To read about the website's key findings, click here.
Increasing
storms, more wildfires, and devastating droughts: The impact of climate
change is felt around the world. The U.N. climate negotiations in Doha,
Qatar (COP 18) are crucial to move towards a global agreement to fight
climate change. But negotiations don’t replace action on the ground. It
is important that countries to decarbonizes their economies and
transition to a renewable energy future
Over
the past decade, Germany has successfully boosted renewable energy
resources which today power 25% of all electricity demand. According to
Arne Jungjohann of the Heinrich Boell Foundation and editor of the new
website, the energy transition has created more than 380,000 new jobs
and empowered communities and small businesses to go renewable and
become clean energy producers: “The Energiewende is a bottom up switch that is driven by citizens across the country.”
But
how will Berlin move forward: Will Germany merely import nuclear power
from neighboring countries and switch to coal power? Will carbon
emissions increase? Are renewables reliable enough to power an
industrial economy like Germany? Can the grid handle fluctuating wind
and solar power without blackouts
“By
now, the Germans have developed a can-do attitude,” says Craig Morris,
one of the lead authors of the website. Morris, a Freiburg-based
American journalist and translator, points out: “Over the last two
decades, renewables matured much more quickly, become more reliable and
much cheaper than expected.” That is why most Germans are confident
about the transition. “They perceive technical challenges like grid
instability not as problem, but as a task,” says Morris.
The
website not only explains the policies which have been set-up for the
energy transition. It also highlights what experiences countries like
the United States and China can draw from the German story. “Germany has
been a leader and has driven down costs when it comes to renewable
energy technologies,” explains Cao Ke of the Beijing office of the
Heinrich Boell Foundation. “It will be much cheaper for other countries
to invest in renewables now that the costs are lower.”
Germany
is as sunny as Alaska. It will be much cheaper for the U.S. to go solar
than it has been for Germany, because solar resources are much better
and by now costs are much lower. “If the energy transition is doable and
affordable for Germany, then it will be even more so for other
countries” says Jungjohann.
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