Preparing for the Gas Crisis in Germany
Preparing for the Gas Crisis in Germany
We are moving from Korea to Germany while gas and electricity prices are rising. As half of apartments in Germany still use outdated gas heaters and 10-15% of electricity in Germany is provided by gas, there is no way to replace it over the next months or even years. Without Russian gas, Germany and the EU will need to reduce gas usage and store as much as possible to avoid a disaster in the winter.
Putin knows this, but he also knows that Germany is becoming more independent with two Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals being operational in December and another two in early 2023. This winter will be the last time Putin can use gas as political leverage, and so he will. Regardless of when he will cut off the remaining gas, prices are going to rise in anticipation of a shortage in early 2023 and we have to be prepared for it.
In a typical German apartment, around 70% of energy is used for heating, 14% for warm water, another 14 for electricity.
For us, this means saving as much as possible by:
Heating in the winter only when absolutely necessary
Showering cold in combination with a water saving shower head
Fixing heat leaks in the apartment (doors and windows)
Minimizing electricity usage
But even with all this we expect to pay at least 1000 Euro additionally for gas and electricity throughout the winter when prices are going to spike. For us, manageable, but not for millions of Germans who did not even financially recover from Covid, and are already overwhelmed by the rising inflation.
As the EU-Russian conflict continues, it becomes questionable how much the EU is willing to sacrifice to protect democratic values in Ukraine. Will this war end with the Ukraine split in half like Korea and Germany? And more importantly, when will we focus on climate change again?
With a global recession it will be a lot harder to transition to net zero emissions, but maybe also exactly what we need to reform and replace outdated practices and policies.