Germany — You’ve never heard of Hans Keim Kunststoffe but you’ve almost certainly come across one of its products covering MRI machines during a hospital visit forming a mobile caravan’s sunroof and even hanging over the seats of an amusement park ride in China These plastic parts are all made in a corrugated iron factory ringed with carefully planted shrubbery on the edge of Zimmern ob Rottweil a small town nestled in Germany’s Black Forest region about a half-hour drive from the Swiss border It’s a small but energy-intensive business: The company runs eight ovens that heat up and mold plastic sheets into whatever the customer requests The largest oven is the size of a small room with enough space to fit several people doing jumping jacks Running those furnaces has gotten a lot more expensive since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the annual electricity bill was about €80,000 a chemist who got his start after World War II with a company making disinfectants But things didn’t return to their pre-war level where energy prices are double those of overseas rivals That reality is slowly eroding thousands of similar companies across Europe’s industrial heartland has fallen into a recession expected to extend through the year’s end Even global German stalwarts like Volkswagen a name almost synonymous with the mighty Das Auto itself are staring at unprecedented plant closures output from key energy-intensive sectors like chemicals and steel is declining Industrial champions are announcing layoffs This low-wattage economy has policymakers issuing existential warnings — if things don’t change European industry will shrink to irrelevance the EU economic guru and former European Central Bank chief using elevated energy bills to make his case for a massive overhaul of how Europe does business.  “The moment is really worrisome,” he said while presenting his report fully endorse and are already infusing into their policy work called Draghi’s pitch to accelerate Europe’s green industry “basically the same idea we’re pushing forward.” it will take years to create structural change Chinese overproduction is eating into Europe’s market share at home and abroad power-hungry technologies like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence will strain local power networks.  “For the first time since the Cold War,” Draghi said “we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation.” By the time an underwater explosion that detonated off the coast of Germany critically damaged the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022 the flow of pipeline gas between Russia and EU countries had reduced to a trickle The severed connection underscored an emerging truth: There was no turning back.  Europe escaped the immediate energy shock that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine better than expected helped by selective industry shutdowns.  Since then, energy prices have fallen. But they remain higher than they were before 2022, and crucially, higher than those of competitors. The International Energy Agency estimates that in 2023 power in Europe cost twice as much as in the U.S The reason is largely tied to the switch from cheap Russian gas to costly liquified natural gas LNG doesn’t come with the benefit of long-term contracts that stabilize prices The fuel simply goes to the highest bidder LNG also carries higher transport costs and needs to be liquified and de-liquified — that’s extra cash at virtually every step.  Thankfully for Europe, it had “the ability to pay very high prices,” said Helen Thompson, a professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge. But the continent now relies on gas that costs four to five times more than it does in the U.S the EU — and Germany specifically — trusted Russia to power European industry overlooking the rise of a dictator set on overturning the global order Now European industry is instead yoked to fuel from the U.S “I think the new norm is significantly more dependency on LNG coming from Qatar and from the U.S.,” said Thompson That means exposure to Middle East conflagrations as well as yo-yoing U.S “It’s pick your poison,” she said.   Christoph Keim describes his plastic molding company as a “handshake” business; one that runs on quality reliability and personal trust between him and the customer.  One of them works as a tattoo artist on the side Keim said as he showed off a picture of his co-worker’s inaugural ink a finely etched face of Jesus done in thin black lines Another was a Syrian refugee who worked in a government office before the civil war.  the company had to carefully go through its product line Some products didn’t make economic sense anymore and were discontinued we need electrical power at a reasonable price nobody will invest and nobody will buy,” said the business owner.  Right now, not enough people are doing either. German industrial production is in steady decline and, excluding Covid, is hovering around a 10-year low.  These industries are the building blocks of modern society — pharmaceuticals Nearly everything requires chemicals or steel "Germany is clearly the laggard in economic activity or performance in Europe right now,” said Samer Mosis head of fundamentals at market data provider Energy Aspects it really brings into question the country's position in the global industrial order.”  But others are also suffering. Industrial output is below its 2021 level in France and Italy as well. And the EU in total has lost over 800,000 manufacturing jobs since the pandemic according to an analysis from the European Trade Union Institute.  “Energy prices are now a headwind,” said Olivier Rakau chief German economist at Oxford Economics “There's no good reason to produce certain things in Europe from a business perspective.”  It’s been a particularly tough period for European steel The pandemic put construction on halt for a while Chinese overproduction made it hard to compete both abroad and at home.  EU steel production in 2023 hit its lowest level since 1960 when steel lobby Eurofer started keeping records the organization’s director for energy and climate.  