“Bloomberg writes, Germany’s energy consumption is poised to drop to a record low for a second consecutive year “
Our Take, With Doug Sheridan
Bloomberg writes, Germany’s energy consumption is poised to drop to a record low for a second consecutive year as Europe’s largest economy stalls, according to research group AG Energiebilanzen.
Significant production declines in the manufacturing and processing industries this year reduced energy use despite a recent uptick in demand. The 1.7% drop in consumption to 2,904 terawatt-hours projected for 2024 follows a slump to a previous all-time low last year.
Germany avoided a technical recession in the third quarter, with a slight and unexpected expansion. But the economy remains stagnated, after a slump in factory activity and huge troubles in the car industry.
Meanwhile, the country’s energy transition became more evident. Coal and lignite consumption fell by 15% in the first nine months of the year, while the consumption of renewable energy and natural gas rose each by roughly 3%. The use of coal for power generation plunged by 39%, thanks to the increasing consumption of renewable energies and electricity purchases from neighboring countries.
Our Take 1: Evidently, Germany is committed to trying to shrink itself to greatness in some kind of magical post-carbon world imagined by a few elites and dismissed by the masses. We hate to see it unfolding this way, but the nation... both its politicians and citizens... chose this path. Now it reaps the consequences.
Our Take 2: This news is particularly concerning given that Germany... like many other Western nations... is on a mission to electrify as much of its economy as possible. Too bad they forgot to consider the impact that high energy prices and intermittent reliability might have on consumers' willingness to sign up for the strategy.
