Protests erupt in Germany over green energy

Experts are predicting that if Germany’s energiewende – a massive, nation-wide push towards green energy – is successful, it will increase the price of electricity by nearly 20%. This has German citizens in an uproar, seeing as they already pay the highest energy premiums in the European Union. Protests have erupted across the country, raising the question:

How much is too much to pay for electricity?

Last year, Germany spent approximately $26 billion on renewable energy – a remarkably high number compared to the cost of generating electricity via fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Spiegel, one of Germany’s most circulated newspapers, has called energiewende an “aggressive and reckless expansion of wind and solar power.”

Following Japan’s nuclear power plant meltdown back in 2010, German policy-makers agreed to begin transitioning away from nuclear power. However, people are now realizing that their politicians idealistic promises come with a few strings attached. (Ok, maybe more than a few.)

Even the most scrupulous consumer is having difficulty following all the levies and surcharges hidden in the fine print at the bottom of their utility bills. According to some experts, the cost of running the nation’s power grid is going to spike by $0.2 per kWh in 2014.

“The political backlash [over energiewende] has now moved from the fringes to the mainstream, with even the German media calling for an end to the green lunacy,” claims Walter Russell Mead, Professor of Foreign Affairs at Bard College. “The costs of uncompetitive technologies have to be paid by someone. In Germany, these costs fall disproportionately on the poor.”

By the end of the decade, Germany hopes to bolster wind-generated electricity from 31,000 to 45,000 MW. What will consumers be paying then?

Yes, change can be difficult. But it shouldn’t strangle families financially.

The fundamental flaw in this whole situation is the population’s dependence upon a government-controlled resource. Energy shouldn’t be treated as a commodity. It should be treated as a tool. A basic human necessity. Like shelter, food and water – in the digital age, perhaps having access to electricity is the only way to survive. Perhaps it’s the only way to learn. To view the world objectively. To stay politically active and informed.

NRGLab is empowering people around the world with breakthroughs like the SH-Box, a portable, carbon-free generator that harnesses geothermal energy and converts it into useable electricity – for as little as one-third of today’s market cost! That’s $0.03 per kWh!

So, people of Germany, we beg you – don’t take to the streets. Don’t turn violent. Write your public officials and voice your displeasure. Then, visit nrglab.asia, and see how you can join NRGLab’s true energy revolution.