Climate sticking points: China and Germany more coal plant on the way!

           Nuclear Delays may nullify Obama US-China deal:  The recent US China deal on climate which allows China to do nothing until 2030 and US consumers to suffer further reduction in their standard of living with large energy price increases, may come unstuck reports Reuters (David Stanway 21/11/14).  The slow pace of the nuclear development plan in China may mean China will continue to depend on coal based fossil fuels for a long time to come. Government backed strategists in China estimate that 200GW of nuclear is needed in China by 2030, up from 18GW now.  However state building nuclear companies could build 10GW per year but  they have been held back by regulators especially after the 2011 Fukushima crisis in Japan.  The official 2020 target in China now stands at 58GW which would require around 40 nuclear reactors to go into operation in the next six years--a task thought to be beyond China.   The Obama China deal looks doomed but the US consumer will continue to suffer with high electricity prices.  

              Germany Desperate For More Coal Power To Keep Lights On.   This is the heading in the London Sunday Times 23/11/14.   The energy giant RWE which owns Npower in Britain together with others have poured billions of euros into a fleet of new coal fired electricity plants in Germany.  One plant alone will cost a massive £1.6billion. Governments from Berlin to Madrid and London are scaling back the huge subsidies for renewables introduced over the last decade. The shale gas boom in the US is having an affect.  This year Germany slashed taxpayer support for solar and wind energy by a quarter.  However in spite of the promises by "green" politicians that energy bills will decrease that is not happening in Germany.  In fact over the decade when renewables exploded onto the energy scene the German annual household bills have increased by a massive two thirds to 1020 euros. More than half the bill is now made up of taxes and ever rising green charges.  The same is happening in Britain where the situation is also worsening for consumers because of the green levies backed by the greenie UK politicians.