{"id":424189,"date":"2026-02-01T17:56:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T16:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424189"},"modified":"2026-02-01T18:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T17:32:26","slug":"one-reason-only-for-germanys-heating-gas-crisis-its-hardcore-dumbass-energy-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424189","title":{"rendered":"One Reason Only for Germany\u2019s Heating Gas Crisis: Its Hardcore-Dumbass Energy Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Infographic<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Germany’s Gas Emergency Plan, households and essential services are protected (“protected customers”). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If levels hit critically low (e.g., ~20% cushion gas threshold for pressure), the Federal Network Agency could mandate cuts to industry and large users first- potentially forcing shutdowns to preserve supply for heating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would hit manufacturing hard, exacerbating deindustrialization trends already seen from high energy costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official data from sources like the gas storage association INES showed Germany starting the heating season (around November 2025) with unusually low storage at around 75-76%, well below prior years’ levels (often 90%+). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By late January\/early February 2026, levels had dropped further (reports cited figures around 32-57% in various updates, depending on the exact date and mild vs. colder periods), raising alarms about reaching critical thresholds like 20-30% where system pressure issues could limit withdrawals and trigger emergency measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From No Trick Zone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0P Gosselin<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany approaching energy state of emergency\u2026shutdown of heavy industries. The consequence: another economic body blow the country cannot afford\u2026gross policy negligence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Illustration<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As Germany\u2019s heating gas supply becomes increasingly tense and nears emergency low levels, policymakers will likely blame a \u201ccolder than normal winter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that claim will not hold. The real reason: It is what the Wall Street Journal called in January 2019, the \u201cWorld\u2019s Dumbest Energy Policy<\/a>\u201d. However, since 2019, Germany\u2019s energy policy has gotten even worse \u2014 much worse \u2013going from the dumbest to simply hardcore dumbass. There\u2019s no other grade to assign here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From dumbest to hardcore dumbest<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2019, Germany not only stopped producing reliable, cheap and CO2-free nuclear-powered electrcity, but has since cut off its cheap supply from big bad Russia. The consequence: the heating gas supply is now close to running out and it\u2019s only the end of January. A crisis is looming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the online \u201cInitiative Energien Speichern (INES) site here<\/a>, the natural gas storage level is currently down to a measly 32.7%. Experts warn<\/a> that the critical level of 20%, a point where pressures become too low to ensure adequate supply, will be reached in as little as 3 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Map
Image cropped at\u00a0INES<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Gas Emergency Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Germany\u2019s gas storage falls to 20% in February, as now expected, the country will be in a serious but planned-for situation. Under current German law and the Gas Emergency Plan (Notfallplan Gas<\/em>), specific protocols will be triggered to prioritize human lives and essential services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry facing mandatory shutdown<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under German and EU law, private households are classified as \u201cprotected customers;\u201d which means the state is legally required to prioritize them. As the storage levels become extremely low, the government will have to cut off gas to heavy industry, power plants, and large commercial users. This would have enormous economic repercussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Germany has three alert levels. If storage hit 20% and supply is deemed insufficient for the remainder of the winter, the government will have to declare the third and highest level: the Emergency Level. In this case, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur<\/em>) becomes the \u201cfederal load distributor and will take control of the gas market and decide who gets gas and who does not. In this case, the agency issues orders to large industrial consumers to reduce or stop their gas intake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20% fill level means less gas flows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As already mentioned, the real risk of low storage isn\u2019t just \u201crunning out\u201d of gas molecules; rather it is a loss of system pressure. Gas storage facilities need a certain amount of \u201ccushion gas\u201d to maintain the pressure required to push gas into the pipelines. If storage falls too low, the speed at which gas can be withdrawn slows down. This is why the government has to step in early to manage demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under almost any realistic scenario involving a 20% storage level, which now appears unavoidable, the government has to force industries to shut down to ensure that homes, school and emergency services continue. The main consequence of a 20% storage is a severe economic hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is, in large part, the consequence of Germany\u2019s ideologically insane adoption of the radical Energiewende<\/em>: transitioning to green energy no matter what the costs are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe president Trump will step in and bail out Germany by supplying LNG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February will be a suspenseful month!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Illustration<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under Germany’s Gas Emergency Plan, households and essential services are protected (“protected customers”). If levels hit critically low (e.g., ~20% cushion gas threshold for pressure), the Federal Network Agency could mandate cuts to industry and large users first- potentially forcing shutdowns to preserve supply for heating. This would hit manufacturing hard, exacerbating deindustrialization trends already seen from high energy costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":424204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9jbGltYXRlLXNjaWVuY2UucHJlc3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzAyXC8wLUdlcm1hbnlzLUhhcmRjb3JlLUR1bWJhc3MtRW5lcmd5LVBvbGljeS5qcGc_Zml0PTY4NyUyQzEwMjQmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJPbmUgUmVhc29uIE9ubHkgZm9yIEdlcm1hbnlcdTIwMTlzIEhlYXRpbmcgR2FzIENyaXNpczogSXRzIEhhcmRjb3JlLUR1bWJhc3MgRW5lcmd5IFBvbGljeSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNTU4MTI0NDl9.aLPhCnWS6_0mFvAPZidYCpUku1c36-LYSL0TOTVT-YAMQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691841144,691818618,691841143,691841141,691841142,691818051,691841139,691841138,691841140],"class_list":{"0":"post-424189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-20-fill-level","9":"tag-energy-transition","10":"tag-federal-network-agency-bundesnetzagentur","11":"tag-gas-emergency-plan-notfallplan-gas","12":"tag-german-and-eu-law","13":"tag-germany","14":"tag-heating-gas-supply","15":"tag-ines","16":"tag-natural-gas-storage","18":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0-Germanys-Hardcore-Dumbass-Energy-Policy.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1MlL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":423229,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423229","url_meta":{"origin":424189,"position":0},"title":"Germany\u2019s Natural Gas Crisis Escalates \u2026 One Storage Site Near Empty \u2026Government Silent","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Several large storage sites in Bavaria are at very low fill levels, significantly below legal or expected thresholds for this time of year during the heating season. 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