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RENIEWABLE ENERGY
Renewable Energy
Germany leads in the race towards a future driven by renewable energy.
With a global focus on reducing dependency on
fossil fuels for the world’s energy needs, many
countries are actively seeking to develop renewable
energy sources and none more so than Germany,
described by renewableenergyworld.com as the
world’s first major renewable energy economy. But
the country’s efforts in the field are not confined to
its own borders; German technology and expertise
is contributing to renewable energy success stories
all around the world, including here in the UAE.
One of the first countries to introduce legislation
regarding renewable energy, Germany created and
implemented the Renewable Energy Sources Act in
2000 to provide a framework within which German
energy providers could work together to decrease
reliance on fossil fuels and progress towards the
country’s aim of becoming entirely dependent
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upon renewable energy. Ambitious targets were
set, including a goal of 60 per cent reliance upon
renewable energy by 2050, and excellent progress
is being made.
Current statistics published by BDEW - the German
Association of Energy and Water Industries -
indicate some 25 per cent of electricity generated
in Germany in the first six months of 2012 was
from a renewable source. Wind power tops the list
followed by biomass, or material acquired from
living organisms, hydro-electrics and solar energy.
Production of photovoltaic energy is on the rise,
leaping 47 per cent from 3.6 per cent in 2011 to 5.3
per cent in the first half of 2012, as progress is made
towards decreasing its relatively high production
cost in comparison to other renewable
energy sources.
Alongside these efforts to develop reliance on
renewable energy within Germany, the country has
been instrumental in promoting environmentally
sound energy elsewhere around the world. Perhaps
one of its most lasting impacts in the field of
renewable energy has been its pivotal role in the
founding of IRENA - the International Renewable
Energy Agency - which aims to facilitate and
encourage the sharing of knowledge, expertise and
best practice among its members and signatories.
According to Federal Environment Minister
Peter Altmaier, countries must work together
on such an important task. “Germany is one of
the pioneers in the global switch to renewable
energies,” he says. “We must improve coordination
and co-operation of this process,
especially among those countries that are in
the vanguard of the transformation of energy
systems; this is why IRENA is so important for us
as the voice, hub and advisory resource in the
global energy revolution.”
Night view of the Knowledge Centre at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Image Courtesy: Masdar
As Germany leads the way in the journey towards
reliance on renewable energy, it is no surprise that
the country has been a key partner for the UAE as it
strives towards reducing its dependence upon fossil
fuels. Nowhere is German technology more evident
than at Masdar City, the purpose-built sustainable
city just outside Abu Dhabi, where major German
companies are inextricably involved.
Masdar — the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy
company — has linked with German companies,
such as the powerhouse Siemens, to create a city
entirely reliant on renewable energy sources, which
will be home to a host of companies with a focus
on the environment. According to Masdar, the city
is intended to become a commercially viable role
model for other cities around the world, thanks to its
policy of implementing energy efficiency measures
such as the use of green concrete.
Alongside these measures, smart grid and demandside
management technologies are also being
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