There is a good atmosphere at the Ricklinger baths in Hanover, even though the authorities have stopped heating the pool. On this August afternoon, it is so hot in the air that the deputy mayor of the city, Lars Baumann, agrees that this particular power-saving measure does not appear to be a big sacrifice for the city’s residents. The fact that the hot water in the cloakroom is also turned off gets a slightly cooler reception from some of the people we speak to, but all in all it seems that people support the savings line. – It will perhaps look different in September, when it is colder in the air, says Baumann. – But so far the citizens of Hanover have mostly only been positive about our measures. DEPUTY MAYOR: Lars Baumann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover Photo: Simen Ekern He gets support from Anja by the pool. – I would like to help with what I can in this situation. There is a major war in Europe, and besides, the climate disaster demands that we do more. Fears riots The municipality’s 12,000 employees have been given strict guidelines to save on electricity and heat where possible. The facades of Hanover’s famous buildings are no longer lit up in the evening. The fountains in the center have been turned off, as a visible signal to the residents that the energy situation is precarious. The deputy mayor follows the reduction targets the EU has adopted, where all member states must do what they can to reduce gas use by 15 per cent. – I think we will manage 20-25 percent. And by 2030, all the electricity we need for municipal buildings must be renewable, says Baumann. He says that the city has just announced that solar panels on the roofs of all public buildings will now be mandatory. GOOD AND WARM: Ricklinger bad, Hannover. Photo: Simen Ekern Germany’s foreign minister warned earlier this summer of the danger of social unrest if the gas crisis were to tighten further. Deputy Mayor Baumann is part of a recently established crisis commission in the city. They work with various scenarios, which include darkened, cold quarters and food distribution to residents. – We don’t know which direction this is going. Nobody knows. Right now, gas deliveries from Russia are 20 per cent of what they have been previously, he says. – We don’t know if it will stay like this, if Putin will turn off all the gas tomorrow, or if he will decide to deliver more. TURN OFF THE LIGHTS: Town Hall in Hanover. Photo: Simen Ekern – But the important thing now is to save as much as possible now – before winter comes, says Baumann, who hopes for a mild winter. – Otherwise, the consequences can be quite unpleasant. Lightning-fast innovation They can also be for German industry, which for years has lived well on safe deliveries of Russian gas, not least via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. When the gas is not available, rationing and rigid political priorities can be the result. For private households, the right to the necessary gas for heating is enshrined in EU regulations. For the industry, the threat of closure and redundancies is very real. And which type of industry should be prioritized? In an interview earlier this summer with Klaus Müller, the man the German authorities have given the job of weighing the importance of various businesses in the event of a gas shortage, he made it clear that there are only bad choices: Energy-intensive industries such as paper and glass production may not seem vital in initially, but flour comes in paper and vaccines are packed in glass, he stressed. JUST A PIPE: Here comes the gas the Evonik factory needs. But it comes less than before. Photo: Simen Ekern – This is where the gas comes in, says Andreas Steidle, pointing to a pipeline on the edge of a factory that is three times the size of Monaco. We are in Marl, north-west Germany, and this is where the chemical manufacturer Evonik is based. The special chemicals produced here are used in such a wide variety of products that it is difficult to list them all, so we will have to content ourselves with saying that they are found in everything from toothpaste to cars. The gas comes in where Steidle points, but less comes in now. As a result, Evonik has had to rethink. In the course of a few months, they have reversed the power requirement, using LPG, liquefied petroleum gas, which is a by-product from chemical production, instead of Russian gas. Up to 40 per cent of the natural gas that powers the gas power plant in the industrial area here will be replaced in this way. OPTIMIST: Andreas Steidle from the chemical manufacturer Evonik. Photo: Simen Ekern – Every kilowatt hour from natural gas we don’t burn can be stored, so we can prepare for winter. Especially if the Russian gas is shut off completely, says Steidle. Cheap gas from Russia has been an important prerequisite for German industrial success. If we add another important prerequisite – the export of goods to China – it is tempting to conclude that the German industrial adventure is based on two business models that seem far riskier now than a few years ago. Steidle does not fully agree that Germany has had any competitive advantage due to Russian gas, as the prices have been regulated by the market and the same for everyone, he says. But the industry across Europe will have to ask itself questions about how to stay competitive, he believes, and refers in particular to the very energy-demanding part of the industry. CHEMICAL GIANT: Evonik’s factory in Marl is three times the size of Monaco. Photo: Simen Ekern – Can you survive in a new energy future? – I am convinced of that. We have the infrastructure, we have the flexibility, and presumably also the creativity needed, he says. – There will be changes. We are moving towards solar cells, wind power and green hydrogen. All this is coming. We will adapt and we will be competitive, I’m sure. Evonik believes it is possible to cut gas use. Using innovative methods, but also methods that you are actually moving away from, such as coal. Because the company also has its own coal-fired power plant. – We are going to keep that coal-fired power plant running for a year, maybe another year and a half. But then we’ll move away from that. The fight against brown coal In principle, Germany will completely move away from coal power by 2030. Nuclear power also belonged to the past. Now more and more are pointing in the direction of three nuclear power plants being kept running for longer than planned. And on 1 August, power production was restarted at several coal-fired power plants that had been put into standby mode. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it “bitter”, but assured that this is about temporary crisis solutions. The climate activist, who chooses to call himself Jule when news meets him, does not think the crisis is a good enough excuse for more coal. COAL IS NONSENSE: Climate activist Jule in Lützerath. Photo: Simen Ekern We are in Lützerat, a town on the edge of a giant hole of lignite. Here, the energy giant RWE has mined lignite for power generation for a number of years. Initially, lignite was to immediately disappear completely from the energy mix, as it is the fossil energy form with the largest climate footprint. Now the power plants have been put on standby, while early retired workers have been called back to work, in case production has to be fired up again in earnest. The residents here were forced to move out to make way for more digging, but activists have moved in. DISHWASHER MEETING: Jule and his activist colleagues are working to save the village of Lützerat. – It started with a couple of chairs. In the course of a year and a half, we have occupied the entire village, says Jule. We are sitting in a kind of plank village built by the activists who stay here. Posters and slogans painted on the walls bear witness to a varied selection of fighting issues – from vegan activism to support for the Kurdish PKK – but above all it is the climate issue that unites Lützerat’s new residents. NO, NO, NO: No to borders, nations and coal power. Photo: Simen Ekern – I think the energy companies are using the energy crisis as an excuse. I think they will use what they have for as long as possible, because it is easy to keep digging and burning coal, says Jule. – We see capitalism at its worst here. We are talking about the dirtiest form of energy. BROWN COAL: Coal is still being mined in the Garzweiler mine near Lützerat. Photo: Simen Ekern In a statement to news, the energy giant RWE says that the company stands by the decisions to phase out coal in Germany. The fact that lignite is now needed here to save gas does not mean a step backwards, but a small step to the side, they write. The goal is still a renewable future. How quickly Germany can get there, while also getting away from dependence on Russian gas, is the big question.
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Germany bet on Putin’s gas. Now nuclear power and coal are the emergency solution. – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
