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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Germany's Renewable Energy Experience

At the November, 2011 Minneapolis E3 conference, Friedo Sielemann, a green energy point person based at the German Embassy in Washington, DC provided information on Germany's path  toward a low carbon economy.  Germany has reduced their 2010 carbon emissions to 24% below the levels in 1990.  Many of the new houses constructed in Germany have zero carbon footprint.  Due to generous reimbursement rates and lower prices for solar panels the residential installation of solar panels has grown rapidly in the country.  The government subsidy has now been reduced because individuals were able to actually make a profit off of the excess energy produced by the panels with previous reimbursement rates.

In Germany 370,000 jobs have been created in renewable energy.  Germany will be focusing on developing off shore wind power to reach their goal of increasing the amount of  renewable energy generated through electrical power and to offset the lost power from the elimination of the nuclear power plants by 2020.

During his power point Mr. Sielemann provided a chart illustrating the inverse correlation between Germany's GDP and the level of green house gas emissions.  Dan Haugen from Midwest Energy News provides additional information in his November 7, 2011 article.

Red line - GDP   Blue line- Total energy production  Green line - Green house gas emissions - ppt slide

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