Our piece — Will Climate-Change Fanaticism Bankrupt The West? — brought many comments including some short but clear ones:
I like your article on sound common sense approaches involving logic and reason versus “fanatical quasi-religious faith” regarding perishable production out West.
—Gary Martin
Buyer
Global Perishable Services
Miramar, Florida
We appreciate Gary’s comments. We certainly try!
There is a crazy shortage of energy in Europe right now, and Germany is experiencing the worst of it. Germany has three perfectly good nuclear power plants up and running, which generate about 6% of Germany’s electricity.
But, in 2011, then Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany would close all its nuclear power plants. This announcement was in response to the woes related to the Fukushima nuclear reactor following an earthquake and a tsunami.
Under enormous pressure, Germany has announced it will keep two of the three reactors in a standby state in case Germany needs power during this winter, which is highly likely. The third plant is still being closed, mostly because there is a contested election in that region, and Germany’s Green Party is unwilling to recognize the dire situation.
Interestingly enough, Japan is rethinking nuclear power:
Japan turns back to nuclear power in significant policy shift as fuel prices soar:
“Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday Japan will restart idled nuclear plants and consider developing next-generation reactors, in a policy reversal that will see the nation turn back toward atomic energy as fuel prices soar worldwide.”
Solar and wind have severe problems, as they are intermittent sources of power. So, until battery technology advances so that large quantities of electric can be stored to cover periods when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, nuclear power is a powerful, low-carbon, power-generating tool.
Germany turning off even one nuclear plant right now is an indulgence, not a realistic assessment of the situation.
If we need anything right now, it is clear-headed thinking.
Many thanks to Gary Martin for pointing us in that direction.
