In the first six months of 2014, Germany got more than one-third of its electricity from renewable sources, according to a new report.
The country’s solar power production was 28 percent higher over that time than it was during the same period in 2013, says a report from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, a German research organization. Its wind power production was 19 percent higher.
A brief summary of the report on Yale Environment 360 says that on a couple of sunny and windy days in May and June, renewable energy sources generated 50 percent to 75 percent of Germany’s electricity supply. The report also shows that Germany’s solar power capacity exceeds generation capacity from any other source.
American renewable-power advocates often talk up Germany’s successes in boosting renewable energy production. They see the country as proof that the United States could boost domestic renewables.
But Germany, too, continues to rely on fossil fuels. Coal-fired plants are still the country’s primary electricity source, though the amount of electricity that Germany got from coal was slightly lower in the first half of 2014 than it was in the first half of 2013, the report says.
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2014.
Imagine New York State today if, instead of being bullied by Fracking starting six years ago, we had focused on renewables.
The great tragedy of this six-year Fracking debacle in New York State is that it has stolen everyone’s attention from the real problem—energy and Climate Change. There’s a great danger that humanity’s inability to see the big picture and only focus on the political and economic fights stirred up by the self-interests of a few will render our life support system null and void.
For those who are hell bent on hammering the present need and existence of fossil fuels, no one thinks that the transformation from fossil fuels to renewables can be done immediately—it’s a change of direction we need, from a energy source that does destroy our environment to one that doesn’t. The quicker the better.
More on Energy in our area: http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/energy…
Our inaction and political paralysis has brought us to the brink of catastrophic climate change. Instead of rebuilding our transit and energy infrastructures we now have a outdated railroad system used increasingly for Bakken oil ‘bomb’ trains transporting volatile fossil deluent destined for export abroad. Meanwhile Asian and European economies outperform and out-compete us economically and continue to build their new high-speed rail and renewable energy infrastructures. The US has become ‘exceptional’ only in its spectacular failures.
The results of Germany’s move to renewable sourcing of electricity is much more complex than the author would have one think. Similar for Japan’s efforts to shut down nuclear power plants. The cost of generating electricity from renewable sources is considerably higher, and in an effort not to lose jobs due to the move, companies are being exempted from the surcharges, so even more is paid by consumers. Somehow, one does not hear about that. Attached is a link to a NYt article that does a fair job of explaining what is going on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/world/europe/germanys-effort-at-clean-energy-proves-complex.html?pagewanted=all&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A16%22%2C%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D