Germany: Looking For A Revolution

A few months ago I told you how Germany's rejection of nuclear power was driving it back towards coal-fired energy. Hardly ideal for such a green nation.

Now, however, it appears they are planning a green revolution by filling the gap left by nuclear with more solar and wind energy. Currently, renewables provide about a quarter of their electric. By 2050 they want it to be 80%!

That would be spectacular for renewables when you consider how intermittent some sources, like wind and solar, can be.

I was wondering how they were going to achieve this. Well, the answer may lie here, a 6 page report from German company Siemens.

Apparently the plan has the following elements:

• Make the cost of renewables competitive with coal.
• Build a network of highly efficient electricity transmission lines.
• Developing and expanding energy storage (to store the energy that can't be used immediately from solar and wind, for later use when there is demand).
• Build high-efficiency, quick start gas power stations to fill in when there's a shortage of supply from intermittent sources.
• Make coal-fired more efficient... (Ah, so there will be new coal!)
• Carbon capture and re-use.
• Smart grids (see my earlier post)
• Energy efficiency (To reduce demand in the first place).
• Balancing demand with supply (an example here)
• Cost effective financing for energy reduction

I wish the Germans luck with this bold and well thought out plan. It's nothing short of what the world will need to do if and when we decide to tackle climate change.