Diversity through Vulnerability
Over 60% of the German energy demand is covered by oil and natural gas. These are of course resources that the Germans don’t really have themselves. Sure, there is a dwindling amount of natural gas available in Lower Saxony and a little puddle of oil left in the sea (Mittelplate im Wattenmeer), but these don’t really weigh in when it comes to covering the staggering German demand for energy. That’s why these precious resources have to be piped and shipped in from somewhere else.
And just where is that somewhere else these days? You guessed it. Over half of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies are in the hands of state-controlled organizations like Saudi Aramco, Russia’s Gasprom and Iran’s NIOC. Holdings of the “evil” multinational oil corporations like ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, on the other hand (these cherished Feindbilder, or enemy symbols), only make up about 15% of the world’s oil supply.
These giant, state-run monsters are getting away with murder these days. Okay, okay, let’s call it armed robbery instead. The murder part will come later, I guess. They certainly must be pleased that business is so good these days. But in the end, their interests are the interests of their respective states and these must always be “better” than good, if you know what I mean.
That’s one reason why German think tanks now all agree that when it comes to having a reasonable energy policy, diversification is the only name of the game these days. “Raus aus dem Öl” (get away from oil) is certainly the appropriate motto, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to have figured that one out, but just where is Germany going to diversify to? Nuclear energy is no longer an option, it seems. And digging up and burning all of that dirty Braunkohle (brown coal) still so abundant here? No self-respecting, ecologically correct politician (and they are all self-respecting and ecologically correct these days, of course) would propose such an adventure. Not yet, anyway. Solar energy? Here? Ha, ha, ha.
Well, at least there’s certainly enough wind to go around here. You know, for their wind farms and all. Hot air, too, especially when it comes to pretending that Germany will ever find an alternative to oil and natural gas any time soon.
Come visit me at Observing Hermann... sometime.