Sunday, June 20, 2021

Coal Is Dead! Long Live Coal -- Merkel Wins -- June 20, 2021

[What's wrong with the subject heading; answer at end of post.]

Go back to this post.

At that post I posited that the German auto manufacturers know they need coal. 

Knowing that explains the final energy communique of the G-7; and, it also explains how and why Angela Merkel "won" and John Kerry lost. 

So, that was posted June 13, 2021. That was about seven days ago.

Four days ago Bloomberg provided corroboration. 

This is the headline and the link: gas is so scare in Europe, coal is making a comeback. That's behind a paywall. Not only is it easy to get around the paywall, but in the process one finds some "better" sites that posted the story.

This is a discussion group over at alt.politics.usa.republican that has the article plus some great comments. Warning: adult language in heading.

Wattsupwiththat also has the story plus it's own commentary. 

This reinforces that:

  • killing nuclear energy in Germany was perhaps the worst mistake Merkel made;
  • Germany is now so short of energy it had no choice but to sign with devil (making the country dependent on Russia) -- Nord Stream 2
  • the only other choice was to go back to caol
  • no one in the current administration wanted to give into Russia-Nord Stream 2- Germany but there was no choice -- it was a Hobson's choice.
  • my hunch, John Kerry reluctantly signed off on it before Joe Biden agreed
  • coal or natural gas from Russia
  • so, now if a year or two from now, there are headlines that Germany's use of coal is falling, one needs to check the amount of natural gas Russia is supplying Germany

From the linked articles above, some data points:

  • coal usage in the continent jumped 10% to 15% this year after a colder- and longer-than-usual winter left gas storage sites depleted
  • as economies reopen and people go back to the office, countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Poland turned to coal to keep the lights on
  • yesterday it was posted that US crude oil exports surged in April, with number one destination being the Netherlands
  • energy story in the EU, a huge setback: at the G-7, the world's biggest economies faled to set a firm date to end coal burning

And here it is:

Europe faced freezing temperatures earlier this year, boosting demand for
heating at a time liquefied natural gas cargoes were being sent to Asia
instead. Russia sent less gas to the continent via Ukraine ahead of the start
of the Nord Stream 2 link to Germany
, expected later this year.

All of that means that European storage is currently 25% below the five-year
average and benchmark Dutch gas surged more than 50% this year
.

"People thought Russia was going to book more capacity via Ukraine and that
just hasn't happened in a meaningful way," ...

Electricity demand, which crashed as the coronavirus locked down cities from
Frankfurt to London, is now back. Usage in countries including Germany, Spain
and the Czech Republic are above the five-year average, while demand is flat in
Italy and France, ...

With gas supplies already tight amid heavy maintenance cutting flows from
Norway, utilities have turned to coal to keep the lights on
. While the price of
carbon is trading near a record, many have hedged it years in advance. That
means burning coal could still be profitable.

Generators with "highly efficient" new plants can probably manage to produce
power from coal until 2023, even with high carbon prices, Axpo's Sommer said.

The G-7 recognized that coal is the single biggest cause of greenhouse gas
emissions in its final communique. But the group promised only to "rapidly
scale-up technologies and policies that further accelerate the transition away
from unabated coal capacity."

The heading says "Merkel wins." In fact, Putin/Russia won.  

************************
The Cherry on Top

From the discussion group link:

In 2021 (To Date), A Total of 222 All-Time Low Temperature Records Have Been
Broken In The United States, Versus Just The 7 For All-Time High

Winter Returns To North America - April 14th

Australia - "Worst Frosts in Decades"

Cold Ravages Europe With "Agricultural Disaster" Declared In France, As Record
Cold Hits UK

Slovenia Suffers Coldest April Temp In History

Europe's Polar Cold To Intensify Through April, As North America Braces For A
Similar Fate - Grand Solar Minimum

Switzerland Registers Coldest Spell in 3-Decades

European Fruit Shortage Expected

Spring Freeze Shortens Fall Apple Season For Indiana Orchards: "It's the Worst
We've Seen In Decades"

Record Low November Temperatures Sweep Delhi, India

Spain Records Its Coldest-Ever Temperature

Record October Lows/Snows Threaten Majority of North America as Arctic Air
Prepares to Plunge South

The UK Records Its Coldest September Temperature in 23 Years

Colorado's Historic October Cold, Turns Deadly

According to the MSM, Global Warming Could Still Make It Too COLD to Grow
Citrus Fruits In Southeast U.S.

