Germany’s Environment Minister told reporters recently that “there will be no fracking for economic purposes in Germany in the near future,” despite some hopes that a de facto moratorium on the controversial drilling process was coming to a close.

Germany’s turn towards green energy—its energiewende—cost consumers nearly $30 billion last year without actually making the country any greener. The Economist explains how a green energy policy has produced a browner energy landscape.

Germany produced more energy more coal last year than the ostensibly green-minded country has in nearly a quarter century. King Coal’s return comes courtesy of Germany’s reactionary energiewende—its turn towards green energy—put in place following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The plan was to phase out the country’s numerous nuclear reactors and jump-start its fledgling renewable energy industry, but coal is having to fill the gap.