Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Germany shows how to integrate renewable energy
How does an industrialized nation get over 25% of its energy from renewable sources? Germany shows us how, in this article. They used a decentralization process, moving away from four large energy producers to a current count of over 800 producers, in conjunction with a user funded bonus (instead of subsides) to help bring about this change in less than 15 years. Could this kind of changed be realized within the U.S?
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The two biggest problems with integrating renewable energy in the U.S. are; 1) the fact that unlike Germany, not everyone in the U.S. will admit that global warming is even occurring, let alone a problem. And 2) that in order for Germany to integrate renewable energy they had to decentralize power from several energy monopolies, something that I don't necessarily see happening in the U.S. anytime soon because of government and big business ties. However, I really hope that I am wrong and all Americans soon realize that global warming is real and a problem, and that the U.S. Federal Government can give incentives to the public, not big business, to create sources of renewable energy.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with Beth in regards to the fact that it sounds like this is all going well in Germany because for the most part, everyone seems to be on the same page. Here in the U.S. however, I think we are far from being in a position in which we can all agree on something as big as renewable energy.
ReplyDeleteWow! Way to go Germany! I hope the future of the United States is more sustainable, but these types of issues are not embedded in our culture as much as they should be. Last week, Michigan had a chance to start a similar project. Sadly Proposal 3 did not pass in Michigan. Specifically, 63% of voter voted NO to wind turbines as a source of renewable energy in Michigan. Personally, I was shocked by the results. Renewable energy seems like an obvious win-win.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that Germany started using wind turbines in 1999. I would like to know when the United States will finally realize the need for renewable energy. The more we wait to make sustainable progress, the more resources we will be using up.
Very interesting article and comments. Curiously, the success of this decentralization initiative strikes me as a loose parallel to the way the craft beer industry has been making waves in the States as the opposition to the predominant oligopoly by creating more value for the more conscious consumers and their communities, granted that its market share is still only around 6%. I always thought that this general model can be applied to other industries, but renewable energy never occurred to me. Inspiring!
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