Review: Impressive, Important Information
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 23, 2012
A majority of Germans believe their future lies in renewable energy, and the government has set a target of 80% renewable power by 2050, with a 35% target for 2020. Twenty-five percent of its electricity now comes from solar, wind and biomass, vs. 6% for the U.S. Eighty percent oppose nuclear power. All major political parties endorse these directions.The average German household pays about $108/month for electricity ($110 in the U.S.), with a renewable energy surcharge (paid to cover the bonus paid for electricity fed into the grid by renewables) accounting for $11.50 of that amount. 'Electricity intensive' businesses are exempted from paying the surcharge to avoid giving foreign manufacturers an economic advantage. Germans choose from over 800 smaller, decentralized electric companies.A German homeowner pays $10,000 to install a typical rooftop system vs. a U.S. homeowner paying $20,000 for the same system. The difference is entirely due to the German focus on reducing deployment costs. Permitting fees that can run into the thousands of dollars in the U.S. cost nothing, or close to it, in Germany; the rest comes from installers streamlining their operations due to the high volumes.Germans are 10X more likely to travel by bicycle than Americans, partly due to taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel (eg. $3.29 in the U.S. vs. $7.80 in Germany). Germans use public transport nearly 6X the rate of Americans in large cities, 18X that for small-to-medium-sized towns. Meanwhile, oil-rich Saudi Arabia recently announced its own $100 billion program to develop solar power - more ambitious than anything in the works in the U.S.