The issue of Global Warming has changed from a theory to a fact over the last few years due to most environmental scientists saying that it is a growing and real issue. The issue of global warming is something that touches each and every one of us on the planet, and it is up to us to do something about it. However, lets not be idealistic here. Most people will do very little to help better our environment, so that is why the world’s legislators must begin to spin the wheels of change and write and enforce environmental protection laws. An excellent example of that are the German green energy policies.
renewable energy. wind.
The bottom line for German energy is that it wants to derive 80% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2050, an ambitious goal for the world’s fifth largest economy. It is clear that Germany has already come leaps and bounds in attaining their goal, as they currently are at 25% of their energy coming from renewables. They did not think that this would come along quite so quickly, seeing how they were only at 7% thirteen years ago.
But while this is primarily an environmental effort, that’s not the only thing that has the potential to improve. Bloomberg.com says that since 2004 clean energy business investments and projects have grown by 122% and jobs in the energy sector have doubled in that same time period. They also report that since this quantum shift in energy dependency, Germany has the most dependable energy supply in all of Europe, meaning that the power seldom goes out in Germany.
renewable energy. solar.
This system is not without its flaws however. instituteforenergyresearch.org explains that in 2009 the cost of energy goes up every year by 10%. They explain that because of this energy price hike, Germans on average are forced to spend 34% of their yearly income on energy and rent. This energy policy has affected German business as well, as the energy bills go up the price of producing goods also grows. This has the potential to lead to Germany having a tough time becoming a true competitive economic force in Europe.
So this is a huge challenge for Germany; keep the progress in increasing the use of renewable energy while keeping costs low. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel is determined to make economics and environmental improvement less of a dichotomy and more of a partnership. In 2014 Merkel has said that if the cost of energy goes up for German industries, they must find ways to cut costs somewhere else, and plans to create even more jobs to expand the clean energy industry to help the economy.
References
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-14/2014-outlook-germanys-green-energy-switch