
Germans Have a Burning Need for More Garbage - prostoalex
http://www.wsj.com/articles/germans-have-a-burning-need-for-more-garbage-1445306936
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jws
This works because of Germany's high electric rates, $0.30/kWh in 2014. The
waste to energy plants get about 500kWh/ton of garbage, or $150 of electrical
energy. They can pay $50/ton and make a profit work out.

I'm curious, what makes the German electrical rate so high? Is it taxes
guiding the market toward renewables and ecologically friendly sources?
Perhaps a regulatory induced shortfall of production? Maybe a happy oligopoly?

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lorenzhs
Here's a char that shows what goes into electricity prices in Germany:
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Strompreis-
zusammensetzu...](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Strompreis-
zusammensetzung-2015.jpg)

25% is electricity generation, 23% is transmission and bookkeeping, 7%
electricity tax, 16% sales tax, 21% EEG-Umlage (renewables reallocation
charge), 6% concession levy, and <2% other taxes.

So if you add up all the taxes and levies, they make up half the cost (52%).

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hackbinary
Ha! Char. I love it! =)

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susi22
Funny, just saw this article today in the local newspaper:

[http://www.all-in.de/nachrichten/rundschau/Ofen-platzt-
aus-a...](http://www.all-in.de/nachrichten/rundschau/Ofen-platzt-aus-allen-
Naehten-ZAK-in-Kempten-zufrieden-mit-Auslastung;art2757,2108444)

It says that they may reduce ("up to 10%") the garbage fee.

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Mithaldu
Do they produce energy with it though?

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skore
"Müllheizkraftwerk", so - yes.

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Mithaldu
So in some localalities people pay to be able to hand off their trash to be
converted to energy. Wonder if that's because of a difference in local
businesses or in local recycling behavior.

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phil21
This isn't really that uncommon, in the US at least.

I know Minneapolis has an incinerator that generates electricity. And you
certainly pay to have your garbage picked up.

It's a win/win for everyone really. In theory. Energy generated should offset
some of the costs involved in picking up the waste to begin with. Certainly
not all though.

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bntyhntr
I remember reading an article a while back that Sweden was also importing.

Randomlyish chosen relevant link

[https://sweden.se/nature/the-swedish-recycling-
revolution/](https://sweden.se/nature/the-swedish-recycling-revolution/)

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numbsafari
Trenton makes, the world takes.

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mtmail
Who or what is Trenton in this context?

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numbsafari
The Capitol of NJ. That's the city's motto.

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artmageddon
Right, but how is Trenton relevant to the story depicted in the article? (I
live in Princeton so definitely curious about this)

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raverbashing
Question, how much NO does that produce?

