does natural gas count as fossil fuels here?
Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
71–80 of 341 posts
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
When we are talking about countries, what matters is the political decisions, not the technical details imo.
What German political decision back then do you mean that cut off supply via NS1?
The German political decision to not join with Russia and invade Ukraine (via Poland?).
Just because it was the right decision doesn't mean there are not downsides.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
But so is German industry - every day in the news either insolvency or workforce reduction and moving production to Eastern Europe - main reason often stated "expensive Energy". I wonder what are the stats for industrial production in 2025 or total energy consumption in Germany?
> But so is German industry - every day in the news either insolvency or workforce reduction and moving production to Eastern Europe - main reason often stated "expensive Energy". I wonder what are the stats for industrial production in 2025 or total energy consumption in Germany? Every First World country seems to be following the path from industrialisation, through deindustrialisation (which, when I was at school,…
> Every First World country seems to be following the path from industrialisation, through deindustrialisation
Are you sure? Jobs are no longer in industrial companies, and that isn't where the growth is. However when I look at the numbers I see heavy industry output is still growing.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
What German political decision back then do you mean that cut off supply via NS1?
The German political decision to not join with Russia and invade Ukraine (via Poland?). Just because it was the right decision doesn't mean there are not downsides.
Accepting potential consequences is not the same as oneself cutting things off. Germany did not seek to end supplies then and there.
Edit: there was never any chance of Germany invading Ukraine then/joining Russia on any invasion.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#75does natural gas count as fossil fuels here?
yes.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#76What is not on the title: For an entire year, that year being 2025. Also, yes, absolute generation from fossil fuels is declining quickly. The total generation is changing way more slowly than that share.
But so is German industry - every day in the news either insolvency or workforce reduction and moving production to Eastern Europe - main reason often stated "expensive Energy". I wonder what are the stats for industrial production in 2025 or total energy consumption in Germany?
Hailing from Germany's eastern neighbor, where part of the industry went to and where energy is even more expensive, I call BS.
The main reason Germany was so hooked on gas wasn't because Hans Müller needed to run his Bosch washer-dryer and heat his home to a comfortable 24°C.
It was because natural gas is an great source of hydrogen, which in turn serves as feedstock for the production of all kinds of chemicals used in industry.
That was the engine of Germany's industry, not just energy. Energy has a whole spectrum of solutions - not the case with hydrogen.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The Greens were not in Office when the nuclear exit was decided 2011. Schröder was talking about it in 2000: * https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/15/johnhooper * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schröder#Domestic_poli... Oh, and he was appointed to Gazprom (and other Russian energy companies) after leaving politics: * https://www.dw.com/en/former-chancellor-schröder-sworn-in-at... (He did encourage ren…
> It's so expensive that prices in France, which generates >60% of power with nuclear, are at the same levels (or lower) as Germany, while producing less carbon per kWh than Germany (a quarter from some articles I've found). Maybe you should take a closer look how those prices come to be. Every single nuclear watt is being subsidised and has been for decades. Last time they wanted to play the free market game, they h…
> Every single nuclear watt is being subsidised and has been for decades.
You won't find any grid which isn't subsidized, remember Germany already spent ~2x the French grid and that didn't spend by itself.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
But so is German industry - every day in the news either insolvency or workforce reduction and moving production to Eastern Europe - main reason often stated "expensive Energy". I wonder what are the stats for industrial production in 2025 or total energy consumption in Germany?
> But so is German industry - every day in the news either insolvency or workforce reduction and moving production to Eastern Europe - main reason often stated "expensive Energy". I wonder what are the stats for industrial production in 2025 or total energy consumption in Germany? Every First World country seems to be following the path from industrialisation, through deindustrialisation (which, when I was at school,…
People don't like factory work. Given options, they will choose to do some less physically wearing work that pays more, and pay somebody else to do it.
Robots are the answer to reindustrialize the developed world, but that necessarily keeps industry smaller than services.
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
But all the examples you give have a heat source of high temperature and dense energy, and a lot of energy is lost in it's transformation, as illustrated by the combustion engine. How can heat be a good energy storage if so much is lost when you want to use it?
If it's free to collect (solar) then efficiency matters a lot less.
It isn't just the cost to collect, it is also the cost to store. Heat is easy and safe to store at just above room temperature in rocks - but you need a lot of rocks. Just to heat my house for a few days would need tons of rock at temperatures I'd allow in my house (I have kids and so I worry they will open the rock container and get burnt). Rocks are not free. You can also use water for storage, but again you have the issue needing a tank (and water is a drowning hazard, plus the worry about leaks...)
Re: Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> France powers down several nuclear reactors due to extreme heat - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48899232 - July 2026 (19 comments) There's no technical reason why the reactors in question could not have kept running: > "Due to the weather conditions and to comply with regulations on [cooling water] discharges, and thus to protect the environment," reactors at the Golfech, Bugey and Chooz plants, located on t…
There's no physics reason of course, but not using the natural river source for cooling like this further hurts the economics of nuclear power, which is already it's primary weakness. Similarly, all industrial processes of heat rejection, including data centers, could use closed cycle cooling, but they don't, because it's more expensive to install and operate.
> the economics of nuclear power, which is already it's primary weakness.
That affects ~0.5% of the yearly production in France, it's not a "primary weakness", it's the opposite, it's so low of a problem that the state simply doesn't care enough to fix it.