Germany is largest buyer of Russian natural gas

Yesterday I wrote about how Germany gets about 37 percent of its electricity from beautiful, clean coal, but it also generates a significant portion of its electricity with natural gas. Whereas the United States has used hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking,”  to turn the U.S. into the largest producer of natural gas in the world, Germany has banned fracking within its borders, and as a result, it instead purchases its natural gas from friendly Uncle Vlad.

In fact, Germany is the single-largest consumer of Russian gas, Russia’s natural gas exports to Germany increased 12.2 percent in the first half of 2018, compared to the first half of last 2017. In total, Germany made up 27.5 percent of Russian gas exports in 2017.

We don’t know exactly how much of Germany’s natural gas comes from Russia because Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) stopped publishing import volumes in 2016, supposedly due to privacy regulations.

However, according to an article in Forbes:

“In 2015 Germany imported 35% of its gas from Russia. About the same amount, 34%, came from Norway. 29% came from The Netherlands.

But there is reason to believe that the Russian proportion will go up. Germany is the world’s biggest natural gas importer, having to bring 92% of the gas it consumes in from outside the country. The few gas fields that Germany has will likely be completely depleted within the next decade.”

Germany’s energy policy is the epitome of showmanship over substance, shut down the nukes to please the greens, build wind and solar, resulting in high electricity prices, ban fracking in Germany, import more natural gas from Russia, say you’re taking a bold stand on climate change, authorize the continued use of coal for another 19 years. It’s a dark comedy of haplessness flailing from one failed policy to the next.

Minnesota lawmakers must understand that Germany is an example of what not to do, not an example to follow. Unless of course, it means keeping our coal-fired power plants rolling through 2038.

Photo Credit: World Economic Forum