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Energiewendeand Green Energy in Germany

Energiewendeand Green Energy in Germany. By Jake “Johann” Dec. Headlines (2011-2012). Germany Produced 60% More Solar Energy in 2011 Germany — 26% of Electricity from Renewable Energy in 1st Half of 2012 Germany Is Showing The World How To Become A Renewable Energy Powerhouse (2012)

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Energiewendeand Green Energy in Germany

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  1. Energiewendeand Green Energy in Germany By Jake “Johann” Dec

  2. Headlines (2011-2012) • Germany Produced 60% More Solar Energy in 2011 • Germany — 26% of Electricity from Renewable Energy in 1st Half of 2012 • Germany Is Showing The World How To Become A Renewable Energy Powerhouse (2012) • Germany Sets New Solar Record By Meeting Nearly Half of Country's Weekend Power Demand • Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy is (Still) Locally Owned (2012)

  3. Headlines (2013) • Germans Revolt Against Germany's Green Energy Revolution • Green Power Gridlock: Why Renewable Energy Is No Alternative • Germany’s ‘green energy revolution’ costing billions • Green Energy Bust in Germany • Siemens to close solar power business after $1bn loss

  4. Outline • Goals of the Energiewende • Renewable Energy • Differences from US • Cities in Germany • Growth of Green Energy • Production • Storage • Pollution • Industry • Conclusions

  5. Energiewende • Without increasing taxes, increase the amount energy production from renewable sources. • Research and development of green technology • Become a world leader in green industry • Reduce the CO2 emissions • (2011)Close all nuclear plants and replace their power production with renewables. • Anti-Nuclear support in Germany has been present for decades, beginning around the Chernobyl disaster in Russia

  6. What is Renewable Energy? • Energy harnessed through renewable means: • Solar • Wind • Geothermal • Hydroelectric • Biomass

  7. Solar/Wind • By implementing feed-in-tariffs, Germany hoped to have residents install solar systems before they were practical. • Succeeded in dropping the price of solar panels. • Germany has about 4x the total solar capacity of the US (~20x per capita)* • Wind energy production is steadily increasing in Germany

  8. How Does This Differ From US? • Over 50% of green energy production in Germany is by individual or small co-ops • In many areas of Germany, citizens have invested their own money in renewable projects, earning returns on the investments (NIMBY) • Because of feed-ins and subsidies, investors are guaranteed at least a 7-10% return on investment.

  9. Feldheim • Small town of 150 people • 43 wind turbines and 37 houses. • Gets all of its power and heat from renewable energy • Residents paid €3000 each to create their own energy grid. Reduced their costs by 30%. • Over 3000 people a year visit, though it can’t be used as a model everywhere.

  10. Freiburg • As many as 50% of the rooftops have solar panels. • Citizens are committed stakeholders in the process • “Passive House”: cost 10% more to build, but reduces heating costs by 90%

  11. Growth of Renewables in Germany.

  12. Misleading Figures • Nameplate Capacity: The amount of energy that a power generation method can create under ideal conditions • While wind and solar nameplate capacity represented 84 percent of Germany’s average electric power generation, it generated only 11.9 percent of total electricity • Different methods of every production have vastly different efficiency: • Solar: ~10% • Wind: ~20% • Coal: ~80% or more • Nuclear 90%+

  13. Insolation Map

  14. Wind Speed Map

  15. 24/7 Production • Since solar and wind power do not produce energy 24/7, ways must be developed to overcome decreased wind and solar production. • There are two major ways to solve this problem: • Energy storage • Increase 24/7 production methods

  16. Storage • Power-to-Gas: Converting excess electricity to hydrogen or methane gas. • Pumping water uphill (hydroelectric in reverse) • Feed-in-Tariffs make these storage solutions financially unviable, as these company's need to pay for the electricity before they can store it.

  17. Increasing 24/7 Production • In 2012 Germany commissioned twice as much energy through coal than wind and solar combined. • 2/3 of the planned new energy production by 2020 involve new gas or coal plants. • Even if Germany increased its wind and solar capacity by 10 times, it still would only produce 1/3 of the energy needed over slower periods.

  18. Pollution in Germany • The closing of the 8 nuclear plants in Germany created a shortage of baseline production. • In response, Germany delayed the closing or reopened outdated brown coal plants. • CO2 emissions from coal have increased 5% in 2012

  19. The Cost of Electricity (kw/hr) • RI 6.567 cents (Dec 2013) • US Average: 8 to 17 cents (Sep 2012) • France 19.39 cents (Nov 2011) • United Kingdom: 20 cents (Nov 2012) • Germany 36.25 cents (May 2013) • Mandatory 7.3 cent tax

  20. “Germany's Solar Industry Is Imploding” • Because of competition from China, Germany’s largest solar panel producers have shut down. • China grew from almost zero exports to 80% of the EU solar panel market in just 3 years, fueling a trade dispute. • While the trade dispute was settled in July 2013, the damage was already done to German solar panel producers

  21. Conclusions • Heavy subsidies have over incentivized solar energy (57% of the energy tax is used to pay feed-in-tariffs for solar) • Prioritizing renewables on the grid will cause newer, cleaner coal and gas plants to be unprofitable, causing construction of dirty more polluting coal plants. • Knee-jerk reaction to the Fukishima disaster threw Germanys energy balance off, rolling back reductions in CO2 emissions. • Increased competition from abroad left Germanys solar panel industry weakened. Solar panel prices have dropped 80% since 2008, cutting into profit margins.

  22. Takeaways • Smaller scale energy production by individuals or co-ops reduce NIMBY • We don’t need huge solar or wind farms to generate power. • The most beneficial places for solar and wind in the US are not geographically the best places for it • If we do want to rely on solar and wind for the majority of energy production, we have to invest in energy storage methods • Even without feed-in-tariffs, solar energy is near the point of parity with grid power.

  23. Insolation Map

  24. Works Cited • Axthelm, Wolfram. Annual balance for wind energy generated in 2012. German Wind Energy Association. N.p., 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. • Basic Residential (A-16) Electricity Rates. National Grid. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. • Boisvert, Will. "Green Energy Bust in Germany." Dissent Summer 2013: 62-70. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. • Chaffin, Joshua. "EU and China Settle Trade Fight over Solar Panels." Financial Times. Financial Times, 27 July 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. • "Cost of Solar Is 2–100 Times Cheaper than You Think." Cost of Solar. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. • "Electricity Pricing." Wikipedia. N.p.: n.p., n.d.Wikipedia. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. • McGrath, Matt. "German tariffs make green energy too expensive to store." BBC News. BBC, 11 July 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. • Rayasam, Renuka. "A Power Grid of Their Own: German Village Becomes Model for Renewable Energy." Spiegel Online. N.p., 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. • Spiegel Staff. "Germany's Energy Poverty: How Electricity Became a Luxury Good." Spiegel Online. Spiegel, 4 Sept. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. • "10 Amazing Green Cities." Howstuffworks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

  25. Questions?

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