German Bundestag, Plenarprotokoll 20/63,
pp. 7097-7099.
Right honorable President. Valued colleagues.
It is, ja,
meanwhile a platitude that, due to a false energy policy, Germany has fallen
into existential difficulties and that here reprimand of the Russian aggressive
war simply helps nothing. Since already in the spring of 2019, thus three years
prior to the Russian invasion, the German energy policy was quite appropriately
designated by the Wall Street Journal
as the world’s “dumbest energy policy”.
Throughout the country, the country arms itself against the
dangers of unprecedented electricity outages or even many hours of electricity
shutdowns; and that, even though Germany according to the statements of
responsible ministers has at no time today an electricity problem. At the same
time, since 2020, power plant capacities of 8 gigawatts for nuclear energy and
around 10 gigawatts for coal-generated electricity have been withdrawn. That at
least the latter was not so good an idea, the government has sufficiently
demonstrated with the introduction of the replacement power plant readiness
law. In parallel, Germany now enacts two laws. With one of the laws is demanded
the ban on the operation of any coal power plant, and the second permits again
the operation of precisely these coal power plants. What energy policy
nonsense! The same will be expected of us in regards nuclear power. One law
will need come about which permits one operation, even though by law the
operation is nevertheless actually forbidden.
It appears similarly in regards to natural gas. To generate
methane from so-called unconventional generation methods, colloquially
designated as “fracking”, is forbidden in Germany. At the same time, the import
of fracking gas generated in foreign countries has been massively increased. For
that, an extra law was created, the so-called LNG acceleration law. This then
again allows things which, from the right, would otherwise naturally be
forbidden.
These examples show us quite clearly: The German energy policy
is hopelessly stuck and will only be kept alive by means of makeshift cobbling.
The costs for these fading patients, called an energy policy, are thereby so
great that they are no longer able to be shouldered by a constantly increasing
number of private and business purchasers. And the consequences are the
emigration of value-creating industry and the impoverishment of the people.
What this and the preceding government obviously have not
understood: Energy is the basis of our prosperity, it is for our economy and
people as important as oxygen is for us; and for that, sufficient quantities
have to be available and may not by means of costs unnecessarily burden the
customer.
The energy policy of the past twenty years has however done
the opposite of this. New forms of energy production were established with
billions in tax money,
Timon Gremmels (SPD): And atomic was not subsidized, or what? Atomic power was always free of charge?
although no evidence existed for the technical feasibility
of these ventures.
Before the replacement of tested methods of energy
production, questions of the reliability and questions of the regionality of
generation from a technical viewpoint ought to have been asked, this concept of
the so-called renewables needed to be tested on a small scale so as to investigate
the feasibility and real costs. In such an effort, it then would have been
quite quickly noted that the price lay far above that of an ice cream cone and
that the reliability of the supply of energy is faulty.
Timon Gremmels (SPD): The most economic form of energy production is photovoltaic, mein Gott!
Yet that was not done. Unprofessional, – here, certainly one
cries out clearly – over-paid people without presentable credentials, with
Luddite zeal wrecked all the technique and fundamentals of the energy basis of
this country.
Last week we in the Bundestag had a visit of a Ukrainian
colleague from the Verkovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. The chairman of the
gas committee, Andrei Zhupanyn, depicted for us in moving words how the Ukraine’s
present energy infrastructure is being destroyed by targeted Russian attacks. The
goal of Russia is obvious. The Ukraine, by means of the destruction of the
potentialities for generating, distributing or even selling energy, shall be forced
to its knees.
For that, here n Germany, is required neither rockets nor
bombs nor Iranian kamikaze drones; since the foundations of the energy supply
are being demolished by the government itself.
Since 2011, for example, 14 modern nuclear power plant
blocks have been idled,
Bernhard
Herrmann (Greens): Shame on you!
Timon Gremmels (SPD): Shame on you!
with a rated power output of 20 gigawatts – power plants
which presently not only for the Ukraine would be finger-lickin’ good – and you
have disconnected them.
Timon Gremmels (SPD): That is just unbelievable!
So as to make that clear, an example:
Ingrid Nestle (Greens): Is your motion actually about the inquest commission?
If we still had 17 nuclear power plants, then the energy
produced by these could be projected at approximately 180 terawatt-hours.
Bernhard
Herrmann (Greens): Come to the theme!
The entire production of electricity from coal and gas in
the past year, 2021, was 240 terawatt-hours. And that means that two-thirds of
the fossil energy production could have been replaced in the past year by nuclear
energy. So much for your alleged climate saving measures. The same also applies
for this year 2022, in which the government now begs after gas and coal. If we
had nuclear energy, we need not send packing the town of Lützerath.
The energy carriers extolled by the government, wind and
solar, have in 2021 delivered only about 150 terawatt-hours. And that means:
After 20 years of permanent subsidization, these chance energies do not do it,
even only for substituting for the performance of nuclear power plants, and
here nothing is to be said of a replacement of coal and gas. These are the hard
facts in your energy transition fairy tales.
I ask myself, where should all this lead to? Quite simply: The
goal is that Germany again has an energy supply which corresponds to the
guidelines of the Agenda 2030: Affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern.
That will be the duty of this commission.
Because here the entire time come objections to the
so-called renewables: No one questions the capability of wind industry installations
and photovoltaic to be able to produce electricity. It would also be an
outstanding and good thing if the amount of generation would be adapted to the
corresponding consumption.
That unfortunately is as good as never the case. We
therefore must continually grasp at expensive replacement measures so as to
bridge the entire deficit.
Bernhard Herrmann (Greens): Perhaps both can be done! Then it is better suited.
In the future then, energy which is generated shall be
converted into a storable form, so as then to be activated in times of
continual under-production. It is then necessarily the goal to generate vast
additional amounts of energy so as to compensate for the thereby occurring
losses. This is presently a megalomaniacal idea. Since not only should the
present energy supply be replaced one for one, but, beyond that, giant amounts
of energy should be generated with the only purpose of compensating for the
gigantic transformation losses – into the hydrogen, out of the hydrogen, into
the battery, out of the battery – thus, generating energy with the only purpose
of again squandering it.
Bernhard
Herrmann (Greens): Nonsense!
Norbert Kleinwächter
(AfD): It is so!
Enrico
Komning (AfD): It is logical to me!
We confirm: The energy sector in Germany is in considerable
need of reform. The government meanwhile tinkers with the symptoms in monthly
reports.
Timon Gremmels (SPD): The symptoms are a Russian war of aggression!
On that account, it is time that the legislative branch gets
back to the roots so as to re-direct onto the right track, onto the right path,
the energy policy, the basis of this country’s welfare.
Timon
Gremmels (SPD): That was nothing, to be sure!
Enrico
Komning (AfD): Everyone should have understood that!
[trans: tem]
