How much renewable energy does germany use

BDEW head Kerstin Andreae cautioned that the increased share of renewables in power consumption should not conceal the fact that renewables expansion is not happening fast enough. If expansion continues too slowly, we cannot reach our goals. Data published by Germany's Federal Environment Agency UBA matched the estimates and also predicted a renewables share of 46 percent for this year.

For the energiewende to succeed, Germany will have to do much more. It will have to get off gasoline and diesel too. Rolf Disch in Freiburg is one of many architects who have built houses and buildings that consume almost no net energy or produce a surplus. But Germany is not putting up many new buildings. A lot is being done, but not enough. All over Germany, old buildings are being wrapped in six inches of foam insulation and refitted with modern windows. Low-interest loans from the bank that helped rebuild the war-torn west with Marshall Plan funds pay for many projects.

Just one percent of the stock is being renovated every year, though. For all buildings to be nearly climate neutral by —the official goal—the rate would need to double at least. Once, Sandrock said, the government floated the idea of requiring homeowners to renovate.

The public outcry shot that trial balloon down. With all the parties in Germany in agreement, Rosenkranz said, the energiewende felt like that. Economic interests are clashing now. Some Germans say it might take another catastrophe like Fukushima to catalyze a fresh burst of progress. What can we learn from them? But we can be inspired to think that the energiewende might be possible for other countries too.

In a recent essay William Nordhaus, a Yale economist who has spent decades studying the problem of addressing climate change, identified what he considers its essence: free riders.

While most countries have been free riders, Germany has behaved differently: It has ridden out ahead. And in so doing, it has made the journey easier for the rest of us. All rights reserved. This story appears in the November issue of National Geographic magazine. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.

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Travel A road trip in Burgundy reveals far more than fine wine. That is why we will always need available service, i. Energy blackouts are the bugbear that industrialists and the conventional energy sector have long warned about in ominous tones. Too much or too little power in the grid can indeed prompt energy shortfalls, causing whole regions to go dark and assembly lines to halt.

But thus far, in highly industrialized Germany, blackouts have not—yet—come to pass. At the same time, the country maintained much of its fossil fuel generation and a handful of nuclear plants. The surplus power is exported—at a handsome profit for coal-plant-owning utilities. On Jan. Another factor: Even if energy efficiency improves dramatically—through the mass insulation of buildings and modernization of their energy systems, for example—Germany will in the future still need more power than it uses today for its fleets of electric cars and trucks, for public transportation, for electrified heating, and for producing the hydrogen and e-fuels that will fly planes and produce cement.

This drop-off is steep and fast, and it throws the Germany energy system into unknown territory—where the interests of energy providers, environmentalists, politicians, and grid operators clash fiercely.

The German gas sector and most German industry underscore that flexible, gas-fired electricity generation is the perfect partner for fluctuating renewables.

Indeed, the most modern gas-fired power plants emit significantly less carbon than coal and oil. Damning reports about gas methane emissions, another greenhouse gas, have tarnished its brand but not enough to disqualify it. The gas lobby and many experts want more state-of-the-art gas-fired plants constructed, which they say will operate to and beyond. This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct.

Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text. Gross electricity generation from renewable energy in Germany. Main contributor to renewable energy electricity generation in Germany. Consumption of renewable energy in Germany Wind power Combined wind electricity generation in Germany. Solar power Solar PV capacity per inhabitant in Germany.

Interesting statistics In the following 5 chapters, you will quickly find the 26 most important statistics relating to "Renewable energy in Germany". Statistics on the topic. Overview Renewable electricity generation as a share of total generation Electricity generation from renewable energy by source Germany Germany's electricity generation from wind power