2015-08-11

http://www.ewao.com/a/1-germany-just-provided-78-percent-of-its-electricity-from-renewable-sources


Germany Just Provided 78 Percent of Its Electricity From Renewable Sources

Recently Denmark blew the world away (excuse the pun) by harnessing 140% of its daily national electricity needs from renewable wind turbine sources and now Germany is following suite.  On the 25th of July, Germany set a new internal record for its own renewable capabilities by acquiring 78% of its daily electricity needs from renewable sources, a step up from its previous record of 74% which was reached back in May of 2014.  The Federal Energy Information Administration states that the U.S. only harnesses about 10% of its electricity needs from renewables.  Germany and its European neighbors are sending out a clear signal to the rest of the world: a world fully powered with sustainable options is POSSIBLE and will be the future!

Thinkprogress.org reported:

According to an analysis byGerman energy expert Craig Morris at the Energiewende blog, a stormy day acrossnorthern Europe combined with sunny conditions in southern Germany led to thenew record, the exact figures of which are still preliminary. Morris writesthat most of Germany’s wind turbines are installed in the north and most of itssolar panels are in the south.

If the figures hold, itwill turn out that wind and solar generated 40.65 gigawatts (GW) of power onJuly 25. When this is combined with other forms of renewables, including 4.85GW from biomass and 2.4 GW from hydropower, the total reaches 47.9 GW ofrenewable power — occurring at a time when peak power demand was 61.1 GW onSaturday afternoon. To bolster his analysis, Morris points to early figures fromAgora Energiewende, a Germany energy policy firm, that have renewables makingup 79 percent of domestic power consumption that day.”

The record breaking day for Germany’s renewable energy efforts was made possible by an unusual weatherpattern that brought strong winds to the areas where wind turbines have beeninstalled.  As a result of the increasein wind power, the non-renewable energy sources like coal and gas were given abit of a break for the day.  Withcountries supplying 78, 100, or even 140% of their power needs using renewablesources, the message is clear for us to keep moving, as a global community, inthe direction of renewable energy.  Soon,countries who are using only dirty fuels will the anomaly and one day ourchildren and future generations will be staring with open mouths and wide eyesas well tell them stories of the old days when we use to pollute our motherearth, just to keep the lights on.

Sources: trueactivist.com

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