Scotland’s Latest Energy Idiocy

Scotland’s government is at it again: Meddling with its absurd energy policies.

This time the ruling Scottish National Party wants to sell energy to Europe. It looks like a bright idea on the surface, that is until you look under the hood.

“The Scottish Government is accelerating plans for a hydrogen pipeline connecting Scotland to Germany,” writes The National, a Scottish-based newspaper dedicated to pushing for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

In this case the government is handing over £200,000 ($242,000) to fast-track the creation of a pipeline to move hydrogen gas to Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

It’s needed for Europe’s hydrogen infrastructure of filling stations for hydrogen powered vehicles.

Up to a point it makes sense, as Germany is now is a bit of financial hole after having relied on inexpensive Russian natural gas for years. Germany is now in need of cheap energy to help get its industrial base moving again and hopefully bring the economy out of an epic recession.

However, all is not as good as it might seem.

The Net Zero Technology Centre, which is getting the £200,000, says the pipeline can deliver enough hydrogen to cover around 10% of Europe’s renewable hydrogen requirement at a cost of 3 euros a kilogram (around 2 pounds). A kilo of hydrogen produces 33.33 KiloWattHours (KWh) of electricity.

Europe measures much of its energy output in terms of how much electricity the feedstock, such as natural gas, produces, and then prices it in unties of MegaWatthours (MWh)

Economic Problems Abound

And there’s where the economic problems begin, at least for Scotland and Germany.

The economics just don’t work given the current situation in the energy markets.

Here’s the skinny. One MWh of electricity would cost 90 euros if produced using the hydrogen provided by Scotland.

That’s almost double the current 51 euro per MWh price of electricity produced using natural gas.

In other words, it would be ridiculous for Germany, or anyone else, to snap up hydrogen as a feedstock for electricity when natural gas is so much cheaper. It’s not only less expensive it can also be relatively clean especially when compared to coal, which is something Germany reintroduced after Russia’s the invasion of Ukraine.

Following in the Steps of Other Europeans

Germany also decided to shutter its set of nuclear power plants following the Fukushima, Japan disaster over a decade ago. The European union, which in some cases has relied heavily on nuclear power, has never had a nuclear disaster.

The plan, which comes on the back of British prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s idea of green lighting the first British new coal mine I’m three decades, and cutting a deal with the United States to import massive of natural gas from the U.S. (much of which is extracted via hydraulic fracturing) after banning on-shore fracking in England.

In simple terms, Scotland is following in the footsteps of plenty of other entirely messed up European countries with its befuddled energy policy.

Don’t expect that this will end well in the Holyrood seat of Scotland’s government.