Germany's Wind Power Boost

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This article describes the activities that took place during the energy summit in Berlin, Germany.  At this meeting Germany decided to take a large step away from fossil fuels and nuclear power and towards wind power.  Originally reforms to the country’s Renewable Energy Act would be against wind power because subsidies would be reduced; however, many of the southern states of Germany had issues with this reform and pushed for the transition towards wind energy.  Not only did more farms become available to subsidies but the federal government agreed to replace old turbines with new ones.  Unfortunately these changes do not benefit everyone.  Because of the increased subsidies the German people pay extremely high energy costs.  Germans pay about 31 billion dollars every year on energy.

With new forms of sustainable energy being pursued in Germany it is likely that other European countries will shortly follow.  After this it opens the door to the other continents as well.  This would provide jobs in research and construction hopefully resulting in a boost to the global economy.  Also with the current activities of Russia many countries are attempting to reduce their dependence on Russia and energy is a large dependence many Europeans have.  Not only does this have economic and foreign benefits but it is also very “green.”  With the push towards new energy sources because of the harm burning fossil fuels causes to the environment it seems likely that wind energy becomes essential in the near future. 

~ Cameron Strapp