“He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks”.
The quote above written by Sun Tzu, famously recognized from his book Art of War, ties into why I believe Germany will be successful in establishing their country as the first to reach 100% renewable energy “as quickly as possible”. As I read through articles online, I am continuously impressed by the dedication of the German population.
The article below listed below, depicts 3 Reasons Germans are Going Renewable ‘At All Costs’.
To summarize, the article the key points the author describes are:
- “Germany has some of the highest rates per kilowatt-hour in the world”
- 84% of residents, support the idea of 100% renewable energy
- Nearly 63,000 megawatts of wind and solar power is locally owner
- Millions of Germans are building their retirement funds by investing in solar and wind power plants
What this article tells me is that Germany as a nation is fully committed to achieving their goal. Which leads me to believe that they will accomplish their goal. If you take a look at the quote I stated in the beginning of my blog, “army”, “spirit”, and “ranks” can all be interpreted to Germany’s scenario.
Army – Country / population
Spirit – Common goal
Ranks – throughout all social/economical classes
If Germany continues to work as a unit, I believe it will ultimately lead to their success. They are setting an example of the tremendous amount of effort required by a country to benefit from sustainability in the long-term.
This Graph represents, 100% of renewable energy market. As you can see in the graph, individuals own 35% of the market. Which should astonish you, companies do not have the largest part of the market share.
Although this all seems like a great fairy tale story, lets now take a moment to uncover the hardship, and difficulties Germany is trying to overcome. As of Thursday the 30th of January, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s minister is trying to maintain and keep public acceptance on the matter. “The public’s acceptance will be critical for Germany to continue expanding the use of renewable sources of energy”.
Unfortunately, the cabinet in Germany is beginning to feel the pressure and is trying to withstand the cost of initiating a movement. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Germany is struggling with rising energy costs as it phases out nuclear power and tries to shift to more renewable energy”.
Whether Germany can overcome the most difficult task of budgeting this project will determine if Germany is capable of overcoming this obstacle.
Interesting Videos:
Kilowatt-hour – is most commonly known as a billing unit for energy delivered to consumers by electric utilities
http://rt.com/business/germany-green-energy-costs-489/
This link leads you to a video that gets into greater depth in describing the financial difficulties Germany is trying to overcome.
http://www.ecology.com/2013/02/12/germany-renewable-energy-revolution/
This link is a PBS video; although lengthy this video is extremely interesting. It is the opposite of the video above and describes the potential Germany has, if they are to succeed with their plans.
References:
http://www.dw.de/germanys-green-energy-debate-just-beginning/a-17397270
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304632204579336220103661350