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Heating oil delivery: If you invest in a new heating system, you can save a lot in the long run
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
This week, the Federal Statistical Office reported 5.1 percent inflation for February.
This value is already driven by fear and speculation on the world markets.
Fear of a Russian attack on a European country in the style of the great wars at the beginning of the last century.
After Russia actually invades Ukraine, prices will go way higher.
We already notice it, for example at the gas stations.
Because this inflation is primarily a fossil inflation.
Fossil energy was 22.5 percent more expensive in February than a year ago.
And that was just the beginning.
This week the prices for gas and crude oil - and thus for heating oil and petrol - rose to unprecedented heights.
Inflation will severely slow down the recovery from the corona pandemic.
And cost us all a lot of money.
This type of economic vulnerability is essentially a consequence of underinvesting in the energy transition.
If we had built more wind turbines and solar systems in recent years, we would need fewer fossil fuels in the power plants today.
If we had modernized our houses instead of hoarding interest-free money in accounts, the development of energy prices would have been much less important to us.
But if this analysis is correct, we at least know what we can do - against Putin and for the wallet.
Different heating against Putin and for the climate
The Ukraine war threw a glaring spotlight on Germany's dependence on fossil fuels.
55 percent of our gas currently comes from Russia and half of the hard coal.
So far, a third of the oil has come from Russia.
But traders from abroad are no longer buying it - the fear of delivery failures is great, as is the outrage about Putin's war.
However, the production volumes of the other oil countries are not increasing more: Opec this week rejected an increase in production volumes above the planned values.
As a counter reaction, large industrialized countries such as the USA and Germany released part of their reserves in order to stabilize the market.
Nevertheless, the prices are rising significantly.
This dependence on fossil fuels and on countries like Russia makes our economy vulnerable.
We could already get by largely without energy from Russia and without the despots there.
And we could be much further in protecting the climate and our wallets.
On the one hand, those responsible in politics spoke of the climate policy challenge and even approved a groundbreaking agreement in Paris in 2015, but on the other hand they did little.
Some examples:
In 2021 significantly less gas was burned in Germany than in 2020.
Gas had become more expensive.
Instead, the power plant operators then generated the electricity with hard coal because politicians did not want a rapid expansion of renewables.
Wind power, for example: Nothing has been happening there with onshore systems for years - thanks to distance rules and complex tendering processes.
In 2017 almost four times as much wind energy was added as in 2021. With the absurd result in view of the climate targets that last year eight percent less wind power was fed into the grid than in the previous year.
Take biogas as an example: Since 2014, the increase has been a fraction of the previous years, namely at a maximum of 200 megawatts per year - and should not be higher.
Biogas plants are particularly practical because they supply electricity regardless of the current weather conditions.
Since 2009, the fuel consumption per kilometer of cars in this country has practically not decreased, 7.4 liters for 100 kilometers.
We have compensated for more efficient engines in this country with more SUVs - to the detriment of the wallet and the climate.
And now it makes us more vulnerable.
Last year, the Federal Constitutional Court reprimanded this future-forgetful policy (1 BvR 2656/18).
Almost at the same time we received the 30 billion bill for our ignorance in the Ahr valley.
And currently we are feeling the consequences of our "addiction" in the war.
The price of petrol has already reached the two-euro mark here and there.
And in Berlin, heating oil from the Rosneft refinery in neighboring Schwedt is available for EUR 1.60.
There have never been prices above one euro.
Germany could be the first industrialized country to manage practically without fossil fuels if it really wanted to.
And: "Renewable energies are energy for freedom" even FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner has now recognized in the Bundestag in view of the Ukraine war.
What you can always do – short-term steps:
How do we get closer to this goal, politically and practically personally?
heating
Electronic thermostats are available at any better hardware store.
Good thermostats cost around 50 euros each.
That's a lot more you'll likely have to pay every month in the future because of higher gas and oil bills.
One degree less temperature in the apartment saves six to seven percent of heating energy, which in a large apartment quickly amounts to a hundred a year.
Comparing prices is also worthwhile in the current crisis.
The difference between a cheap and an expensive heating oil dealer is ten cents.
With a full tank, that makes 300 euros.
If you can, skip the filling altogether for now.
In the past week, prices have temporarily increased by half to between 1.40 and 1.60 euros.
