Thomas Hedges: How Germany Is Getting 100 Percent Renewable Energy?

There is no debate on climate change in Germany. The temperature for the past 10 months has been 3 degrees above average, and we're again on course for the warmest year on record. There's no dispute among Germans, as to whether this change is man made, or that we contribute to it, and need to stop accelerating the process. Since 2000, Germany has converted 25 percent of its power grid to renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biomass. The architects of the clean energy movement, "Energiewende", which translates to "energy transformation," estimate that from 80 percent to 100 percent of Germany's electricity will come from renewable sources by 2050. Germans are baffled that the United States has not taken the same path. Not only is the US the wealthiest nation in the world, but it's also credited with jump starting Germany's green movement 40 years ago. "This is a very American idea," Arne Jungjohann, a director at the Heinrich Boll Stiftung Foundation (HBSF), said at a news conference Tuesday morning in Washington, DC, "We got this from Jimmy Carter." Germany adopted and continued Carter's push for energy conservation,, while the US abandoned further efforts. The death of an American "Energieewende" solidified when President Ronald Reagan ripped down the solar panels atop the White House that Carter had installed. Since then, Germany has created strong incentives for the public to invest in renewable energy. It pays people to generate electricity from solar panels on their houses. The effort to turn more consumers into producers is accelerated through feed in tariffs, which are 20 year contracts that ensure a fixed price the government will pay. Germany lowers the price every year, so there's good reason to sign one as soon as possible, before compensation falls further. The money the government uses to pay producers comes from a monthly surcharge on utility bills that everyone pays, similar to a rebate. Customers pay an additional cost for the renewable energy fund, and then get that money back from the government, at a profit, if they are producing their own energy.