The federal government wants to expand renewable energies.
(Photo: imago stock&people)
Basic requirements of efficiency and effectiveness also apply to climate protection measures if we want to achieve something. The fight against climate change is a task of the century, a marathon, not a sprint. That’s why we have to be careful that we don’t run out of breath long before we reach our goal, be it because of a lack of social support or a lack of material resources.
In view of the indisputably enormous costs of climate protection measures, quite a few politicians, journalists and scientists rely on presenting the potential climate damage as large as possible.
So, like the climate and economic ministries recently, one communicates the highest possible economic damage and does not shy away from focusing on scenarios that even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change considers unlikely, such as the RCP-8.5 scenario, which is extreme unfavorable “representative concentration path” for CO2 in the atmosphere.
Likewise, the impression is repeatedly given that the damage and lost lives caused by climate-related extreme weather are increasing. In truth, the number of climate-related deaths has fallen sharply and the economic damage is falling in absolute terms and above all in relation to economic output. The intention is clear: In view of the supposedly impending major damage, the question of the costs of climate protection should take a back seat.
If the question is raised nonetheless, the costs for climate protection are calculated on a small scale. Since Jürgen Trittin’s famous “Scoop of Ice Cream” from 2004, which was only supposed to cost the average citizen monthly for the promotion of renewable energies, there has been a flood of studies and statements claiming that the technical answers are already available and their costs are reasonable.
Renewable energies need dual structures
The Fraunhofer Institute came to this without even considering the side effects of the restructuring on the rest of the economy assessmentthat the annual costs would only correspond to half of the sales in the Christmas business.
>> Read here: The conversion to a climate-neutral economy costs Germany six trillion euros
It is undisputed that the costs of an additional kilowatt hour of wind and solar energy are very low. However, people tend to ignore the fact that their use requires considerable overcapacities and duplicate structures, which drives up the overall costs. It is no coincidence that Denmark and Germany not only have the highest share of renewable electricity generation, but also the highest electricity prices.
Daniel Stelter is the founder of the discussion forum “beyond the obvious”, which specializes in strategy and macroeconomics, as well as a management consultant and author. Every Sunday his podcast goes online at www.think-bto.com.
(Photo: Robert Recker/ Berlin)
When critics point out the unresolved technical issues and considerable costs, they are happy to claim that the climate protection measures would lead to more growth and prosperity, even to a new “economic miracle”, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently put it promised.
>> Read here: More than 6.6 billion euros a year: Extreme weather is so expensive for Germany
The study by the think tank Agora Energiewende, which is regularly cited in this context, according to their own statement, “did not examine the economic consequences of climate protection measures”. However, that did not prevent the authors from announcing a new economic miracle.
Climate protection measures should appear to be without alternative and as an easy task so that questions of efficiency and effectiveness are not asked. This is being taken to the extreme by efforts to position climate protection as a goal above democratic processes, as in the upcoming referendum in Berlin. Once the primacy of climate policy has been established, this binds all areas of politics and massively restricts the scope of the democratically elected representatives of the people.
If this type of climate policy continues to prevail, it is foreseeable that unnecessarily expensive and inefficient measures will be used even more than before. In the end, Germany not only gambled away its economic future, but also achieved little in terms of climate policy.
Effective climate protection requires asking the right questions and answering them honestly.
Daniel Stelter is the founder of the discussion forum beyond the obvious, which specializes in strategy and macroeconomics, as well as a management consultant and author. Every Sunday his podcast goes online at www.think-bto.com.
More: The climate crisis could cost Germany 900 billion euros.