After reading a few news articles and wiki pages, I had a better understanding of the effort of popularizing renewable energy and the EEG act in Germany.
Germany has put a lot of effort into developing renewable energy. Up until 2010, Germany has invested a total of 26 billion euros into developing green energy. The share of electricity from renewable energy has increased from 6.3% to 25% in the past twelve years. The result is significant.
The above figure shows that wind energy is the main renewable energy source that is being used. The amount of energy providing should relate to the technical difficulty of such energy source.
The German Renewable Energy Act (or in German: Erneubare Energien Gesetz, EEG) consists a number of policies that benefit, and encourage, the power companies in Germany developing in green energy. The companies are promised a fixed feed-in tariff, which is per-kWh. The bonus reflects the cost of the energy type. Higher price is given for solar power and hydropower, and lower price for wind power.
One article that I have read states that Germany has encountered a problem with the high cost of the renewable energy. Vattenfall, one of Germany’s largest energy firms, estimates that the consumers would be paying additional 50% on their energy bills. And, by the year of 2020, a total of additional $60 billion is expected.
According to an analysis done by an agency company in Germany, “energy firms saw their profit margin grow from 1.1% to 8.2% since 2007.” Part of this might be caused by the EEG law, which allows the “energy companies to pass on the costs associated with alternative energy to consumers.” Also there has been movements indicating that the EEG law needs to be reformed.
The new renewable energy sources have a higher cost. And the conventional energy sources have a lower cost, but also do damage to the environment or human health, which is dealt with the taxpayer’s money. As we develop furthermore into this field, with the improvement of technology and mass production, the cost for the renewable energy would decrease.
Sources:
http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/alternative-energy-in-germany-may-be-a-costly-endeavor/855626/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Germany
http://solaspower.blogspot.com/2011/06/overview-of-eeg-law-in-germany.html
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/graphics-gallery-germany-s-renewable-energy-mix-fotostrecke-49898-6.html
-Well-made bar chart with specific details.
-Well-organized paragraphs or sentences (including self opinions)