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The Failed Energy Transition Using the Example of HohenmölsenIn Hohenmölsen, the district heating company GmbH is the heat supplier. It was once considered a good idea to use the lignite directly on the doorstep. One advantage was certainly that the coal tile stoves, which were widespread in the GDR, no longer polluted the air. 
Politics decided, out of fear of CO₂, that coal-fired power generation and the burning of this coal must be ended. Gas and oil are also to cease being energy sources in the foreseeable future. Wind and solar are supposed to take over. Until recently, Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock named Kenya as a role model. “There are countries, for example Kenya, that want to switch their entire country to renewables by 2030. This shift to green technologies in all sectors is the competitive issue of our time. And as a German industrial location, we want to be part of that.” But one small detail was overlooked: Kenya lies on the equator, Germany does not. The sun shines all day long in Kenya, and hardly any heating is needed there. Things look a tiny bit different in Germany. Nevertheless, the transformation, the energy transition, is to be pushed through. Many millions of tax euros are to be invested in Hohenmölsen as well. A concept was developed to move away from lignite. I had heard about it some time ago and was curious how heating with sun and wind was supposed to work. As already reported, it is now becoming clear that this is not feasible. From May to September, surplus electricity from solar and wind plants in the current open-pit mining area is supposed to suffice for heat supply – that is, during a time when mainly hot water for bathing and showering is needed. This corresponds to about 25 to 30 percent of the annual heat demand. The heating season, however – it was explained (see video) – cannot be secured without the combustion of raw materials. To avoid dependency on one fuel, they want to remain flexible. Animal meal, wood chips, or substitute fuels – probably based on plastics – are to be burned after the end of lignite. And here the failure of the energy transition idea becomes apparent. Sun and wind obviously do not provide enough energy to actually heat without burning raw materials. Now imagine not only the 15,000 people in and around Hohenmölsen who like to have warmth, but also all other municipal utilities in Germany – especially those in big cities. Raising animals to obtain animal meal for burning would on the one hand infuriate animal rights activists and on the other hand probably not be efficient. Moreover, the ideology calls for reducing animal farming. Meat is also to be avoided. So the focus will probably be on wood chips and substitute fuels. But where will the wood chips come from? Will forests be cut down? Or will fast-growing trees have to be cultivated to meet the demand? These areas could then no longer be used for growing food. What will wood chips and similar fuels cost when demand rises because district heating companies all over Germany need these raw materials? In Zeitz, there is the Elsterfloßgraben Association, which deals with the history of timber rafting. In the 16th century, the construction of the Elster-Floßgraben system began, growing to a length of 101 kilometers. Firewood was needed; Leipzig, with about 20,000 inhabitants at the time, was to be supplied. The consequence was heavy deforestation. Today, Leipzig has about 620,000 inhabitants. How many wood chips would be needed to supply Leipzig with heat in this way? Substitute fuels are obtained from waste (packaging) made of plastic. Plastics are products made from crude oil. But is that enough to heat Germany? Or will it lead to these fuels being produced specifically from crude oil? How “green” would that be? Smart people might now say that heat pumps could be switched to. But these need electricity, which must first be generated. In winter, this will probably be just as difficult as heat generation. Without power plants that burn raw materials, this will be nearly impossible – especially since electricity for heat pumps has to be generated in addition to regular electricity demand. Also, electric car batteries still need to be charged. Yesterday was a nice Sunday: calm wind, overcast sky. Neither wind nor sun could have provided the necessary energy. Diploma physicist Dieter Böhme explains in an interview that wind turbines and solar panels, due to their low energy density per area, are insufficient to generate the amount of energy needed in Germany. The problem of energy storage for dark doldrums lasting several weeks also remains unsolved. The Energy Transition Has Already FailedFor me, this means that the energy transition has already failed. As nice as it would be to no longer have to burn raw materials – realistically, this is obviously not possible. Not even in a small town like Hohenmölsen is it feasible. For big cities, heat supply in this way is therefore illusory.The only question is when politics will realize this – also on a regional level – and strike a clear tone toward the federal government. It seems that they are primarily interested in the disbursed subsidies here. How sensible is it to switch from one combustion technology (lignite or gas) to another (wood chips, substitute fuels, etc.) when it is foreseeable that these raw materials will hardly be available in sufficient quantities and at reasonable prices? It would still be possible to take another course. But if facts continue to be created, it will eventually be said that one can no longer turn back because it would then be even more expensive. Or one must turn back and invest in another technology, which will again swallow enormous sums. The citizens always have to pay! From my point of view, the energy transition was obviously not thought through to the end. For Hohenmölsen, the current task is to submit applications for funding from the structural change fund. Will anyone maybe rethink everything? Probably not – because then one would have to contradict the federal government, both the current and the upcoming one, which will very likely again be made up of CDU, SPD, and Greens. So citizens’ money will continue to be burned on such experiments until one day it is realized that it does not work after all. Author: AI-Translation - Michael Thurm | 10.02.2025 |
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