were the biggest investors in the industry, both adding 13 GW to their capacity. Together they are the top two producers of wind-powered energy in the world. Germany is comes in third.
In Europe, wind farms with a total capacity of 12 GW were built: One GW each was added in Italy, Spain, Romania, Poland, Sweden and France, while two GW of capacity were added both in the UK and in Germany.
Germany’s Environment Minister Peter Altmaier says that the country’s wind power capacity will continue to increase: He is predicting wind power growth of three GW in 2013 and 4.5 GW in 2014.”
The sustainable revolution has started. We have been distracted by negatives. Peak oil happened in 2005. Global warming is ahead of schedule. The German economy is thriving on renewables and efficiency. Why is that? Why is wind energy so successful? Because in a world of ever increasing fossil fuel costs, and ever increasing fossil fuel impacts, the economy reflects that reality. All this talk about intermittency and capacity factor has distracted us from the central reality. Fuel cost stability, savings, and local energy generation is worth more to an economy.
We know that there is something wrong with the banks, and Wall Street. Its the compound interest that all governments, business, and banks sing their tune to. That causes the unsustainable growth. Take a look at M King Hubbert’s math to see the effect. A finite resource supply coupled with a compound interest driven demand
(n % annual growth = doubling every x years) yields this math. An exponential growth followed by decay. It predicted the US oil peak in 1970 (conventional) and the world peak (2005).
The economy does eventually work as an exchange medium of value. And what it says is, renewables are the future. As recent dialogue has noted, not only have economies reflected this, economists and traders have started to comprehend that fossil stocks are devalued by their negatives and may see further future decay. That’s the revolution. Its already started and its gaining momentum.