5th Cold Spring In A Row

Bone-Chilling Cold Sweeps Northeast Russia, Records from the 1950s and 60s Fall

Record Spring Cold Sweeps Brazil + a Continent-Wide Polar Blast On Course to
Hit South America

100-Year-Old Cold Records Smashed In Reno, Nevada - This Simply Should Not Be
Happening In a Warming World

Record Cold Hits the Russian Arctic Coast

Extreme Cold Blamed for 17 Deaths in Midwest, Northeast; Frostbite Injuries
Quickly Adding Up in Chicago

North America Has Set 233 New All-Time Monthly Low Temperature Records In May
(So Far) vs. Just The 18 Record Highs

China Plans Record LNG Imports to Battle Unprecedented Cold

Lake Tahoe Sets Its 3rd Record Low In a Week As Unprecedented November Cold
Lingers In The West

Record Lows Sweep Northeastern United States

Delhi Just Shivered Through Its Coldest Month of October Since 1962

Killing Freeze Hits Kansas As All-Time Cold Records Fall

New Records - Records Fall Across India

Why Is North America Immune to Global Warming?

Arctic April Grips North America Breaking Hundreds of All-Time Cold Records

Over the Past 7 Days, the United States Broke 3,782 Low Temperature Records Vs
Just the 518 Max

Unseasonable, Record-Breaking Cold Across Country Blamed For at Least 8 Deaths
- Record-Breaking Cold Blast Grips Over 200 Million Across The Country

Parts Of UK And US Suffer Their Lowest May Temperatures On Record

The United States (Lower-48) Just Set Its Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded
This Early In the Season

Australia: December 1st Threatens Record Cold And Rare Summer Snow

Hundreds of All-Time Records Fall Across North America: "This Cold Weather Is
Not Normal!"

Lamestream Media Blames The East's Heat On "Climate Change" While Ignoring The
West's Dominating Cold

Calgary Ties Its Longest Streak Below 20C (68F) In Recorded History

The All-Time Record For 'Coldest High Temperature' Also Fell On Monday

Extreme Cold Kills 900+ Trees in Montana City - November 4, 2020

Northwest Territories to Suffer "Colder-Than-Average Winter," Warns Environment
And Climate Change Canada

A Staggering 23 Norwegian Weather Stations Logged Their COLDEST-EVER July
Temperature Last Month

Unprecedented Spring Snow Hits Parts of Australia As Regions Suffer Their
Coldest September Temperatures Ever Recorded

Australia To Suffer Yet Another Continent-Wide Icy Blast ? Low Temperature
Records Will Be 'Shattered'

Prepare for More Extreme Cold Weather in Yucatan, Mexico Warns Meteorologist

Severe Spring Frosts Destroy Crops Across Europe

The Month of May Brings Record (Sometimes Historic) Cold To Both Hemispheres

20+ Weather Stations Across China Equal/Break Lowest-Ever Temperature Records
for Month of December

Denver Obliterates All-Time Low Temperature Records In Weather Books Dating
Back 148 Years

Century-old "LOWS" Follow Century-old "SNOWS" across Michigan's Upper Peninsula

France Is Suffering Its Coldest Start to Fall Since 1998, With Additional
Arctic Blasts Forecast

Cold, Snow, And Epic Flooding: "the Weather In Slovakia Is Reminiscent of the
Apocalypse"

Antarctica Just Set Its Coldest March Temperature On Record: A Global Warming
Destroying -75.3C (-103.5F)"

UK Set For Its Coldest October On Record

Delhi Suffers Coldest Month of November In 71 Years, Since Before The Birth of
The Indian Republic

Katesbridge, Ireland Just Recorded September Temperature of All-Time

Global Temperatures Suffer Second Largest Two Month Drop In Recorded History

Arctic Freeze Set to Break 142-Year-Old Low Temperature Record In Cheyenne, WY

In The Land of The Drought And Heat - Multiple Cold Records Fell In California
Monday

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