Only days after the German Retail Trade Federation (HDE) alerted the federal government that some 16,000 businesses are on the edge bankruptcy due to the economic fallout caused by its sanctions regime, a leading figure in the country’s industrial sector has warned that Berlin’s so-called ‘green’ energy policy risks deindustrializing Germany.
Markus Steilemann, the president of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), a trade organization that represents the interests of the country’s chemical-pharmaceutical industry, has sharply criticized the left-liberal government’s approach toward meeting Germany’s energy demands, warning that energy transition policies will transform Germany “from an industrial country to an industrial museum,” Junge Freiheit reports.
Specifically, when referring to the economic minister’s goal which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030 via different methods, including the phasing out of fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy sources like wind and solar, Steilemann highlighted the plan’s absurdity.
In order to maintain Germany’s industrial output levels while carrying out the energy transition with renewable energy sources like wind, Steilemann said: “ten wind turbines would be needed every day. One of them needs 4,000 tons of steel; that’s half an Eiffel Tower. That means: five Eiffel Towers every day. And that’s for the next eight years.”
“I would like to see how we can get that going,” he added.
Wolfgang Große Entrup, the managing director of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), called on Berlin to take immediate and decisive action to offset the sky-high energy costs caused by a lack of cheap Russia gas, warning that if it failed to, it would lead to catastrophic consequences for the industrial economy.
“The situation is becoming more dramatic each day. Our companies need air to breathe quickly. We cannot wait for anything or anyone anymore. It is about saving the industrial structures that make our prosperity possible,” Entrup said.
The VCI defends the interests of more than 90% of the chemical-pharmaceutical industry in Germany. As of last year, it represented 1,900 companies in the industry, which collectively employed more than 530,000 workers, and had 220 billion euros in annual sales.