A year and a half ago they were 40 cents.
They will not return there, but they should sit out the current speculation - if there is no other option, only fill up with 1000 liters.
The same model also applies to gas.
Always compare.
If your contract expires and the provider doubles the price, compare the alternatives and choose the least bad solution.
But don't commit yourself too long and strive for the right solution.
New consumer laws will help you.
You can always leave within four weeks of new contracts after the contract has expired.
mobility
Change whenever you can.
Walk more distances.
By bicycle.
With public transport.
Long-distance train tickets are now significantly cheaper than in 2015, while fuel prices are rising.
In combination with a rental car or a taxi every now and then, many of us can get around without our own car.
You can't do that, you live 40 kilometers across country from work?
Carpooling is also out of the question, as are home offices and public transport?
Then all you have to do is get something out of it with your driving style.
You can reduce fuel consumption by up to 20 percent.
And to compare the fuel price: In the current situation, the differences between the gas stations are getting bigger.
In the greater Berlin area, the prices for E19 differed by up to 20 cents on Thursday – at the same time!
There are also differences between morning and evening.
Which is even more worthwhile with higher energy prices
The higher the prices rise, the more the fossil-free household is your central inflation-fighting project.
No more petrol, no heating oil, no more gas, so you are largely independent of price fluctuations on the markets and war moods of the despots.
When it comes to
heating
, the project is technically not that complicated and of course pays for itself much more quickly with higher prices.
Do you have your own house or apartment with your own heating system?
Replace them promptly.
The method of choice today is the heat pump, which, like an inverted refrigerator, obtains its heating energy from temperature differences in the air and soil.
As the name suggests, it is pumped properly.
You no longer need gas, but you do need some electricity.
If you can also generate it yourself for twelve cents/kWh on your own roof with a solar system, you stop your personal inflation particularly effectively.
There is currently 40 to 50 percent funding from the state for this exchange, the structural bottleneck is the lack of craftsmen.
If the solar system is more than large enough for household consumption and a heat pump, you can also use it to charge your electric car.
If you are a tenant or part of a community of owners, it will be more difficult for you to get cheap heating.
More than half of the people in this country rent their homes.
You will first have to do some persuasion.
The landlord can currently pass higher heating costs on to you as a tenant, so there is no economic pressure.
And the co-owner who just has no money can slow down your enthusiasm with the law behind you.
Nevertheless, this is uncomfortable for private landlords in particular.
And expensive for your co-owners.
So your argumentative chances increase.
In the
mobility sector
, the medium-term answers to fossil fuel inflation are somewhat simpler and above all the same for everyone.
The economically sensible future is to drive your own car as little as possible.
It just costs less.
But that doesn't work everywhere.
It is interesting to look at the cost burden for households with different budgets.
First of all those with a tight budget: households with a net income of up to 1100 euros spend an average of 40 euros a month on their own car, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
In other words, you don't even have your own car.
Wealthy households, on the other hand, spend 400 euros per month on their car – after they have often bought a new car and already paid for it.
The high fuel price hurts you the least.
Households with more average incomes have the real pressure to act and the greatest opportunity to improve themselves economically in a new, fossil-free world.
Such households do not drive new cars, their car costs are determined more by the price of gas than by the purchase price of the car.
This has been known for 15 years.
The current fuel price development is therefore particularly painful for you.
They urgently need cost-effective alternatives for a different form of mobility in order to be able to escape from fossil fuel inflation – be it as a new mobility mix or as a used e-car.
Then the end of the combustion engine would be the end of their avalanche of costs.
Still too far in the future?
If another mobility mix is not available and the money for the new e-mobility is currently not enough, you still have a rational answer: A fuel-efficient used vehicle is your interim solution until the e-car comes along.
It's just stupid that fuel-saving cars haven't come onto the market in large numbers in the past ten years. Here, the car industry has actually lied to mainstream society.
After so much small-small, there should be room for the big perspective: you see, the CO2-free industrial society is possible, but about as ambitious as the moon landing 50 years ago.
The zero-carbon industrial society is only grander.
It's good for most people, for your wallet, for your life.
The way there helps to fight fossil inflation, to preserve our future livelihoods and also protects us from being blackmailed by despots.
So on: with thermal insulation and wind turbines against Putin and for a better future.
