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Germany could use only renewable power by 2050
Photo by Storm Crypt (Flickr Creative Commons)
Germany’s Federal Environment Agency claims that the European nation could get all its power from renewables by 2050.
At the moment Germany derives 16% of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind – a threefold increase from 1995. Some 300,000 jobs in the renewable energy field have been created since 2000 and Germany trails only the US in wind energy production.
From a Reuters report:
The government has set goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 to 2020, and by 80 to 85 percent by 2050. That goal could be achieved if Germany switches completely to renewable sources by 2050, Flasbarth said.
A switch to renewables for electricity generation would cut Germany’s emissions by just that amount – 40%.
Many European countries have been dragging their feet in submitting their renewable energy action plans (NREAPs) to the European Commission.
From an article on EurActiv.com:
The national targets were set under the EU’s Renewables Directive, which requires the EU as a whole to increase the share of renewables in its energy mix to 20% by 2020.
As of July first only Denmark and the Netherlands had submitted their plans to the European Commission.
Graham Land
Additional resources:
Businessgreen.com – Europe’s renewable energy masterplan starts to take shape
Tags: 2050, electricity, emissions, energy, EU, European, Germany, power, renewables, Solar, sources, wind
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