The figures for ownership of renewables in Germany indicate a shift from private citizens, who still make up about half of investments, to the commercial sector. Craig Morris says some people saw this coming.
All posts tagged: Solar
German renewables community united
American Ozzie Zehner is looking for “alternatives to alternative energy.” Craig Morris agrees with practically everything he says but nonetheless feels that Zehner’s approach is self-serving. Orgs in the US all protect their own industries. Who is left to call for a true energy transition?
Watts per m2 – say what?
A recent scientific paper wondered whether the potential of wind power worldwide has not been overestimated. Craig Morris could not help noticing that the calculation was based on something he has never seen it used in the German debate: watts per square meter.
Seasonal Power Storage – The Challenge for Solar
A recent article at Slate.com is a refreshing exception to the frequent misreports. Nonetheless, Craig Morris has a few nits to pick and says that the bad news for Germany is the good news for the United States.
From Coal to Renewables – The Jobs Perspective
Over at the Washington Post, environmental blogger Brad Plumer rightly points out the social responsibility we have in the switch from old technologies (coal power) to new ones (renewables). Germany has quite a bit of experience switching coal miners to green jobs, and Craig Morris knows the German word for it: Strukturwandel, or structural change.
2012 German Nuclear and Gas-Fired Generation Falls Further While Renewables Grow
A proper analysis of the composition of German electricity and the effects of renewables is often difficult to conduct as contradictory interpretations clash. Guest Author Paul Gipe from Wind-Works.org takes a step back and looks at the most recent data from a long-term perspective to shed some light on the developments caused by the energiewende.
EU Drives German Energy Policy
Yesterday, the German government held a press conference on the energy transition, which apparently put a lot of reporters to sleep. During the event, Environmental Minister Peter Altmaier found time to engage in a debate with us on Twitter. Craig Morris thinks he won that debate, by the way. And the real news came out of Brussels, not Berlin: German energy policy may violate competition rules.
We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
Everyone understandably looks towards the future to see how Germany will manage to increase the share of renewables in its power supply, but occasionally it’s worth taking a look back to see how far we have come – far, far further than both critics and supporters expected. Craig Morris takes a look.
Germany Has More Solar Power Because Everyone Wins
Why has solar power been so successful in a not very sun-blessed industrial country like Germany? John Farrell shares the main secret of the success of the German Energiewende: Democratization of power generation.