Re:Germany Runs Up Against the Limits of Renewables
by outworlder on Tuesday June 14, 2016 @01:32PM
(#11903683)
> Even if you bought a big sun collector you NEED to pay taxes for your energy produced (not just for the collector), also for the energy you will produce and use for your own goods and storing the energy will costs you taxes as well.
So, they own the sun now? Ridiculous.
Re:Germany Runs Up Against the Limits of Renewables
by thesumofall on Tuesday June 14, 2016 @01:40PM
(#11903760)
You pay taxes on the income that you make when you sell your power "into" the grid, which makes sense as you're acting in a similar role as the utilities.
Re:Germany Runs Up Against the Limits of Renewables
by noonespecial on Tuesday June 14, 2016 @01:44PM
(#11903802)
I think it comes from a more collectivist mindset. To an individualist, this seems pretty foreign. I think it goes something like "If you're able to do lots of stuff for yourself, you should have to do something for your less able neighbors as well". The danger is as pointed out, if the burden becomes too high or feels to intrusive, you'll get "well screw it then, I'll just be like everyone else".
Re:Germany Runs Up Against the Limits of Renewables
by Houshalter on Tuesday June 14, 2016 @01:54PM
(#11903890)
Intentionally or not, taxes are a way of discouraging an activity. If you tax solar, then there is less economic reason to use it. At least until the benefits become higher than the taxes.
There are just soo many factors why the 'Energiewende' failed. It's because of the politics made. Eventually we would've running green already but once in a while Angela Merkel just stops a already running process, but then Fukushima happened and she made the decision to go 'all in' into green. But! She didn't actually. Most 'bigger' companies didn't even pay a cent more for the green energy, only the consumers or the main pillar (our middle industry) needed to pay the 'Energiewende'. That was freaking akward since the bigger Companies would've probably paid the biggest pillar of the 'Energiewende'.
The next part is storing energy or producing energy by yourself. Even if you bought a big sun collector you NEED to pay taxes for your energy produced (not just for the collector), also for the energy you will produce and use for your own goods and storing the energy will costs you taxes as well.
While maybe a lot of people can live with that, there was another thing, which is that building energy plants is regulated by our government. If you maybe are a rich guy and want to do something good, you can't since the plants are going through a really painful and akward regulation like a planned economy. Innovation won't win here since the government won't ever shutdown the last coal power plants since there is so much lobby going on when it comes to energy that even if you have a good idea how to solve the last problems (i.e. by innovating into battery grids or some other stuff) you won't succeed. The german government has their own plan, even when they need to raise taxes for all the consumers, they don't even care what happens with the prices on the market since the german consumer market is totally regulated.