Markus Klier

Going Green

A German Success Story

Oil prices rise to record highs nearly every day. The credit crunch and the impending recession in the U.S. bring even more turmoil to the world economy.  So, where did all the good news go? In short, times of crisis are always perfect starting points for new ideas and changes to the better.

       Meet Germany's new ways for going green, slowly leaving the fossil fuel era behind. When it comes to modern Germany, many people think of fast cars and "the autobahn", driving at top speed in big gas-guzzling limousines and sports cars with no speed limit anywhere. It's still true for many sections of Germany's famous interstates. However, this is merely the last resort of the old habit of high energy consumption.

       Germany is at the forefront of restructuring and retooling its energy and industrial infrastructure. According to a recently released statistical review by BP (British Petroleum), energy consumption in Germany dropped 5.6% in 2007 while its economy grew 2.5%. This illustrates that strong economic growth can work in combination with clean technology and the development of alternative renewable energy resources.

       Just a few days ago Germany’s cabinet passed legislation committing the country to reducing CO2 emissions 40% below 1990 levels by the year 2020. To put it in the big picture - world energy consumption increased 2.4% in 2007, led by the fast growing China and India while U.S. energy consumption rose 1.7%.

       The cornerstone of this renewable energy strategy is solar power, where Germany is the world leader despite its less than warm and sunny climate and even less available wind power. According to the newspaper "Welt am Sonntag," infrastructure minister Wolfgang Tiefensee pronounced the creation of thirty off-shore wind parks in the North and Baltic Seas to increase wind power to 25,000 megawatts by the year 2030. 

       All this will be good for the environment, but is it also good for the economy? The simple answer: absolutely! Since 1998 the work force in the German sustainable energy sector quintupled to 25,0000 according to the Agency for Renewable Energies. In 2007, the overall turnover of the industry was 24.6 billion Euro ($39.4 billion). Good news for profit and planet.

__mk 2008.07

Markus Klier is a Software Entrepreneur and Educational Counselor from the vibrant German capitol of Berlin, contributes the Central European perspective to the world of GoodB. Markus is a former German filmmaker and Political Science commentator. He holds a Master's in Political Science from Frei Universitat in Berlin. He is currently a marketing maverick of cutting-edge Central European technology.