Posted on 09/26/2022 6:43:14 AM PDT by karpov
As Europe heads into winter in the throes of an energy crisis, offices are getting chillier. Statues and historic buildings are going dark. Bakers who can’t afford to heat their ovens are talking about giving up, while fruit and vegetable growers face letting greenhouses stand idle.
In poorer eastern Europe, people are stocking up on firewood, while in wealthier Germany, the wait for an energy-saving heat pump can take half a year. And businesses don’t know how much more they can cut back.
“We can’t turn off the lights and make our guests sit in the dark,” said Richard Kovacs, business development manager for Hungarian burger chain Zing Burger. The restaurants already run the grills no more than necessary and use motion detectors to turn off lights in storage, with some stores facing a 750% increase in electricity bills since the beginning of the year.
With costs high and energy supplies tight, Europe is rolling out relief programs and plans to shake up electricity and natural gas markets as it prepares for rising energy use this winter. The question is whether it will be enough to avoid government-imposed rationing and rolling blackouts after Russia cut back natural gas needed to heat homes, run factories and generate electricity to a tenth of what it was before invading Ukraine.
Europe’s dependence on Russian energy has turned the war into an energy and economic crisis, with prices rising to record highs in recent months and fluctuating wildly.
In response, governments have worked hard to find new supplies and conserve energy, with gas storage facilities now 86% full ahead of the winter heating season — beating the goal of 80% by November. They have committed to lower gas use by 15%
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
The irony is that if it happens in the US, it will be the snowflake lefties who suffer the most. Me, I’ll be fine.
A country needs to control as much of its necessities as possible; otherwise, it is subject to destruction. Now, pass me my chopsticks.
“...while in wealthier Germany, the wait for an energy-saving heat pump can take half a year.”
LOL, so much for that idea, at least this winter.
Unfortunately we can’t store “energy” for our household needs...or gas for our cars. We are fossil fuel dependent...and that will not change. Windmills and solar simply can’t support our population.
Need I remind anyone that one Donald J. Trump warned Frau Angela Merkel and the rest of the lefty eurotrash YEARS AGO that this would be the case in any conflict with russia?
Government failure to be government ,LOL
I would think it sucks enough to live in europe. This is just piling on.
heat pumps only work well with ‘mild’ winters ...
Refugees: German cities are reaching their limits
https://www.dw.com/en/refugees-german-cities-are-reaching-their-limits/a-63208301
“heat pumps only work well with ‘mild’ winters ...”
True, and if they were SMART, they’d prioritize Southern Europe, where the heat pumps are much more efficient. But the people in Brussels look at Southern Europe the way DC looks at the Southern States, particularly after the Italy election...so not happening and when they really need the gas savings in mid-winter, the new heat pumps won’t be helping much.
It’s not just Dems, is it...
The letter after the name means jack anymore.
The only reason political parties still exist is to give voters the illusion of choice.
A pol is either loyal to the citizenry or to Deep State.
Too many pols in too many countries are Deep State.
> A country needs to control as much of its necessities as possible... <
And liberals need to be kept out of power. The United States is energy-rich. But if Biden’s handlers have their way, we’ll be suffering right along with the Europeans.
The only question is, will this wake up the American electorate? It’s not an easy call, given that the media will blame it all on Putin and Climate Change.
Propaganda works.
Republicans aren’t perfect, but there is a big difference between the two parties on energy policy.
“All while countries under energy duress continue to take in massive amounts of refugees”
I wonder how these ‘refugees’* will feel coming from a Third World country that has more reliable power and energy than the European S-hole country they just spent a fortune to move to.
* 80% of refugees go back to the old country to visit family and friends, according to one study. Think about that...
“Unfortunately we can’t store “energy” for our household needs”
I must have been doing it wrong for the past 4 decades. I can and do “store energy for house hole needs”. I have a years worth of stored “solar energy” in a neat pile out behind the barn. And I have over a 10 year supply that only needs some processing. It is WOOD! It needs nothing but a little protection from rain.
I can heat the house and cook my meals with it, and have been happily doing it for many years.
When I was in Germany in 2000 in February, the hotel would open the windows to the rooms during the day so when I came back from my job at a local NATO base, it would be ice cold.
Also the ‘hot’ water was barely warm...................
I regularly laugh at anyone who bases their energy policy on the rantings of a retarded and uneducated Swedish teenage.
Let the green lunatics chop wood. Meanwhile they are sitting on huge coal reserves which they refuse to mine and burn. There was a level of hell in Dante’s inferno where the wicked suffered frozen in ice. IMHO the Germans who can never be forgiven for their crimes against humanity and for two wars that destroyed Western culture ought to freeze in pain.
“...while in wealthier Germany, the wait for an energy-saving heat pump can take half a year.”
I have a ground loop heat pump.
All the savings come in the summer from running the AC. In winter, the “back-up” heat is electric. So if you want your house anywhere over 60 degrees or so, you’re on electric.
That’s great...
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