The solar energy transition is set to become a driver of growth
A new calculation by Eon shows that if many households in Germany were to switch to heat pumps, we could save three billion euros a year because we would need fewer natural gas-fired power stations.
Eon’s calculation is based on 5.9 million owners of detached houses, all of whom switch to geothermal heating. This would cut current natural gas consumption by around half. That would provide huge relief for German energy costs whilst also being good for the climate.
Germany has been groaning under the burden of excessive energy prices for years. Yet scientists have long been saying that, for the world’s third-largest economy, renewable energies are the foundation on which its future success as a business location must rest. The energy transition and economic success are two sides of the same coin when it comes to our economic future. The sooner we act, the better, the cheaper and the more successful we’ll be.
All over the world, industrialised nations are switching to renewable energy – even in the US under President Trump, renewables are growing at a dramatic rate because they are cheaper and available in abundance. No climate change denier can go against this law of the market. The sun alone provides us with a thousand times more energy than we could ever consume. Nature means well by us humans. In Germany, we hold all the technological trump cards – with skilled engineers and researchers to ensure we are at the forefront of this development.
It is important to understand that the energy transition cannot be defined solely in terms of renewable energy, heat pumps and electric cars. Healthy soils, water bodies and forests are just as important. Their condition helps determine how well a landscape is equipped to cope with the consequences of climate change. It is therefore about the intelligent interplay between climate protection and species conservation.
Not only are the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, rapidly switching to renewable energy, but smaller countries such as Uruguay are also demonstrating that the transition is possible – and how it can be achieved. This small South American country already generates almost all its electricity from renewable sources: 50 per cent from hydropower, 30 per cent from wind energy, 15 per cent from biomass and 3 per cent from solar energy. A green electricity mix works anywhere in the world. This is not just a question of sustainability, but also of economic viability. In Germany, we will already be generating more than 60 per cent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2026.
Why is this transition so important? Even the *Bild* newspaper has reported that our planet is heading for a catastrophe, namely global warming of 2.8 degrees. So: it’s high time to wake up and take action.
If the figure of 2.8 degrees seems too abstract, here’s a more concrete example: even at just 1.5 degrees by 2026, there will already be over 50,000 heat-related deaths in Europe, melting glaciers in the Alps, water shortages in many German cities and – the Rhine and Lake Constance will evaporate.
