Any guesses which country generates a third of the world’s solar energy? The United States? Sorry, no. This nation doesn’t produce as much solar power as a European country just half the size of Texas.
The real winner in the solar race is Germany, which has emerged as a global leader in the clean-energy movement. Even though this European nation gets about as much sunlight as Alaska, it generates a third of the world’s solar power. Pretty incredible, don’t you think?
For those interested in how Germany did it, Osha Gray Davidson, an environmental writer for Inside Climate News, chronicled Germany’s inspiring mission to switch the whole country over to clean energy by 2050.
Feel free to click on the link, but here’s a quick primer. In 2000, the German Parliament passed a renewable energy act known as EEG. It was one of the most ambitious environmental laws in the world, with the stated goal of replacing coal- and nuclear-generated electricity with renewable sources such as wind, biomass, solar, geothermal and hydropower facilities.
But that wasn’t all. The real linchpin in the so-called Energiewende movement came when the German government gave every citizen the right to generate their own power and sell it to power companies. The provision is known as the Feed-in Tarriff, or FiT. Those who install solar panels also receive tax credits and other incentives to go green.
It’s only when you hear about America’s enigmatic decision to turn away from renewable energy 30 years ago that you realize how far behind we’ve fallen, and how much further along we could have been. If you’re interested, here’s a link to Davidson’s fascinating research about Germany, the world’s leader in solar energy.