E.P.A.(U.S.) Plans Stricter Limit for Sulfur in Gasoline=higher gas prices

[kia027]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/13/3436923/germany-energy-records/

In the first quarter of 2014, renewable energy sources met a record 27 percent of the country’s electricity demand, thanks to additional installations and favorable weather. “Renewable generators produced 40.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up from 35.7 billion kilowatt-hours in the same period last year,” Bloomberg reported. Much of the country’s renewable energy growth has occurred in the past decade and, as a point of comparison, Germany’s 27 percent is double the approximately 13 percent of U.S. electricity supply powered by renewables as of November 2013.

[kia027]

Renewables 3% of Germany with 25% renewableby 2050 is the goal......there renewables are extremely subsidised...German hydrocarbon production is also heavily subsidised by the state..and German energy companies such as Wintershal and RWE are part of the German strategic energy policy with massive tax breaks to develop production......And renewable is defined to include nuclear...Since Fukushima the gol has shifted as they have removed nulear....

Price of petrol is seriously taxed in Germany to encourage conservation as it is in the rest of Europe....Germany lost the last war principally because it ran out of oil, and oil dictated its military strategy of both its north Africa adventure and the southern thrust during the invasion of Russia.........and its current policy is to ensure energy security.

... Thus Germany is dependant on energy from Russia which is why German reluctance to condemn Russia...

German attitude towards energy is identical to China and Japan.pragmatism, not morality........in fact co2 emissions in Germany went up the last two years...compare to the US which it has fallen....

The reason for German hike is because of its closure of its renewable energy source,....yesnuclear with a shift back to coal....while US has fallen because of the Fracking revolution a shift from coal.. And the shift to natural gas...also the cO2 associated with oil production has taken..due to BushJunior energy policy...which Obama has followed and expanded...

It is hard to explain tax breaks are nessesary to energy companies... But it takes 10 years to get a energy project producing....during that time the energy company will invest billions of dollars....energy company borrow this money from banks...if they don't get tax breaks they won't invest... No private money would invest if u sink three billion over a 10 year period without a return for a decade. No business can run on that paradigm...zero cash flow on any project for 10 years.......

Norway gives 75% tax back on all costs to oil companies.....yet its tax rate for its citizens is 45%....Norway which has the highest RBIt for oil companies of a mere 25%....knock off corporation tax that is 15%.….. So cost of money is 3% last time I tried to raise money'.
I don't work do business in the US....

So unno know wahalla is a not too smart..but I lived two decades without the benefit of electricity....and I want afordable electricity for all....at the moment renewables cannot compete with hydrocarbons....now even at 100 dollar oil.. Oil is cheaper than avian water... Think on that....

It is a hard ship to change direction but it is necessary to save the environment. The next commodity leaning towards scarcity will be water. The US is fracking gas like crazy and dumping the fracked water which contaminates the soil, rivers and lake-- not to mention earthquakes. Lets not even discuss XL pipelines going thru aquifers to reach TX for transhipment to China

[Wahalla]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/201...nergy-records/



In the first quarter of 2014, renewable energy sources met a record 27 percent of the country’s electricity demand, thanks to additional installations and favorable weather. “Renewable generators produced 40.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up from 35.7 billion kilowatt-hours in the same period last year,” Bloomberg reported. Much of the country’s renewable energy growth has occurred in the past decade and, as a point of comparison, Germany’s 27 percent is double the approximately 13 percent of U.S. electricity supply powered by renewables as of November 2013.

That covers electricity not energy consumption which includes transport.... and there has been is an increase in German carbon emissions.......and there is a surcharge of 10 % on domestic utilitiy bills to cover renewables..... that is not sustainable... Merkels promise at the last election was to remove that subsidy from renewables......also to explore for shale gas../// EON and RWE the largest energy suppliers are going to Coal fires as a policy to prevent the Russian strangle hold over natural Gas. *(both RWE and EON are involved in Shale Gas exploration in Poland) Germany gets 80 % of its gas from Gazprom amd has 104 days of gas supply in cavens under ground... Again there are fussy numbers as Germany aims for a diverse energy mix...

As distasteful as this may be given that the US is a 17 times the energy consumption as india and a emerging india demands more energy the main source wlll be hydrocarbons for the next 50 years for
renewables to compete the costs of hydrocarbons have to go back to 130dollar mark per barrel.... and the Saudis want to keep oil at round 100 dollars a bbarrel...So they swing production accordinly....

[lonewolf]

As distasteful as this may be given that the US is a 17 times the energy consumption as india and a emerging india demands more energy the main source wlll be hydrocarbons for the next 50 years for
renewables to compete the costs of hydrocarbons have to go back to 130dollar mark per barrel.... and the Saudis want to keep oil at round 100 dollars a bbarrel...So they swing production accordinly....

There are tradeoffs of living in an industrialized world. Those that complain about US consumption (mainly crusading college kids types) don't realize the benefits and the higher standard of living they have received by living in such a world afforded by the very thing that they protest....take away their smart phones and communication comes to a complete halt....Hmmm, and how is it that they became so dependent of such technology? Industry, technology and education go hand in hand. Something they may want to ponder before the jump on the "oil is evil bandwagon".

Many well know colleges were funded by wealthy industrialists and robber barrons, their very existence is in part do to industrialists.

Ask the average Chinese worker what life that they prefer, the life before China's rise as an industrialized nation, or the present day China with a much higher standard of living for the average Chinese.

As I said, there are trade offs...some need to be careful what they wish for.