Germany passes new renewable energy law for 2012

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Despite widespread rumors in North America that Germany was abandoning its system of Advanced Renewable Tariffs, the country's upper chamber of parliament, the Bundesrat, approved the latest revision of its pioneering Renewable Energy Sources Act [PDF] on July 8, 2011.

The action follows approval by Germany's House of Commons, the Bundestag, on June 30, 2011.

The new version of the law first introduced in Germany in 2000 will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.

Approval of the latest revisions of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, the Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG) in German, is significant because it follows the nuclear accident at Fukishima, Japan and the debate in Germany about the future of nuclear power.

The 30-year long debate on nuclear in Germany was settled earlier this summer when parliament decisively voted to quit nuclear power by 2022.

Germany is currently ruled by a coalition of the Conservative (CDU/CSU), and the neoliberal (FDP) parties.

Thus, the vote on revisions to the Renewable Energy Sources Act for 2012 follows the decision to quit nuclear power and further expand the role of renewable energy in the electricity sector.

The revisions for 2012 were part of regularly scheduled periodic revisions. Previous revisions occurred in 2004 and 2009.

The 2012 EEG sets a minimum requirement of not less than 35 percent of renewable energy in electricity supply by 2020, not less than 50 percent by 2030 and not less than 65 percent by 2040 and not less than 80 percent by 2050.

However, the law actually sets a target of between 35 and 40 percent of supply within the next decade. This conforms to a decision made by the Ministry of Environment in 2010. See "Germany Ups Renewable Target -- Again."

Rather than reducing its commitment to expanding renewable energy, Germany has codified a more aggressive target than in the previous law.

Final interpretation of the complex 204-page law will be issued by the Ministry of the Environment, the BMU, later this summer.

Some key provisions of the 2012 EEG include

• Raising biomass tariffs nearly 30 percent from €0.11/kWh ($0.16/kWh) to €0.14/kWh ($0.20/kWh) for plants less than 150 kW in size.
• Increasing geothermal tariffs more than 50 percent from €0.16/kWh ($0.22/kWh) for small projects to €0.25/kWh ($0.36/kWh) for all projects.
• Increasing offshore wind tariffs 15 percent from €0.13/kWh ($0.19/kWh) to €0.15/kWh ($0.21/kWh).
• Increasing the "starter" bonus for offshore wind nearly 25 percent from €0.15/kWh ($0.21/kWh) to €0.19/kWh ($0.27/kWh).
• Maintaining the 2011 degression for solar photovoltaics (solar PV) into 2012.
• Maintaining the tariffs for wind energy on land, including the repowering bonus.

Significantly, parliament again stated its support for the rapid development of solar PV in Germany. The 2012 EEG continued the current policy of regulating solar PV development within a "growth corridor" of 3,500 MW per year.

If Germany maintains growth of solar PV of 3,500 MW per year it will remain the world's largest solar market for the foreseeable future. Both the government and the industry expect solar PV capacity to exceed 50,000 MW by 2020.

Solar PV growth will be regulated by adjustments in the annual degression rate of 9 percent. If the growth exceeds the target, the degression is increased. If growth is less than the target, the degression is decreased.

In addition, the 2012 EEG continues the German reference yield system for wind energy both on shore and off shore. The system is designed to ensure that not only wind energy at windy sites can be developed but also wind energy at less windy sites as well. The system has proven successful. Today, nearly 60 percent of all wind energy in Germany is developed in the less windy interior of the country, taking development pressure off the windy North Sea cost.

more....

http://www.grist.org/article/2011-07-24-germany-passes-new-renewable-energy-law-for-2012

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Germany continues to lead in future technologies. What else is new?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

. . . plus they have the 30-day work week, 1 year of paid maternity leave, affordable A-1 healthcare, a solid retirement system, 13-1/2 wages per year, a paid 6-week annual vacation . . . but there's one thing where they can't hold a candle to the US: we have the better armed forces, wage more wars, and kill more people than anybody else on this planet. That's where the US is truly still # 1.

Yay!

[Nina~ 431]

. . . plus they have the 30-day work week, 1 year of paid maternity leave, affordable A-1 healthcare, a solid retirement system, 13-1/2 wages per year, a paid 6-week annual vacation . . . but there's one thing where they can't hold a candle to the US: we have the better armed forces, wage more wars, and kill more people than anybody else on this planet. That's where the US is truly still # 1.

Yay!

yanno, a week has only 7 days

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

yanno, a week has only 7 days

What he was trying to say is that Germans produce 30 days worth of work in a week? Or was he referring to 30 hour work weeks? I think the work week is still between 35 and 37.5 hours for most Germans. The move towards the the 30 hour week stalled some time ago.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

What he was trying to say is that Germans produce 30 days worth of work in a week? Or was he referring to 30 hour work weeks? I think the work week is still between 35 and 37.5 hours for most Germans. The move towards the the 30 hour week stalled some time ago.

it's due to the german beer. we need more german beer in the usa to raise productivity!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

it's due to the german beer. we need more german beer in the usa to raise productivity!

Yeah, that sounds like a great plan!

[lostinblue 1,989]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,718951,00.html

The Expensive Dream of Clean Energy

The strategists at RWE, Germany's biggest power company, estimate in an internal study that Europe will require a staggering €3 trillion ($4 trillion) of investment just to convert its power generation to green energy. That doesn't include the necessary spending on networks and storage. The price of electricity production would increase rapidly in the coming 25 years to up to 23.5 cents per kilowatt hour in a worst-case scenario, if Germany were to switch to complete self-sufficiency in energy production, from 6.5 cents now, RWE estimates.

This is doubtless an extreme scenario, and even RWE has significantly lower rates based on the assumption that the life span of nuclear power stations will be extended. Other experts have completely different estimates. It is impossible to arrive at precise forecasts for the cost of the green revolution over the next 40 years. Besides, most scenarios don't factor in the problems that could arise in terms of arduous approval procedures, legal disputes and public protests.

But six main factors can be identified that can help to determine whether a renewable energy system can work reliably and what cost levels can be expected

The German government plans a radical increase in energy efficiency, especially in buildings and private homes. This is the sixth cost factor. By 2050, according to the government's energy plan, no building will be wasting energy any more and the nation's heating requirements will have fallen by 80 percent. Homeowners will save energy costs as a result, but they will first have to spend vast sums of money. Insulating a building costs between €35 ($47) and €350 ($470) per square meter.

Julia Klöckner, the CDU's main candidate in the regional election in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2011, has pointed out how explosive this issue could be. "For many people an enforced expensive refurbishment is tantamount to expropriation," she says. "The CDU as the party of property mustn't allow that to happen

The more renewable energy that is pumped into the grid, the more frequently the utilities have to power down their nuclear and coal power stations, which makes them more expensive to operate. As a result, the firms are considering charging customers a new fee for simply making power stations available even if they aren't needed.

Industrial companies, especially the energy guzzlers in the heavy industry sectors such as steel, cement and aluminium production, are also trying to slow down the transition. Industry consumes a quarter of Germany's electricity and gas requirements and has been lobbying against the upcoming electricity price increases and the recent scrapping of tax exemptions on energy taxes.

Germany's heavy industry is a powerful lobby because it employs some 875,000 workers. The CEO of chemicals group BASF, Jürgen Hambrecht, fears a "creeping deindustrialization in Germany." Firms are starting to threaten that they will build their next plant abroad where energy costs are lower and environmental regulations less strict.