Alternative Energy/Country AE Profiles

Germany

General Information and Introduction

Germany has set the bar in terms of use of alternative energy technology, and the amount of energy produced from this technology as a share of total electrical output. In 2007, 14.2% of Germany’s electricity supply was from renewable sources. Wind power led the way, producing 39,500 GWh that year, which was 6.4% of Germany’s electricity consumption, almost half of the 14.2% total. Germany is the world leader in solar energy capacity and second to the US in wind energy capacity, with approximately 1.2 GW and 23 GW of installed capacity, respectively. In 2007, Germany’s overall avoided emissions of CO2 were approximately 127 million tons. These positive developments were enabled by the German government’s consistent support of its alternative energy subsidy program, the Feed-in Tariff, since its inception in 1990 (Bohme and Durrschmidt 2008).

AE Capacity or Output

• Germany produced a total of 87,450 GWh of alternative electricity in 2007 (14.2% of the total electricity supply). The technologies that produced this energy are as follows:
  • Wind - 39,500 GWh
  • Hydropower - 20,700 GWh
  • Biomass - 14,230 GWh
  • Bio/sewage/landfill gas - 9,520 GWHh
  • Solar PV - 3,500 GWh
  • Geothermal - 0.4 GWh
  • Tidal/Wave - n/a