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UweFetzer_se38
Active Contributor

The Bio Bakery

Once upon a time, there was a baker with a big, very big bakery. Together with his brothers, who holds there own bakeries, he delivers the whole country with his bread.
He cultivates the wheat in his own farms, grinds it in his mills and of course he sells the bread thru his own distribution channels.
Most of his mills were powered by gas, carbon and magic glowing sticks. Only a couple of his mills were powered by wind and water. These bio mills he inherits from his father and grandfather. Some of the water mills are about 100 years old.

Together with some external bio mills, whose flour he has to buy by law, he uses 4.5% (in 1997) of bio flour in his bread.

All went well until, in the late 1990th, some customers asks for bio bread, because they were worried about the big pollution of the bakers mills. And a rumor said, that the baker would borrow the magic glowing sticks in his backyard.

"Sure, we do have bio bread", he said. "Here is yours, this makes €1,10" (this was legal, because he can sell up to 4.5% of his bread as "bio", because he has used 4.5% bio flour).
The customer was happy about it and he finally could sleep without remorse now. He didn't know, that this was the same bread he bought before for just €1,--.

A clever businessman heard about this big deal. "Hey baker, can you sell me 100 'bio' breads for €0,95?". Handshake.

"'Bio' bread, Fresh 'Bio' bread, we are the real bio bakery, because we sell 100% certified 'bio' bread!", the businessman announced in his commercials from now on. "You as my customer pays me and you will be delivered with bread by the big bakery like before". Remember: it was still the same bread with just 4.5% bio flour in it…

The external bio mill companies went another way by founding new business models: they sell bread now, too. But for each sold bread, they sell a pound of real bio flour to the big bakery who has to buy and use this flour by law. Because of the big demand the external mill companies had to build new wind mills and the percentage of bio flour in the big bakery grows up to 14.2% in 2007.

Sure you have recognized already: I'm not talking about flour and bread but about green energy.
Okay, I have simplified the story a little bit to make it more easy. And some facts I don't understand myself yet. But how should I, I'm just a dumb customer.

Did you think about the several business models of the energy companies yet? I have made my choice two years ago.

(14.2% is the part of renewable energy related to the whole energy consumption in Germany in 2007, Bundesministerium für Umweltschutz, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit)

Example of an "external bio mill company" 😉  Naturstrom

In memoriam to the GOM, R.i.p.

G+

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