Germany set a new national record for renewable energy this past weekend. Following a stormy northern European day, coupled with clear and sunny skies in the south of Germany, the country met 78% of the day’s electricity demand with renewable sources. In fact, some early figures have renewables making up 79% of energy consumption for the day. Despite the 1% difference, this number still surpasses that of their previous record set back in 2014 when they met 74% of electricity demand. On this particular day, the generation of renewable energy broke down as follows:
Biomass – 4.85 GW
Hydropower – 2.4 GW
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Total Renewable Power: 47.9 GW
Total Energy Demand for the Day: 61.1 GW
Making headlines in regards to renewable energy is not new for Germany. Renewables made up 27.8% of Germany’s total power consumption last year, a 6.2 % increase since 2000. Germany has also recorded their lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.
Since the start of the country’s Energiewende initiative (Germany’s push for renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable development), the goal has remained to phase out nuclear energy, reduce greenhouse gases, and double their percentage of renewable energy. As the numbers indicate, 2014 marked a significant year for this initiative, and 2015 looks to follow suit. As a part of Energiewende, Germany has also been set on decreasing its reliance on nuclear power. This has led many to believe that in order to accomplish this goal by 2022, Germany may have to rely heavily on fossil fuels, thus increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite the difficulties that come with this major transition, the fact of the matter is that a large industrialized country of 80 million people is getting 28% of its energy from renewable sources. This is an accomplishment that cannot be ignored, especially considering the United States only gets approximately 13% of its energy from renewables. In regards to forecasting solar and wind, IBM Research Manager Hendrick Hamann recently stated, “There is good reason to believe that by 2050, with better forecasts, it might be possible to push solar energy’s contribution up to 50%.” The future of renewables is undoubtedly bright.