Poll: Most Ukrainians want a unified country

[dipsydoodle]

40. From January this year :

Germanys shift to renewable energy was once Angela Merkel’s flagship policy - now it has become her biggest headache.

“For me, the most urgent problem is the design of the energy revolution,” said the German Chancellor in her first television interview after being re-elected last month. “We are under a lot of pressure. The future of jobs and the future of Germany as a business location depend on it.”

She is not wrong: Europe’s largest country and economy faces a crisis. Such is the mess over energy that the future of Germany’s much-vaunted economic competitiveness is now seriously threatened.

Ms Merkel is currently Europe’s most popular leader but there is a growing backlash against her ill-thought-out energy policies.

And, to cap it all, policies hailed as saving the world from climate change have, in fact, increased CO2 emissions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10577513/Germany-is-a-cautionary-tale-of-how-energy-polices-can-harm-the-economy.html

And from last month - April :

Germany boosts wind power at green energy summit

Germany's wind power industry has emerged victorious at Tuesday's (01.04.2014) energy summit in Berlin. The talks brought together German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country's 16 state premiers.

The country is planning a shift away from fossil fuels and nuclear power. "We have now made the first big step to safeguard the energy transition," said German Economics and Energy Minister, Sigmar Gabriel.

Gabriel's initial plans to reform the country's Renewable Energy Act (known locally as the EEG) had included drastically reducing subsidies for renewable energy power systems and capping the rollout of domestic wind power to 2500 megawatts per year.

But, southern German states like Baden-Württemberg rejected the plans. They argued that this would effectively destroy the renewable energy technology market they have built over years. States like Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein were also angry, saying the new plans would reduce their ability to create power in the wind-intensive northern states.

http://www.dw.de/germany-boosts-wind-power-at-green-energy-summit/a-17536470

In general, as far as I'm aware , wind generated energy there is directed towards industry due to its higher current cost. Solar generated energy in the southern states may eventually give rise to the grid ceasing to economic and shut down as a result in some areas.

They're cynics anyway - they increased imports of nuclear energy from the Czech Republic and France.

As to what will eventually happen in the UK goodness only knows given they've recently discovered enough coal under the North Sea to last 100 years.

Fairy stories regarding the US exporting LPG to Europe to replace dependence on Russia are just that - fairy stories. Would take about 15 years to accomplish complete with an horrendous byproduct :

Foreseen to require 400 super tankers , most of which don't currently exist and. one single super tanker emits the annual equivalent of 50,000,000 cars....................do the maths. 'Nuff said.