Renewable energy in Germany
[5][6] As with most countries, the transition to renewable energy in the transport and heating and cooling sectors has been considerably slower.
[7][8] According to official figures, around 370,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, particularly in small and medium-sized companies.
[10][11] Germany's federal government is working to increase renewable energy commercialization,[12] with a particular focus on offshore wind farms.
[13] A major challenge is the development of sufficient network capacities for transmitting the power generated in the North Sea to the large industrial consumers in southern parts of the country.
The term encompasses a reorientation of policy from supply to demand and a shift from centralized to distributed generation (for example, producing heat and power in very small cogeneration units), which should replace overproduction and avoidable energy consumption with energy-saving measures and increased efficiency.
Use of hard coal decreased by 16%, while production from lignite stayed on a similar level and increased for gas by 2.6 TWh.
[36][37] As of 2011, Germany's federal government is working on a new plan for increasing renewable energy commercialization,[12] with a particular focus on offshore wind farms.
[13] A major challenge is the development of sufficient network capacities for transmitting the power generated in the North Sea to the large industrial consumers in southern Germany.
They were first mass-produced in the year 2000, when German environmentalists and Eurosolar have succeeded in obtaining the government support for the 100,000 roofs program.
This jump above the 20 GW level was due to increased capacity and excellent weather conditions countrywide, and made up for half of the nation's electricity demand at midday.
Latest estimates show, in Germany in 2007, about 9,400 people were employed in the hydropower sector which generated a total turnover of €1.23 billion.
But after a renewable energy law that introduced a tariff scheme of €0.15 (US$0.23) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity produced from geothermal sources came into effect that year, a construction boom was sparked and the new power plants are now starting to come online.
[citation needed] Enercon, Nordex, REpower Systems, Siemens, and Fuhrländer are wind-power companies based in Germany.
[53] Siemens chief executive Peter Löscher believes Germany's target of generating 35% of its electricity from renewables by 2020 is achievable – and, most probably, profitable for Europe's largest engineering company.
[citation needed] The renewable energy sector benefited when the Alliance '90/The Greens party joined the federal government between 1998 and 2005.
[58] After the 2013 federal elections, the new CDU/CSU and SPD coalition in important areas continued the Energiewende of the previous government, but also agreed on a major revision of the EEG.
[60] The accord indirectly acknowledged the role of nuclear energy — which is not commonly regarded as renewable, but emissions-free — in the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases, allowing each member state to decide whether or not to use nuclear-generated electricity.
[61] Also, a compromise was reached to achieve a minimum quota of 10% biofuels in the total consumption of gasoline and diesel in transport in 2020.
The key policy document outlining the Energiewende was published by the German government in September 2010, some six months before the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Important aspects include: to −95% The policy has been embraced by the German federal government and has resulted in a huge expansion of renewables, particularly wind power.
[64] To date, German consumers have absorbed the costs of the Energiewende, but the IEA says the debate over the social and economic impacts of the new approach has become more prominent as the share of renewable energy has continued to grow alongside rising electricity prices.
The transition to a low-carbon energy sector requires public acceptance, and, therefore, retail electricity prices must remain at an affordable level.
Most concentrate on electricity generation and consumption as this sector is undergoing a rapid transition in terms of technologies and institutions.
