Bavaria’s Sylvensteinspeicher (Sylvenstein Dam) has two power plants whose combined electrical capacity is 7 MW (26 GWh a year). Andreas Bauer, of the Regional state office for water management in Weilheim, says that while they are happy to produce electricity, this is a byproduct. The earthen embankment dam’s main purpose is to withstand floods, and retain enough water to keep servicing the surrounding area during droughts. This facility has withstood a number of extreme weather events during its’ 56 year history. The Sylvensteinspeicher, operated by the Regional state office for water management in Weilheim as part of the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection, is an example of how dams can protect us from Climate Change.
On any given day, half a million North Americans go through a blackout that lasts 2 to 4 hours. The US economy loses $150 billion a year through these incidents. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the average Western European loses minutes, rather than hours, through annual power loses. The average German hasn’t experienced 20 minutes of per customer annual power losses for years and, in 2014, Germany broke the 12 minute barrier.
Tom Mulcair just announced his plan “to restore Canada’s environmental credibility at home and around the world by putting a price on carbon, making polluters pay and taking meaningful steps to reduce carbon emissions.” Mulcair is right, it is time Canada cleaned up its’ emissions.
American critics of Energiewende regularly announce its approaching demise. A hypocritical article in the Wallstreet Journal announced that Germany will spend €1 trillion on its’ renewable energy experiment by 2040, without mentioning that a large portion of that money was for electric grid upgrades that would be needed anyway. Nor did the author disclose the fact an even larger sum (€90 billion a year) would have gone to fossil fuels. Similarly, Forbesmocked Germany’s slight rise in CO2 levels, without mentioning they are already 23% lower than the 1990 benchmark set by the Kyoto Accord. (The author’s country, the US, is still 5% above that target.) Their carping does not explain how Germany became Europe’s powerhouse and the fourth largest economy in the World. Nor does it do justice to the nation the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) ranks #3for renewable investments. Energiewende will succeed because it is embraced by the German people.
Though the Netherland’s EV sales are picking up, Fastned’s co- founder & CEO Michiel Langezaal does think they will reach the national goal of 200,000 electric cars on the road by 2020. According to Michiel this number includes not only fully electric cars, but also the Hybrids.There are still parts of the country that are beyond the reach of EVs with a 100 kilometers per charge range. Around 85% of the population do not have their own parking spaces. Yet Fastned’s co- founder & CEO Michiel Langezaal says the EV tipping point will arrive quickly.
