Germany’s Backwards Green March Into the Future

Few countries made graver mistakes with their energy policy than Germany. 

It’s not uncommon to see a government enact an overly ambitious strategy to transition to clean energy. After all, shifting to clean energy is a good thing, right? Nobody disagrees that the world would be better off if we all ran our daily lives off of wind and solar.

However, it’s those hard-driving aggressive pushes away from cheap, steady, and secure sources like oil and natural gas that can get some of us into real trouble. And make no mistake, dear reader, Germany’s all-out green transition — at any cost — is more akin to them shooting themselves right smack in the foot. 

Welcome to the Energiewende, Germany’s gloriously doomed attempt to reinvent the wheel using flower petals, fairy dust, and a dangerous disregard for the second law of thermodynamics.

I hope you stay for the whole ride, because things are starting to get interesting.

If there’s one thing you can count on from the Germans, it’s efficiency. 

But when it comes to their national energy strategy, efficiency has taken a long holiday. With each passing year, Germany finds a new way to reload the gun and turn it right back on themselves. 

We’ve talked before about some of the drawbacks that can have dire consequences when it comes to relying too heavily on intermittent sources like wind and solar. Does anyone remember the curse of the dunkelflaute that led to Germany to the brink of an energy crisis recently? 

Granted, that’s not even mentioning the latest energy gaffe in Spain, when a catastrophic grid failure led to a country-wide blackout… and to think they were seconds away from the disaster cascading across all of the European continent!

But hey, I’m not here to pick on the Spanish grid operators; we’ve got our hands full today with Germany. 

At this point, they’re starting to run out of options. Boasting some of the highest electricity prices out there, Germany’s self-inflicted energy crisis has caused the most recent hypocrisy. 

In a stunningly brave move, Germany's chancellor has vowed to do all he can to keep the Nord Stream 2 pipeline offline. 

If you remember, the Nord Stream 2 was that critical pipeline that transported natural gas from Russia to Germany. Right about now is when you’re probably scratching your head and wondering why this would be controversial at all — at least until Putin’s war against Ukraine ends. 

Unfortunately, it’s just the latest farce, a doubling-down on virtue signaling that would make Greta Thunberg blush. 

Why? Because under the surface is where the hypocrisy truly shines. Germany may be cutting itself off to Russian gas via the Nord Stream 2, but it conveniently looks the other way when it comes to Russian LNG imports, which jumped 500% in 2024. 

So it goes… but let’s not blame it all on Russia. 

Germany’s problems go back much further. The Energiewende — their sweeping green transition launched over a decade ago — was supposed to be a global model for decarbonization. 

Spoiler alert: It’s become a cautionary tale instead. In their rush to scrap coal and abandon nuclear power, the Germans erected wind farms and solar panels faster than you can say "grid instability."

Unfortunately, the sun doesn’t always shine in Bavaria and the wind doesn’t blow on command in the Black Forest. That’s where the dreaded dunkelflaute comes into the picture — those dark, windless stretches that turn a green energy utopia into a brownout dystopia. 

When that happens, Germans get to pay Europe’s highest electricity rates for the privilege of keeping their lights on.

And those high energy prices? They’ve done more than irritate consumers. They’ve gutted the country’s precision manufacturing sector — the once-mighty engine of the German economy. 

In 2024, energy-intensive manufacturers faced electric bills that would make a Bitcoin miner weep. Since then, entire industries have either shuttered or moved away, and with them have gone jobs, innovation, and growth. 

Germany’s economy is now shrinking faster than they’d care to admit. Remember a few days ago when we talked about the rise of India’s economy onto the world stage? It’s only a short matter of time before the Germans drop their spot. While Berlin continues to pat itself on the back for its climate leadership, realists are left wondering whether anyone in charge actually understands what a kilowatt is, let alone how to produce one affordably.

All of this — the pipeline stubbornness, the green obsession, the nuclear shutdowns — has left Germany desperate for a savior. And no, I’m not referring to Russian natural gas… but you’re close. 

We’re starting to see small signs of where the Germans will turn to for the energy they crave. Believe me, it’s not a coincidence the country launched its second LNG import terminal recently in Wilhelmshaven. 

Germany’s savior from Russian gas won’t be wind or solar, nor will it be from the gas imports they’ve gotten from Norway. No, it’ll be the cheap, growing LNG exports flowing out of the Gulf Coast. 

In the end, Germany’s Energiewende has morphed into an expensive parable, one that underscores a simple truth: Idealism without pragmatism is a luxury no industrial economy can afford. 

The future will still need steel, semiconductors, and smelters — all of which require real, uninterrupted power. Of course, it’ll also be nice to not pay an arm and a leg to keep the lights on at night, too. 

So it goes.