Original reporting by eugyppius
Ladies and gentlemen, grab your popcorn, because Schleswig-Holstein's green energy saga has it all: incompetence, mindless virtue signaling, and an eco-friendly ferry that apparently doubles as a sail. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well.
The tragicomedy goes like this: Once upon a time, in the quiet German countryside, there lived a diesel-powered ferry, the Misunde II. For two decades, this workhorse has reliably transported more than 120,000 cars and 50,000 bicycles every year across the Schlei Entrance, a body of water less than 100 meters wide. Not quite the English Channel. But alas, in the eyes of virtue-proclaiming bureaucrats, the Misunde II had a fatal flaw: it was powered by diesel. We all know that diesel is the villain in the modern environmental morality play.
no problem Missand IIexcept she's running on diesel, which, as we know, is an evil fuel destined to destroy the world; her diesel engine makes a noise, just like a diesel engine. So bureaucrats at the National Coast Protection Office decided years ago to replace the old, reliable system. Missand II Featuring newer, quieter and greener solar-powered ferries to be named Missand III. Their decision was entirely typical. The Coastal Protection Office is part of the Schleswig-Holstein State Ministry of the Environment, which is run by a bald man named Tobias Goldschmidt, about whom he likes to talk. How Schleswig-Holstein will be made carbon neutral – with just one ferry.
carbon neutral Missand III At a cost of 3.3 million euros and after many delays, she was finally delivered in January 2024. Missand III There's a gorgeous roof that holds her precious solar panels aloft:
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Green bureaucracy emerges
The geniuses at the Schleswig-Holstein Coastal Protection Office, part of the Ministry of Environment, decided to replace the “dirty” diesel ferry with the modern ecologically engineered solar-powered Miracle Missunde III. After all, who can resist a shiny new ship with solar panels on the roof, especially when it promises to save the planet one ferry at a time? cost? Just 3.3 million euros. When you spend other people's money, it's not a big deal.
According to planners, Misunde III will usher in a new era of clean transportation in the Gulf. No more diesel fumes or engine noise polluting the idyllic coastal landscape. Only the gentle hum of solar-powered motors silently transports cars and bikes from one side to the other.
Or so they thought.
Reality strike: Solar panels don’t like wind
Reality has interesting ways of upending even the best-laid plans, especially when those plans are designed more for PR than practicality. It turns out that the solar panels on the Misunde III are as useful as the screen doors on the submarine. The ferry's exquisite solar roof acts like a giant sail in the face of Schleswig-Holstein's famously fierce coastal winds. Instead of gliding effortlessly across the Schlei, the Missunde III floundered. Its engines couldn't handle the drag of the wind, and its crossing took twice as long as its diesel-powered predecessor. Not only that, but the added weight of the solar ferry puts too much pressure on its guide cables, making it impossible to dock properly. It turns out that when you let ideology guide your plans, you often end up in a ditch, or in this case, a river.
Therefore, solar-powered Missand III She got into trouble in the harbor as people debated how much environmental damage they should be allowed to do to the entrance to make her drivable. Cars that normally take the ferry across the Schlei have until now had to take a long detour to reach the nearest bridge, 30 kilometers away. Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, and sometimes you have to add carbon emissions while waiting for someone to get your zero-emission ferry running.
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Environmentalists in environmental dilemma
Now, this is the part where the absurdity really intensifies. In order to solve the docking problem of Missunde III, the authorities decided to drive additional dolphins (marine pile structures, not mammals) into the Schlei river bed. But Schlei is a protected nature reserve, which means housing the dolphins requires soil assessments and permits, and all that bureaucratic rigmarole takes time. So instead of reducing carbon emissions, the environmental think tank behind Missunde III found ways to Increase As cars were forced to take a 30-kilometre detour, ferries were parked in the port and stopped running.
Outlaw Diesel Returns
Angry local officials are demanding the ancient and faithful Missand 2 be returned to service after months of costly detours. But there's a problem: the ferry has been sold for a total price of €17,000 – a pittance for a vessel that has served the community reliably for decades. Wouldn't you know it, making Missunde II airworthy again requires an extensive refurbishment worth 1.8 million euros.
Authorities quietly sell off outdated and embarrassing stuff Missand II €17,000 given to some stupid people who didn't realize that diesel ferries are not the way of the future. The buyer may have regretted his purchase, for he moored the poor vessel at Masholm near the head of the Schlei, where she began to rot in the elements. This is the cruel fate that ships that are not technologically advanced and are not friendly to the environment will inevitably encounter.
But wait, it gets better. After realizing their solar-powered dreamboat was a lemon, the environmental officers who originally sold the Missunde II crawled back to the buyer and bought it back for €100,000 – almost six times what they sold it for. Let us remember this.
lessons not learned
As of September 2024, Misunde III is still not operational. Engineers are trying to outfit it with additional bow thrusters to help it cope with wind, but no one knows if or when it will enter regular service. Meanwhile, the old Missunde II is back on the water, ferrying cars and bikes across the Schlei just like it did before this farcical green energy experiment began.
this Missand II Has been granted new sailing license until 2028 because no one believes in ultra-advanced ultra-quiet Missand III The simple task of transporting a car over a depth of 100 meters can soon be accomplished.
What did the state of Schleswig-Holstein gain by spending 3.3 million euros (plus another hundred thousand euros, plus almost 2 million euros for repairs, to buy back the diesel ferry)? A handsome solar panel roof would be better suited to a garden shed, a sail disguised as a ferry and a reminder that virtuous environmentalism often only results in a waste of money and time.
moral of the story
This fiasco is a perfect example of what happens when ideology trumps common sense. Green energy fanatics in government are so blinded by their obsession with reducing carbon emissions that they miss the forest for the trees, or in this case, the sail for the ship. It’s not about actually solving a problem or making things better; It's about feeling good about themselves and showing their “green” credentials to the world, no matter how many millions of euros they flush down the toilet in the process.
It's already September now, Missand III The distance to transport cars across the Schlei is not that far compared to March. In addition to this, engineers decided that she would have to be equipped with additional bow thrusters to cope with the strong currents. So the Coastal Conservation Office ended up limping back to the less foolish buyer of the property. Missand II Bought it for €17,000 and entered into an agreement to buy it back from him for €100,000. this Missand II Has been granted new sailing license until 2028 because no one believes in ultra-advanced ultra-quiet Missand III The simple task of transporting a car over a depth of 100 meters can soon be accomplished.
For those who think a Green New Deal or net-zero policy will usher in some kind of environmental utopia, the Misunde III fiasco should serve as a warning. Often, these programs are nothing more than expensive virtue-signaling exercises that do more harm than good. God help us all if this is the future of green energy.
HT/Fabius Maximus
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