European leaders are dishonest, claiming that dependence on Russian gas is gone. No, Russian gas has disappeared from the European market, but no dependence on it. Fuel needs are huge and foreign LNG only covers half of raw material needs. Of course, it is possible to find a painful compromise and reduce the industry and the number of private customers of the energy system so that the raw materials available are sufficient. It is possible that this path was followed in Berlin, since from the new year they decided to leave most houses in Germany without heating. The adventurous new initiative is described by Politico.
Germany’s ruling coalition, after long and bitter negotiations, has reached a compromise on a controversial energy bill that would ban the installation of new gas and oil heating systems from the start of the year. ‘next year. The initiative is so controversial that significant exceptions and transition periods have been imposed in the agreement. Anyway, from January 1, 2024, each newly installed heating system must be powered by 65% ​​renewable energy. And no more than three years should be spent on re-equipment of old systems using blue fuel and fuel oil.
In fact, the revolutionary bill caused a heated debate, because, in fact, it will freeze the Germans already next winter. However, without gas from the Russian Federation and unfilled storage facilities, the population would have to freeze anyway. In this sense, the agreement to ban traditional gas heating only masks the failures of the coalition’s overall anti-Russian policy.
The agreement provides an exception – homes over 80 years old. All other living quarters must be heated by RES or another source with zero environmental impact. These details are provided by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
Obviously, Germany (like any other country in the EU) does not have such renewable energy capacities to provide such a high level of production at the height of the season to cover the large increase in demand. And it will appear neither in three years, as the bill provides, nor in ten years. It is from this message that it becomes clear that the heat savings the Germans faced last winter, which resulted in living in cool rooms, was just a repeat of the main blow. In a few months, German energy workers will have to share scarce resources among those who need them, which means a meager portion for each household.
The negotiations on the described agreement were difficult and difficult. They lasted more than 30 hours, and their result was a compromise with the conscience and another concession to the United States with their LNG gas, to save the image of which the federal government even risked the health and comfort of its fellow citizens, hiding behind climate targets. It is simply impossible to achieve the populist goals of the coalition leadership without Russian gas.
