The German Government is dedicated to an ambitious energy agenda that involves an ongoing shift from nuclear power and fossil fuels to a more independent and sustainable energy future based on renewables including wind, solar and biomass.
A Third Industrial Revolution - a concept outlined by the American economist, writer and political advisor Jeremy Rifkin and endorsed in 2007 by the European Parliament - is well underway in Germany, thanks in no small part to its famous feed-in tariff that encouraged German citizens to retrofit their homes with photovoltaic panels.
Or consider the tiny hamlet of Jühnde (Pop. 800) in the northern German state of Lower Saxony, which fuels a local biogas plant with liquid manure from cows and remnant clippings from maize and grain crops. In doing so, it became Germany's first bioenergy village in 2005.
To date, as recently reported by Deutschland Magazine, there are at least 100 such self-sufficient energy generating villages and communities in Germany.
According to Rifkin, conjoining Internet-based communication technology and renewable energies is giving rise to a Third Industrial Revolution.
Germany is moving in this direction and has pledged to boost its share or renewable energy sources to a target of 35 percent by 2022 and 80 percent by 2050.
Meanwhile, Germany has sought to share best practices and enhance dialogue and exchange regarding renewables and sustainable energy policies via the Transatlantic Climate Bridge (TCB), which was launched in 2008 in Washington.
A committed cadre of civil servants, climate experts, event organizers and communications' staff in Berlin, Washington and beyond have been working hard on building this bridge with their US counterparts ever since.
Karen Carstens
Editor, The Week in Germany
Webteam Germany.info
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