The Germans have always been an industrious people. The better part of the past one hundred years has been focus on keeping the country fragmented and powerless due to their ability to become a political, economic, and military powerhouse within a small period of time. It has produced some of the world’s most renowned artists, writers, musicians, and scientists. The people of Germany have been crucial in the scientific development of the modern world, and one of the first to recognize the dangers of man-made climate change and to actually do something about it. In 2000, German Parliament passed the German Renewable Energy Act, an act that promised to provide tariff-incentives for each kilowatt-hour of renewable energy produced via renewable sources, and a way to provide incentives to new innovation by having the subsides lower each year for current renewable energy sources. All of this doesn’t cost the German people anything, because the subsides are not paid by the public, unlike laws that charge the producers for polluting, which is then reflected by a raise in prices which is ultimately paid by the consumer. So far, the act has gone very well, with the renewable sources actually providing a sizable profit, shifting the energy dependance of the country to renewable energy slowly, but surely, and creating many new jobs in the sector. As it stands right now, 25% of Germany’s total electricity is being produced by renewable energy and that number will only rise as time goes on. The energy produced in 2009 by various sources breaks down as follows.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/RE_Germany_2009_pie_chart.svg
The rising production and construction of infrastructure for renewable energy is a very exciting prospect when viewed at this point in the world. Since Germany has the 5th largest economy in the world by GDP, the changing infrastructure and the economics of it provides a good model for how the United States could implement a similar system. Due to the fossil-fuel corporations that exist in the US however, this is likely not going to happen, at the very least not at the same rate of progress that the Germans have seen. But the German model really helps break down many of the attitudinal barriers surrounding the topic, as it wouldn’t hurt our economy at all, it would probably actually help it.
But alas, this probably won’t happen… And our arrogance and love of high profit-margins will ultimately doom our society to fail.
Oh well, good job Germany, your foresight and willingness to act is truly inspiring.
References:
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/english/pdf/application/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_en_bf.pdf