100% of German electricity generation could come from renewables by 2050

The target was announced as technically possible by the Federal Environment Agency. The latter considers it necessary in order to achieve an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

Germany could generate its entire electrical demand from renewable energy by 2050, thus becoming the first country in the world to do without fossil fuels.
The target was announced as technically possible by the Federal Environment Agency.

During a meeting with the press, the Agency’s president Jochen Flasbarth noted that in Germany 16% of electricity is already provided by renewable energy, which means that the latter’s share in electricity generation is triple the level it was 15 years ago. At present, Germany is the world leader in photovoltaics, with half of the installed capacity, and this year it plans to install additional 5,000 MW, so that its photovoltaic capacity will grow to 14,000 MW. It’s also the second biggest wind power producer after the United States. Overall, in the last ten years, the renewable industry has created approximately 300,000 new jobs in Germany.

The targets set by the government of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% within 2020 and 80 to 85% by 2050 could be achieved only by giving up fossil fuel production by mid-century. Although the costs of a complete switch to renewable energy will be consistent, «they are a lot less than the costs to future generations that climate change will cause», Flasbarth assured.

(July 2010)