cold, snowy Germany goes solar, California does not

Lawrence lawrence at krubner.com
Tue Jul 10 11:47:13 PDT 2001


There was an interesting article today in Wired News about the "explosive" growth of solar use in Germany. Stuff like this reminds me of how much patterns of energy use can be shaped by government policy. The article is at this link and an excerpt of the first 4 paragraphs is below. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,45056,00.html

========================= Germany Embraces the Sun By Reiner Gaertner 2:00 a.m. July 9, 2001 PDT

FREIBURG, Germany -- Germany is not necessarily known as the sunniest spot in Europe. But nowhere else do so many people climb on their roofs to install solar panels.

Since the introduction of the Renewable Energies Laws (EEG) in April last year, Germany has been experiencing a remarkable boom in solar energy.

"When my cab driver gives me a lecture about solar technologies, I know I am back home," raved Rian van Staden, executive director of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) about Freiburg, the sunniest city in Germany and host to the InterSolar conference July 6-8.

The little university town in southwest Germany, about 40 miles away from the French and Swiss borders, is Germany's "Solar Valley."



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list