The war in Ukraine and its repercussions, compounded by structural problems such as an ageing population and a lack of investment, spell the end of the boom

The change in the geopolitical order, disrupted by the invasion of Ukraine, has exposed the weaknesses of the German economic model. The German model, points out Wolfgang Münchau in one of his analyses for Eurointelligence, hinges on three ingredients: cost competitiveness, technological leadership in its industry and geopolitical stability, and ‘all of them are gone,’ he adds. On the one hand, the cut-off of Russian gas — which accounted for more than 50% of the gas consumed in Germany — has impacted the electro-intensive industry, forcing businesses like the chemical company Lanxess to restructure their business and close plants.

  • alvvayson@lemmy.world
    2314·
    1 year ago

    Our national security experts in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and France all knew back in the 1970s that we needed energy security.

    The oil crises proved that.

    We all developed nuclear energy, but only France actually went through and achieved energy security.

    • cybort1983@lemmy.world
      112·
      1 year ago

      Sorry, this is not correct. France is importing massive amounts of electricity power from renewable sources from Germany, because the France nuclear power plants are out of order, without cooling water or have cracks in the containment.

      • knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
        6·
        1 year ago

        France imports solar electricity from Germany during the day because Germany installed too much solar without the necessary storage capacity. This power is often sold at a negative price because it’s not needed but must go somewhere. Germany imports nuclear electricity from France and coal electricity from Czechia and Poland at night because it doesn’t have enough baseload capacity.

    • knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
      2·
      1 year ago

      It must be said that while the French did do well to choose nuclear, their fuel comes in large part from colonial resource extraction arrangements in Africa. Hardly secure, although much more reliable and environmentally friendly than coal or gas.

      • alvvayson@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        Nuclear fuel is so energy dense that it doesn’t really matter where it comes from. You only use a teaspoon per person per year.

        That said, Uranium is a commodity and the biggest producers are Kazachstan, Canada and Australia.

        France subsidizing their colonies to maintain influence is a typical French thing. They also buy sugar from their old colonies at inflated prices.