Is Germany’s Green Turning Brown?

In 2000, Germany had the best intentions in mind as they embarked on a journey to increase their use of wind and solar energy. This journey was a bill that was passed called the Renewable Energy Act. The Renewable Energy Act over time has fused with a term that has been floating around Germany since 1980 call Energiewende which mean Energy Transition. The German government saw themselves saving the environment and encouraging climate friendly power generation. Since that time they’ve been used as an example by many environmentalists around the world as the first domino in the green revolution.
While I believe that their hearts may have been in the right place, the last few years have very clearly shown us that the Energiewende is failing. This has been particularly clear since Germany decided to phase out nuclear post Fukushima. Since that decision, coal has been on the rise in Germany and last year 45% of the energy generation came from it. That’s right, the leader of the green revolution is at almost 50% of their energy from the dirtiest possible fuel type. In Germany this is becoming more obvious as well.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141016150225-37235184-is-germany-s-green-turning-brown?published=t