Month: November 2017

German Energy Consumption 2017 is 1% over the 2016 Energy Consumption

Why?

Particularly important contributions are:

• a 2.1% increase in the use of Lignite (brown coal) for electricity production
• 3.1% increase in Diesel use
• 2.4% increase in gasoline use
• 5% increase in heating oil use
• 6% increase in jet fuel use

Now while we all agree that the continued used of brown coal is a huge ecological sin, why don’t we think so about jet fuel? Flying to another continent once or twice a year for holiday is becoming the general life style of the young urban educated citizens – those that all immediately agree that we have to stop burning brown coal! But while at least for brown coal an end is in view and in planning, there is no end in sight for aviation. Not only does the use of jet fuel increase, also the rate of increase is increasing, i.e. the jet fuel use is increasing faster and faster.

So while we all agree that brown coal use is a scandal – what about our next weekend trip to Barcelona? What about our next holiday in Indonesia?

Politically- we need to tax aviation now, with VAT and fuel taxes! We need to invest into a faster, cheaper, more comfortable and reliable railway network.
But also all of us personally- we have to stop flying so much. We have to go through the slight discomfort of spending 5h30 on a train instead of flying from Berlin to Stuttgart!

There is no hope for the climate if we don’t choose political change, but there is also no hope for the climate if we do not tolerate at least a slight decrease in living standard! We have to live in smaller appartments, drive less and in smaller cars, and: fly less!

Data:

https://ag-energiebilanzen.de/#quartalsbericht_q3_2017

With a readable summary on:

https://www.piqd.de/klimawandel/der-energieverbrauch-in-deutschland-schon-wieder-gestiegen?ref=dailydigest&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2017-11-29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest_contenttable

97% of all Germans agree that we have to do something about our environment.
70% declare that they would be willing to take the bike more often.
So how comes that the number of SUVs is exploding? How comes a third of all citizens never uses any form of public transportation? How comes we fly even from Hamburg to Munich?

It is not the fault of the uneducated and the uninformed. You all, that care so much, that buy organic food and fairphones, that shop for second hand clothes, eat only BIO-organic local produce burgers, what is your ecological footprint? You are the ones that fly for a weekend to Spain, visiting your international friends, and trying the BIO-organic burgers in Barcelona. You, the young, smart, educated, probably have among the biggest ecological footprint of all (yes, even if you live in a vegan appartment in Berlin and hate SUVs, even if you are very convinced that we should please shut down the dirty coal power plants)!

So- stop the hypocrisy. Be honest to yourself. No new phone is better than a new fairphone. No new clothes is better than fair clothes. And your holiday flight is beyond everything – even if the destination is a super-eco-lodge in the Amazon rainforest!

Deutschland – Land der Umweltheuchler