With so much talk about energy and so much focus on the US, here’s a short overview of the situation in Germany. Being at the forefront of alternative energy and in fact the largest producer and user of it, does not mean Germany isn’t largely dependent on oil. About 12% of its overall needs comes from nuclear power and another 5% from renewable sources. The rest is imported.

Interestingly, in 1991 Germany passed the Renewable Energy Sources Act which allowed producers of renewable energy to sell it back to the grid at fixed rates. This includes individuals so that a household with solar panels (or even small wind generators) can sell excess energy back to energy companies at a fixed and above-market price. By reducing the risk in investing in new energy sources and technologies, Germany has become a, if not the, leader in renewable energy. A similar and more recent law was passed in 2004, the details of which I won’t get into If interested, you can read an official summary in English here.


COMMENTS / 7 COMMENTS

Sobering to note that, despite the fact that Germany is an alternative energy pioneer, they still only get 5% of their energy from renewable sources.

Curzon added these pithy words on 05 Sep 07 at 8:58 am

Sobering indeed. I want my own windmill!

von Kaufman-Turkestansky added these pithy words on 05 Sep 07 at 7:00 pm

Also sobering to see how utterly dependent they are on one country. Middle East goes up in flames, they’ll be hurt; Russia goes up in flames, Germany’s economy goes up in flames.

Michael added these pithy words on 05 Sep 07 at 10:37 pm

The problem is, VKT, that your own windmill wouldn’t provide enough power to run a whelk stand, plus the maintenance and upkeep would be prohibitivley expensive. That’s why “wind farms” are coming into fashion—although even those can only provide a fraction of the energy we need for a high cost..

Curzon added these pithy words on 06 Sep 07 at 12:24 am

Germany leads the world in biodiesel production, although thsi may change now that some subsidies are being withdrawn.

Alfred Russel Wallace added these pithy words on 06 Sep 07 at 1:20 am

Those percentages add up to 88%. Where’s the other 12% of Germany’s oil come from?

Adrian added these pithy words on 06 Sep 07 at 1:46 pm

Adrian: If you read the title, it says “most important” not all =)

Chirol added these pithy words on 06 Sep 07 at 5:44 pm

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Germany’s Oil Imports

Posted on 04 Sep 07 by Chirol. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 7 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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