As the world modernizes and realizes the urgency for cleaner energy sources, countries are writing policies to introduce more renewables onto their grids. Germany is a leader in this movement and has developed a policy that expedites this process. Energiewende is Germany’s energy policy enacted in 2011 to introduce a significant increase in the use of renewable energy sources. It also encompasses goals to become more energy efficient and to develop sustainably. Some of the specific goals of the Energiewende for 2050 are as follows: 80-95 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 60 percent renewable energy (from hydro, solar, and wind), and an increase in energy efficiency by 50 percent.The policy has been reaching and exceeding its milestone goals; Germany’s share of renewables has increased from around 5 percent in 1999 to 22.9 percent in 2012. Energiewende is not only increasing hydro, solar, and wind to the energy portfolio, but it is decreasing nuclear energy production. The initial process is messy and expensive, but carbon dioxide emission are down, and things are looking up for Germany’s energy future.
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