The shock couldn’t have come at a worse time The steel industry is trying to strip carbon from its production swapping out natural gas for either hydrogen or electric furnaces Those alternatives are vastly more energy-intensive Eurofer estimates that the required electrification — equal to the total electricity use of Belgium twice over — will double the steel sector’s power consumption.  With industry fading and cheap gas a European anachronism green advocates have jumped at the chance to push their preferred solution: renewable energy.  And while it's the U.S. that has recently won accolades from green advocates for its Inflation Reduction Act, the EU has had a carbon emissions trading scheme for nearly 20 years now. That's contributed to higher electricity prices but it's also made a real difference to curb emissions with each ton of carbon costing polluters around €60 in his white button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves owner of a BMW and with a luxury watch on his wrist Brussels’ plan to phase out traditional combustion engine cars was a mistake The green transition is making people poorer.  That made it all the more surprising to see the neat rows of solar panels lined up on his factory roof.  It wasn’t driven by any desire to save the planet: “Solar is an investment When Keim first looked at installing solar panels Keim estimates he’ll make his money back in eight years by selling power back to the grid.  Renewable power isn’t a panacea for industry they won’t allow Europe “to structurally decrease its electricity costs … before the mid-2030s,” said Simone Tagliapietra an industrial policy expert at the Bruegel think tank solar is the fastest-growing renewable energy source Beijing-subsidized Chinese panels are everywhere Europe’s solar manufacturers are withering without similar state support and China now has near-complete control over the continent’s solar equipment "China is currently supplying 95 percent of European solar supply," said Belinda Schaepe an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air "That is very unlikely to really change in the short term."  solar panels keep producing for years once installed now effectively controls the EU’s photovoltaic rollout Solving these conundrums is now a top EU priority as it unveils a new slate of senior officials this week.  making a grand pitch to reset Europe’s economic policy The entire bloc must come together to share more resources completely rethink its energy market and invest billions in the industries of tomorrow “Do this or it’s a slow agony,” he quipped to laughter when asked whether his report’s message was effectively Ursula von der Leyen proclaimed her fealty to the vision She said the report’s calls to massively invest in industries that help cut carbon and slash energy costs are already “mirrored in” a legislative proposal in the works dubbed the “Clean Industrial Deal,” is part of von der Leyen's vow for the first 100 days of her second term atop the European Commission That has set off an intense lobbying period in Brussels as industries and advocates vie to get their priorities woven into the legislation.  specialists and industry agree that Europe’s power grids are outdated and lack adequate storage for excess energy — an issue Draghi namechecked on Monday aging setup makes it harder to benefit from the cost-benefits of renewable energy which too often can’t get where it’s needed or get stashed away for future use Then there’s the thornier question of how to prioritize homegrown industries The EU is historically a free market champion but is under considerable pressure to impose tariffs on cheap green imports and to ensure only European energy firms get government contracts Draghi urged protections for certain industries a necessary pivot given Europe’s history as “the most open economy in the world” has left it “more vulnerable than others.” China could offer the cheapest route to meeting our climate targets,” Draghi said “But China's state-sponsored competition represents a threat to developing our clean industries.”  Brussels must also cut a Gordian Knot of sorts: It wants to let governments subsidize local manufacturers — particularly in the vague but buzzy “clean tech” industry — but can’t let the Netherlands or Spain use their wealth in a way that Cyprus or Romania can’t “The reasons for a unified response have never been more compelling,” he said Meanwhile, any delays mean more jobs lost, more industries leaving Europe — and less hope in the European project. In the recent French elections, Jordan Bardella, star of the far-right Rassemblement National, blamed Germany for high energy prices in France “De-industrialization is ongoing right now,” said Marco Mensink director general of the European Chemical Industry Council with the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 Major industrial decline would be a heavy blow “Budget deficits are exploding in most economies,” an anxious EU diplomat said military and defense capabilities are at stake.” In short: “We’re screwed in case we’re not fast enough.” Spain was easily the top performing major economy in the eurozone Spain’s core settlement infrastructure continues to operate normally Washington and Beijing are trading tariff blows The EU could come out on top ― if it can rise to the challenge But the Fund gives its implicit backing to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans to stabilize U.K Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information Mountains of mineral at the Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia One of the world’s poorest nations is sitting on the second-largest amount of the mineral needed to power electric cars XLinkedInEmailLinkGiftFacebookXLinkedInEmailLinkGiftBy December 3 2018 at 6:00 PM ESTBookmarkSaveA small army of workers from cities and villages across Bolivia boards the buses for the last leg of a commute that can last days the ordeal of bringing labor into the blinding white plain of the world’s largest salt flat—all of this stands between anyone who dreams of retrieving Bolivia’s lithium riches and turning it into electric-car batteries These workers will spend two weeks at the Uyuni salt flat in the southern tip of Bolivia before they return home for a seven-day rest They are attempting to build a world-class lithium mine on top of the Andes mountains about 12,000 feet above sea level at the heart of landlocked Bolivia The nearest port is at least 500 kilometers and a border crossing away.