From an economy addicted to coal and nuclear energy, Germany is fast transforming into one driven by renewables. Its aim is to demonstrate to the world that growth and decarbonisation can go hand in hand. People in Germany are pooling in money and setting up wind farms, especially in the windswept north, or solar panels and selling electricity to utilities because the government guarantees them premium tariffs for 20 years.More than half the renewable energy capacity in Germany is today installed and owned by individuals and farmersʼ cooperatives, not big power companies. Close to 1.3 million households are producing energy using solar photovoltaic panels. In the south, where the sun is relatively stronger, the state of Bavaria alone has more installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity than the US. Germany is expanding its renewable energy capacity at a staggering pace. In wind installation capacity it now beats all countries other than China and the US. Germany, the most populous country of the European Union, is carrying out the biggest and the fastest transformation in the world from coal and nuclear energy to clean energy. The official word for this transition is “energiewende”, which in English means energy transition. It is the buzzword in the country… Read More