Europe heatwave: Putin rubbing hands with glee as Germany energy masterplan threatened

Meanwhile, the drought that’s currently gripping Europe has lead to the water levels on the Rhine sinking, which is forcing barges on the waterway to carry smaller loads in order to pass through key chokepoints.

Experts warn that further drying of the river may result in a situation where passage is impossible.

The Rhine, which runs nearly 800 miles from Switzerland to the North Sea, is key to a number of major companies in Germany, including chemicals giant BASF, as a route to carry supplies, and as a source of water for cooling machinery.

Deutsche bank warned that these low water levels echoed a similar situation in 2018, where several low levels at the Kaub bottleneck resulted in Berlin losing 0.2 percentage points off its growth.

READ MORE: Putin accused of BURNING his own gas supply

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1651314/europe-heatwave-vladimir-putin-glee-germany-energy-crisis-rhine-dry-gas-update